Baby Tears

• Delicate, small leaves
  
• Easy to grow
• Great cover for baby fish

Baby tears is known for its delicate, small, round leaves that add interesting textures and contrasts nicely against larger-leafed plants. This relatively easy-to-grow, medium light stem plant makes a great foreground to midground plant due to its smaller size. If left untrimmed, baby tears can grow up to a foot tall, so make sure to trim it often to encourage low, bushy growth.

• Scientific Name: Micranthemum umbrosum
• Native To: North America
• Skill Level: Medium
• Placement: Foreground, midground, or background
• Recommended Light: Medium Light 20-35 PAR (click to see our PAR chart)
  
• CO₂ Requirement: Low to none
• Preferred Fertilizer: Easy Green liquid fertilizer
• Propagation: Trim stems and replant

***Being a natural product, sizes can vary from what is shown.***

How to Plant Baby Tears in Aquarium

1. Remove the potted plant from plastic basket, and split the rock wool in half.
2. Carefully remove the plant roots from the rock wool, and make sure to remove all the small, yellow fertilizer balls. Wash off any remaining debris.
3. To plant baby tears, group several stems together and plant as a bunch. Use planting tweezers or your fingers to plant each bunch deeply, at least 2 to 3 inches into the ground, which means the substrate may cover some of the bottom leaves.
4. Plant the bunches with some space in between so that the stems can get plenty of light and the roots have some room to grow.
5. If the bunch keeps popping out of the ground, try inserting the bunch at an angle or wrap a plant weight at the bottom of the stem to keep them anchored. If the stems have no roots, some people will float them at the surface until they develop roots and then plant them into the substrate.

How to Care for Baby Tears Plant

— Baby tears plant care is very easy, so start by using medium lighting between 20-35 PAR to prevent "leggy" stems (where the bottom portion of the plant starts dropping leaves). 
— Why is my baby tears plant turning yellow or brown? If your stem plant is getting enough light, it may be a nutrient deficiency, so measure the nitrate level using a multi-test strip. Dose with Easy Green all-in-one fertilizer until the water has 20-50 ppm nitrate. 
— How to trim baby tears plant: If the plant is too tall or the bottom half of the stem has lost its leaves, prune off the top portion and replant it.

How to Propagate Baby Tears

Stem plants can be easily propagated by trimming off the top half of the plant and replanting it in another location. The original plant will continue growing upwards from where it was cut and may even create multiple branches.