Maestro Blue is one of the stronger blue-toned Bucephalandra — slender oval leaves that shimmer metallic blue through green into violet depending on the light. Like every blue Buce, what you actually see depends heavily on the lamp above the tank. What You'll Receive Sold as loose Bare-Root or Potted plants: 1 Bare-Root: Approximately 5+ leaves 5 Bare-Root: Approximately 25+ leaves total 10 Bare-Root: Approximately 50+ leaves total 1 Potted: Approximately 10+ leaves 5 Potted: Approximately 50+ leaves total 10 Potted: Approximately 100+ leaves total Plant Profile Common name — Maestro Blue Buce Scientific name — Bucephalandra sp. 'Maestro Blue' Also known as — Buce Maestro Blue Origin — Borneo (genus range) Placement — Foreground to midground, attached to hardscape Mature height — 2-4 inches Growth rate — Very slow Care Difficulty — Beginner Light — Low to medium. Brighter light lifts the shimmer but brings algae the plant is too slow to outgrow. CO₂ — Not required. Strengthens color and steadies growth if you already run it. Water — 72-82°F, pH 6.0-7.5 Substrate — None needed. Epiphyte; feeds from the water column. Growth habit — Amphibious rhizome creeper; grows submersed or emersed Propagation — Rhizome division Grower's Notes Your light source decides whether this plant looks blue. The shimmer is a surface reflection, not a pigment. Under RGB or full-spectrum lighting it reads clearly blue and violet; under warm white the same plant looks plain dark green. Check the lamp before assuming you received the wrong thing. Position it where light rakes across the leaves at an angle rather than hitting them square — that is when structural color shows. Never bury the rhizome. Tie or glue it to wood or rock and leave it exposed; buried rhizomes rot. Farm-raised, not wild-collected. All the Bucephalandra we carry is farm-grown, and much of it is raised from tissue culture rather than collected from Borneo. Some leaf melt after shipping is normal. The rhizome survives and pushes new submersed leaves within a few weeks. Want the tissue-culture version? See Bucephalandra Maestro Blue Vitro Culture. Want to go deeper? Read our complete Bucephalandra Care Guide. Notes Like most Bucephalandra, minor leaf melt may occur after introduction as the plant adjusts to new water parameters. This is normal and temporary — new submersed leaves regrow from the rhizome once the plant stabilizes. Never release aquarium plants into natural waterways.
