Effect of light on the growth of anarcharis leaves?

Question

I notice that my the leaves on my anarcharis is closer to each other. I installed a new light. Before the leaves used to be farther apart.
So what's going on?
Thank you so much!

Answer 1

I'd say the plant is responding to the change in your lighting.

Did you ever grow a plant from seed (either started indoors or outdoors) then switch it's location? Chances are that your plant may have changed the size or color of it's leaves, and how closely the leaves grew together.

I'd say that when you did this change, you may have either bought a more intense light, or a lamp/tube made specifically for plant growth. You may even see this effect when you change an old bulb/tube for a new one. Better lighting intensity, and better wavelengths for photosynthesis lets your plant produce leaves closer together. Under poorer lighting, each leaf has to have the maximum amout of light hit the surface, so they need to be spread further apart (especially for rooted plants, which will produce rapid growth to get their leave close to the light source - with better lighting, the light can penetrate into the water better, so the plant doesn't have to be in such a rush for height).

After about 6-9 months, the light quality starts to deteriorate, and you might notice the leaves getting farther apart again. You should plan to change the lamps/tubes at least once a year, even though they won't have burned out by that time. As the wavelengths become less suitable for vascular plants, they encourage alage growth.