Compact Bacopa

Sold as Bacopa compacta, or just as compact bacopa, this is a small-leaved stem plant that Flowgrow files under Bacopa monnieri. The database entry is Bacopa monnieri 'Compact', with Bacopa monnieri Type II as a synonym, Bacopa compacta recorded as the trade name, and Hedyotis salzmannii noted as a name that has been misapplied to it. The caroliniana label this plant sometimes carries in shop listings has no support in the database: Flowgrow's Bacopa caroliniana page describes a background plant of 20 to 60 centimetres and names no compact form. What the plant does in a tank is stay short and bushy. Flowgrow calls the habit well branched and lists it for the midground and foreground, for nano tanks, and for planting in groups. Difficulty is very easy and growth is medium. Its water tolerance is wide for a stem plant: carbonate hardness of 2 to 30 dKH covers almost any tap water, and the published pH 5 to 9 spans much the same territory, so hard tap water is no obstacle. The optimum temperature is 18 to 28 °C, and CO2 at 10 to 40 mg/l is listed without the plant depending on it. Light should be medium to high. Propagate by cuttings. It grows emersed as well, and it reaches shops only occasionally.