Hi Kyle!
Most plants sold online are emersed grown. We do grow them out in our own tanks as long as we can but when a plant becomes more popular it generally spends less time in our tanks as we unfortunately have limited space to grow out all of the many plants we have instock usually, while also meeting the high demand for them. We do have a blog post where we do share where most of our plants come from (domestic plant nurseries) and how they are grown before we sell them. You can have a look at that blog post here: https://www.windycityaquariums.com/blogs/blog/how-we-keep-our-plants-healthy.
We do try to be as transparent and as accurate as possible about our plants, but the plants we get can vary slightly in size and appearance depending on seasonal changes and how long the plants have been growing in our tanks. Our less popular plants naturally spend more time growing in our tanks, so they are usually more transitioned. As mentioned we do try to grow the plants as long as we can before they are sold but with limited space, it is hard to keep a lot of plant inventory on hand to transition before we put them up for sale. We generally transition them at least to the point where it will be less likely to melt in our customers' tank, so the plant has a better chance of thriving in their tanks.
As for the Ludwigia Super Red Mini, the color can vary depending on the conditions it is grown under. With high intense lighting, it will easily grow more red in color. We do have a few pictures of the Ludwigia Super Red Mini that shows a variation of what it may look like when grown under different conditions, but we cannot always guarantee the plants will look the same as again, it does depend on seasonality and the environment it is grown under.
We unfortunately can't guarantee any of our plants to be 'pest' free, which does include duckweed, although we do try our best to pick any visible 'pests' out of the plants when we are packing them. We do recommend that our customers thoroughly rinse newly received plants and to quarantine any plants before adding them to their main tanks if they are worried about 'pests'.
But anyways, we hope to impress you on your next order as we do appreciate the support and appreciate the feedback!
