Temple Plant (Hygrophila corymbosa) - Potted

Temple Plant (Hygrophila corymbosa, the standard tall form, often sold as 'Stricta' or Giant Hygro) is one of the great beginner background plants. Thick sturdy stems carry big lance-shaped leaves in opposite pairs, and the whole thing grows fast enough to fill a back corner in a couple of months without asking for CO2, high light or anything unusual. If you want green mass behind everything else and you want it soon, this is the plant. Browse the rest of our live freshwater plants for the rest of the layout.

Care Guide

• Light: low to moderate is enough. It is one of the few background stem plants that stays presentable under modest lighting rather than stretching into bare stalks.
• CO2: not required. Growth is already fast without it.
• Fertilizer: this is a heavy feeder, and a hungry one shows it by yellowing older leaves or drilling pinholes through them. Root tabs such as Seachem Flourish Tabs plus water column dosing with Seachem Flourish keep it dark green.
• Water: 72 to 82°F, pH 6.0 to 7.5, soft to hard. Very tolerant.
• Expect to trim it. This is the trade-off for the speed. It will reach the surface and keep going, so cut it back every few weeks. Replant the tops, or discard them and let the cut stems branch.
• It arrived grown above water. Remove the pot and rockwool before planting. Some emersed leaves will melt during the switch to submersed growth, and new underwater leaves follow within a couple of weeks.

Specifications

Placement and Companions

Where it goes: back corners and along the rear glass in tanks 20 gallons and up. Its large leaves make it a poor choice for a nano, where it will swallow the scale of everything else.

This is the tall Temple, not the compact one. We also carry Compact Temple Plant, the dwarf 'Compact' cultivar that stays low and bushy in the midground and barely needs trimming. Same species, deliberately different jobs: buy this one for height and speed, that one for a tidy low bush.

Companions: pair with fine-textured stems like Water Wisteria or a red such as Ludwigia Super Red Mini so the background is not one uniform green. Anubias Barteri works well at its feet where the big leaves cast shade.

Fish and invertebrates: good cover for shy fish and fry, and safe with shrimp. Fast growth also makes it one of the better nutrient sponges for a tank fighting algae. Goldfish and large cichlids will eat it.

Recommended Supplies

• Seachem Flourish Tabs: root tabs, which this heavy root feeder genuinely needs.
• Seachem Flourish: comprehensive water column fertilizer to go with them.
• CaribSea Eco-Complete: a nutrient-rich substrate for fast-growing stems.
• Compact Temple Plant: the dwarf cultivar, for the midground in front of this.
• Water Wisteria: a finer-leaved background partner for texture contrast.

FAQ

How is this different from your Compact Temple Plant?
Size and speed. This is the standard tall form that reaches the surface and needs regular trimming. Compact is a dwarf cultivar that stays low, grows slowly and holds a tidy midground shape. Same species, very different plants in a tank.

How fast does it really grow?
Fast enough that you will be trimming every two to four weeks in a well-lit tank. That is the point of it, but do not buy it expecting a low-maintenance background.

My lower leaves are yellowing and full of holes.
Classic potassium and nutrient deficiency in a heavy feeder. Add root tabs and dose the water column. Pinholes in older leaves are the signature symptom.

Do I need CO2 or strong light?
Neither. This is one of the most reliable background plants for a low tech setup, which is exactly why it has been in the hobby for decades.