Red Mangrove

There are 4 wild mangrove species found in Florida. They grow typically in habitats from the coast shoreline (Red) to further up brackish...Read More channels (Black and White) to further inland in constantly moist soils (Buttonwood). All four have mechanisms to excrete salt (glands on their leaves etc.) so salinity of the water you use is not a problem, but if you choose fresh, brackish, or saltwater you must stick to that decision, suddenly switching from fresh to salty water or vice versa will kill your trees. Brackish is probably the best choice. The Red mangrove is the species you most often see in zoos and aquariums and nature documentaries with thick prop roots underwater guarding fish fry and thinner adventitious roots hanging down like vines from the branches. The other mangroves have much thinner oxygen roots that look like straws sticking out of the sand/mud. Red mangroves are used to tide changes that flood the entire plant except for the very top branches and leaves and then leave the plant high and dry with all the prop roots exposed. They can survive saltwater, daily flooding and daily hot dry sun exposure, they are a very tough plant! ;-)

In zone 9a, I have a second-year seedling in a container that does not drain and stays flooded most of the time. Last winter, the tempera...Read Moreture one night dropped to 25 degrees F. The water froze about 1/4 inch deep around the seedling. I did not expect it to survive but it showed no injury and added about ten inches to its height this year.

I collected red mangrove seed pods from the Deerfield Beach in Florida this summer. I planted them in clay pots & aquarium gravel with t...Read Morehe pots partially submurged in an aquariuim filled with water & added marine aquarium salt at the same ratio you would for a marine fish aquarium. I placed a hang on filter w/o filter material on the aquarium......to simulate the ocean current. In the So. Mississippi sun & humidity all but a few seeds flourished. I have sinced moved them indoors as temperatures in the low 40's seem to cause the leaves to loose tone. I have a goal to have a mangrove vivarium in an empty 60 gallon aquarium. I'm trying to create the look of an early key/island formation. My aquarium will be about half water & have rocks as a growth base for the mangroves. I would like to incorp. some type of marine/marsh or brackish water animal life.......need ideas for low maintence water life, do not want a real dirty type animal like turtle. or fragile animal life

The Red Mangrove is native to the coastal lagoons, marshes, tidal swamps and wetlands from coastal north-central Florida near St. Augusti...Read Morene and Cedar Keys southward through the Keys. It is an excellent tree or shrub found near lagoons and salt marshes in coastal areas and on the lagoon side of barrier islands as well as growing among salt marshes. It protects areas from flooding and provides shelter for wildlife with it's long, arching prop roots anchoring the shoreline, preventing flooding and protecting coastal areas and property from storms such as hurricanes as well as being extremely ecologically important to the central and southern coasts of Florida as well as throughout the Caribbean by providing important shelter and nurseries for baby fish such as Snook, Bonefish, Tarpon, Ladyfish, Snapper and more as well as many species of Crustaceans such as baby crabs, shrimp, and plankton as well as hundreds of many more creatures, protecting them from as well as providing them as food for predators. Their mudflats and roots provide habitat for wading birds such as herons and egrets, where they find abundant food in the shallows. Also, the trunks and roots of the mangrove trees provide habitat for many other creatures such as the Blue Crab and Mangrove Crab, finding shelter and plenty of food from the mangrove's waste or detritus which is released when leaves fall into the water or mud and create a thick layer of compost at the surface or at the bottom of tidal streams. Red Mangroves reproduce and propagate with their roots or seeds, forming dense mangrove forests, growing alongside with other species of mangroves such as the White and Black Mangroves as well as Buttonwood which fringes the inland part of the mangrove forest or grows intermixed with all three species, by which the forests are useful for protecting valuable coastline. For this and all those previous reasons, Red Mangroves and mangrove swamps are excellent native trees and habitats from zones 9 in the U.S. southward! Sadly, mangrove forests are being threatened by large and extensive coastal development, not only destroying valuable wildlife habitat - the mangrove swamps - but also increasing the risk of damage to property during a storm when an area is cleared of mangrove forests and is extensively developed. That's why mangrove forests should be protected and are now fully so in the U.S. (Florida, where they are found in the U.S.)! Other threats to mangroves and their inhabitants include pollution and invasion by non-native invasive plants such as Australian Pine, Brazilian Pepper and Seaside Mahoe here in south Florida, including in my zone 10 area.

MORE FACTS - Salt-tolerant as it grows along saltwater lagoons, bays and tidal marshes. In Florida, extensive mangrove forests are found from Tampa Bay and Cape Canaveral southward. One great example where these forests abound is in the southern tip of Florida in Everglades National Park - this example is the Ten Thousand Islands, where hundreds of mangrove islands form winding waterways, salt marshes and bays in Florida Bay and the Gulf the Mexico, spreading northwestward to Naples and Marco Island. The Ten Thousand Islands is very important to wildlife. Red Mangrove is a great plant if you live along coastal areas, and if you do, and if you have this plant, try to preserve it well or plant it!

NOTES - Needs salty or brackish (salty and fresh water), wet areas.