Pogostemon erectus is originally from India. It is a green stem plant with a tinge of yellow at the needle thin leaf tips when grow in higher light with sufficient nutrients available. It grows vertically in neat upright fashion with relatively compact form. Its green needle leaves contrast well with colored plants.

Its neat growth form makes it an effective background bush for larger aquascapes where alignment of the tops of the plants is important for aquascaping purposes. Trimming off the tops allows the bottom portion to branch multiple buds – this approach also allows the tops to be aligned in height at the same time. Its moderate growth speed compared to faster growing stem plants means that this plant can be used in the midground as well.

It is not a difficult plant to grow in general. It stunts often if grown in the combination of hard water and heavy water column nutrient dosing. In hardwater tanks, root feeding the plant and keeping water column dosing lean prevents stunting.

Pogostemon erectus before trimming (above) – larger single buds.

Pogostemon erectus after trimming (below) – multiple smaller buds sprout from each cut stem. 

Key Success factors

• Strong lighting gives yellow tinge to the tops
• CO2 injection must be sufficient
• Soft water (low KH
• Can be grow in hardwater if it is mainly root-fed rather than water column fed nutrients
• If tips are stunted, reduce water column dosing and switch to root feeding instead