ECAAC Programs
Horticulture Awards Program
Recognising excellence in aquatic plant propagation. The Horticulture Awards Program (HAP) celebrates members who demonstrate dedication, skill, and innovation in the propagation of aquatic plants. By encouraging the cultivation of a broad range of species, supporting experimentation with challenging plants, and sharing successful propagation techniques, the program strengthens the knowledge and diversity within the ECAAC community.
I. Purpose
What the program is here to do
Our Horticulture Awards Program is designed to:
- Promote the keeping and propagation of a wide variety of aquatic plant species.
- Recognise outstanding achievement in the propagation of aquatic plant species.
- Encourage research into the propagation of the more difficult species.
- Make accounts of successful propagation techniques available to society members.
Function and authority of the ECAAC Committee
The committee shall oversee and enforce all rules and regulations governing the Horticulture Awards Program (HAP). Among these are verifying and awarding points to qualifying members, keeping proper records of points and awards, making proper awards to qualifying members, and reviewing the rules and regulations for possible improvements.
Submit a propagation
Log a qualified propagation
Unlike a photo-verified spawning, HAP proof is physical: a portion, bunch, or plant from your propagation must be donated to the next monthly meeting auction. Have your details ready before you start.
- 1Fill in the species and propagation details in the form. Use the species classification list below to find the right class.
- 2Bring one healthy portion, bunch, or plant to the next general meeting for the committee to verify and donate to the auction.
- 3Submit the form. This opens a pre-filled email to the committee — just hit send from your email app.
- 4The committee verifies your propagation against the requirements below and confirms your points at the next general meeting.
II. The Program
Six levels, built on accumulated points
The HAP honours ongoing dedication to aquatic plant propagation. Members progress through six levels based on points earned from verified, qualified propagations — points are set by each species' classification (see Species Classes below), so harder-to-propagate species move you up faster.
- A plant qualifies as aquatic if, in nature, it is found submerged at some point during any calendar year.
- The program is made up of six levels of achievement, as set out below.
- Points are earned per verified propagation, based on the point value of the species classification.
- Certificates and/or plaques will be awarded to horticulturists in each category.
- Attainment of any level will be recognised at the next general meeting after official verification.
- Participants reaching Grand Master will be awarded a Lifetime membership in the ECAAC.
- Uncommonly propagated species may be considered by the committee for special recognition.
- Award levels for speciality propagation (e.g. Aponogeton, Echinodorus, Cryptocoryne, Hygrophila) will be determined by the committee as required.
| Achievement | Points Required | Award |
|---|---|---|
| Novice Horticulturist | 25 pts | Certificate |
| Aquatic Horticulturist | 75 pts | Certificate |
| Intermediate Horticulturist | 125 pts | Certificate |
| Advanced Horticulturist | 200 pts | Certificate |
| Master Horticulturist | 300 pts | Certificate & Plaque |
| Grand Master Horticulturist | 500 pts | Certificate, Plaque & Lifetime Membership |
III. Requirements
What counts as a qualified propagation
- Plants reproduced must conform with the following definition of an aquatic plant: an aquatic plant is one that, in the wild or native site, can be found in the submerged state as a normal occurrence at some time during the course of any calendar year.
- Plants submitted for verification must be identified by the individual participant and confirmed by the ECAAC committee. If correct identification cannot be made, the species in question may be assigned a code number for recording purposes until identification can be made.
- Propagation must occur in the member's own tanks or facilities, and must meet the following standards: Floating plants — doubling of the original amount. Stem plants — doubling of the original amount, to be determined by a root count of growing stems; bunch plants are not part of the runner/division classification. Reproduction by runner or division — one healthy plant capable of living independently from the parent plant while the parent plant is still alive and in good health. Sexual reproduction — one plant reproduced from seed produced from the aquarist's own parent plant.
- Proof of propagation is defined as one portion, bunch, or plant from the submitted propagation, verified and donated to the regular monthly meeting auction.
- Propagation points will be awarded after proof of propagation and submission of a completed HAP report form.
- Points are awarded once per species for vegetative propagation. Sexual reproduction of the same species may be submitted once as a separate entry under Class F. No points will be awarded for additional colour varieties or repeat propagations of the same species.
- Species not listed in the classifications below will be assigned a class by the committee at the time of submission.
- First club propagation bonus: any species never before submitted to the ECAAC HAP earns an additional 5 points, encouraging members to widen the variety of plants available to the club.
Species Classifications & Point Values
Find your species' class
Point values scale with how challenging a species is generally considered to propagate.
Prolific species that propagate near-automatically under basic conditions: Duckweed, Salvinia, Frogbit, Water Lettuce, Hornwort, Elodea/Egeria, Najas (Guppy Grass), Water Sprite (Ceratopteris), Hygrophila polysperma, Cabomba caroliniana, Water Wisteria.
Reliable growers needing modest care: Vallisneria, Dwarf Sagittaria, Java Fern, Java Moss and common mosses (Christmas, Flame), Anubias (rhizome division), Cryptocoryne wendtii and other common crypts, Ludwigia repens, Rotala rotundifolia, Bacopa, Hygrophila corymbosa, Pearlweed, Amazon Frogbit, Pennywort.
Species needing good light, nutrients, or patience: Amazon Swords and other Echinodorus (runner/plantlet), Aponogeton (division), less common Cryptocoryne (balansae, spiralis, parva), Bolbitis, Bucephalandra, Nymphaea and Nymphoides (vegetative), Staurogyne repens, Alternanthera reineckii, Blyxa japonica, carpeting plants (Monte Carlo, Glossostigma), Riccia (anchored), Lobelia cardinalis.
Demanding species typically requiring CO₂, soft water, or strong light: Rotala macrandra and other demanding Rotala, Ammannia, Ludwigia 'Pantanal' and 'Cuba', Hemianthus callitrichoides (HC Cuba), Utricularia graminifolia, blackwater Cryptocoryne (keei, striolata, nurii), Madagascar Lace Plant (division), Syngonanthus, Cryptocoryne with documented emersed-to-submersed conversion.
Expert level: Tonina fluviatilis, Eriocaulon species, difficult blackwater Cryptocoryne grown to division, Madagascar Lace sustained over multiple generations, marine macroalgae (where admitted by the club), and any Class D species propagated at scale (committee discretion).
Sexual Reproduction Bonus — not a standalone class. Any species propagated from seed produced by the member's own parent plant earns its usual class value plus 15 points, reflecting that flowering, pollinating, and raising from seed is the horticultural equivalent of breeding the most challenging fish. Examples: Aponogeton from seed, Nymphaea from seed, Echinodorus from flower-spike seed (not adventitious plantlets).
Ready to log your first propagation?
Whether it's your first runner off a sword plant or a hard-won Tonina division, the committee wants to see it at the next auction.
Submit a propagation