Greater Seattle Aquarium Society

Horticulture Awards Program (HAP)

Requirements

1. A doubling of the original amount of plant material is necessary to receive credit for reproducing bunch plants or floating plants.
2. The reproduction of one separate plant is sufficient in the case of plants that produce runners (like Amazon swords).
3. Plants produced sexually must be large enough to identify as the same as the parent plant.
4. Ferns and plants reproduced by rhizome division (such as Anubias) must be free of the parent plant and at least 1/4 the size of the parent plant.
5. Propagation by seed points will be awarded in addition to points awarded for flowering.
6. Points for flowering of plants may be awarded for either submerged or emersed specimens.

Additional Criteria

1. Points are awarded for only two reproductions of each species.
2. Seeds must have been propagated from the breeder's own plants.
3. Report forms should be given to the HAP chairperson or any GSAS board member either by mail or at the monthly meeting.
4. The aquarist must be a member in good standing (dues paid) of the Greater Seattle Aquarium Society.
5. All participants are encouraged to give a short oral report of the details involved in propagation of plants that have been submitted for points. An article to be published in the monthly bulletin would be greatly appreciated for any plants, especially in class D or E.
6. Propagations and/or tanks should be witnessed by a GSAS member. A photograph is an acceptable alternative.

Awards

Novice Plant Breeder

50 points, any class

Aquatic Horticulturist

100 points, max 50 in class A

Advanced Aquatic Horiculturist

200 points, at least one in class C,E

Expert Aquatic Horticulturist

300 points, oral or written report

Master Aquatic Horticulturist

400 points, write at least one report for the bulletin and present a program at a general meeting

Point Classification for Plant Species

Class A --- 5 points

• All bunch plants or floating plants unless otherwise mentioned
• Salvinia (floating fern)
• Azolla (fairy moss, actually a floating fern)
• Eichhornia crassipes (water hyacinth)
• Pistia stratiotes (water lettuce)
• Vesicularia dubyana (Java moss)
• Lemna sp. (duckweed)
• Hygrophila, Nomaphila, Synnema (green hygro, giant hygro, wysteria, etc.)
• Ceratophyllum (hornwort)
• Limnophila (ambulia)
• Bacopa
• Potamogeton (pondweed)
• Najas
• Utricularia (bladderwort)
• Hydrilla
• Myriophyllum (milfoil, foxtail)
• Nitella sp. (hairgrass)
• Elodea/Egeria (anachris)

Class B --- 10 points

• Riccia fluitans (crystalwort)
• Valisneria sp.
• Sagittaria sp.
• Hydrocotyle (pennywort)
• Ceratopteris (water sprite)
• Microsorum pteropus (Java fern)
• Echinodorus tenellus, et. al. (pygmy chain swords)
• Rotala sp.
• Isotes sp.
• Elocharis (spike rush)
• Didiplis diandra
• Lobelia cardinalis
• Ludwigia sp.
• Cabomba sp.

Class C --- 15 points

• Cryptocoryne sp.
• Aponogeton sp. except A. madagascareiensis
• Barclaya longifolia
• Anubias sp.
• Echinodorus sp. (except for pygmy chain swords)
• Nymphaea, Nuphar, Nymphoides (water lily, pond lily, banana plant)
• Lagenardra sp.
• Samolus sp. (water cabbage)
• Ammania sp.

Class D --- 25 points

• Aponogeton madagascariensis (M. lace plant)
• Ottelia alismoidees

CLASS E --- special, 25 points

• Flowering of any plant (two per species allowable)
• Propagation of any plant from seeds produced by an aquatist's plant (two propagations per species are allowable)
• Propagation of a plant that is a first by a GSAS member
• Donation of any plants to GSAS for auction

Submitting

GSAS tries to make submitting HAP points as easy as possible. Therefore, you can submit your plant reproductions verbally to the HAP chair during the meeting, or by phone, FAX, e-mail, or any other method. We have no forms! Here is information that would be useful to include:

• The plant genus, species (if known, or description of plant if not known), and common name
• Manner by which it was reproduced (stem cutting, runner, stalk, rhizome division, etc). If submitting class "E" items, note which one.
• How many reproductions (remember, we give credit for up to two per species)
• If you want to get more serious, you can also include information about your tank (filtration, fertilization, fish, algae, snails, lighting, water chemistry, etc)