I went a few towns over to Guánica a couple of days ago to get some bulk potting/propagation soil at a place by the coast, and I came back with two Black Mangrove (I think) seedlings and a Red Mangrove propagule straight from the tree. Currently have them soaking in water to acclimate them a bit before planting them in a drainless pot. No idea what to expect, but I bet it’ll be fun to grow these here, inland.
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Cool, that looks like a fun project.
I know lots of people that grow them sticking out of their aquarium. Everyone says they grow faster in the salt.
I thought about adding marine salt, but I figured that if there was a spill somehow, I wouldn’t want that salt in the backyard soil with my fruit trees. Slow burning growth for me. 
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We have 6-8 propagules of Red Mangroves. I have a collector’s license for mangroves (and also small fish) so I grabbed some the last time I went to the Keys and I also got some from a conference at SeaWorld. We are also inland, so mine are in fresh water. They grow fine in fresh water.
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I always wanted some since the Mom and Pop pet and Garden store I worked for sold them one time for aquariums. I was too broke to buy one! I see them now and again and am reminded about it.
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I’ve seen lots of impressive marine tanks with mangroves online, I’d love to make a marine planted tank at some point. I feel like coastal and marine gardening is a relatively untapped hobby. Hydroponic samphire over a saltwater tank seems like a great way to get some salty greens in your salad.
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I killed off the first mangroves. I came prepared the second time, and had a container, soil and sand ready for them. I brought back three fruits off a tree, and soon prepared the container with a deep layer of soil topped with a layer of silica sand. I added tap water and then planted the mangroves. They look like they’re slowly growing in just fine (much healthier than my previous, mistreated batch).
But now I’m wondering how to handle the substrate issue and water changes. I haven’t changed it yet (it’s been a couple of weeks), and it’s looking off-color and a bit oozy, with bubbles. From Walstadt type aquariums, I know deep substrate can produce anaerobic conditions and possibly hydrogen sulfide, but the YouTube videos I saw on growing potted mangroves didn’t address anaerobic substrate, just water changes (hosing in fresh new water). I can change the water like this, but the substrate issue worries me.
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put something in there that can create water movement to keep it oxygenated like a small usb water pump. just scoop some out and replace it to keep it fresh.
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I have seen mangrove trees put into the back of a filter of an aquarium and grow from there. Pretty sweet.
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Note that mangroves typically grow in anaerobic soil. Especially black or red mangroves (which these are probably a type of red). They are adapted to very poor soil in addition to there salt tolerence.
My last one died. I put the pot in our pond to start growing its roots out, but it tipped over one day and rotted in the mucky water. It probably would have died when that pond froze over anyways.
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So they grow better in salt water, but can they grow in fresh water? They sure would look cool in my greenhouse pond. (when I someday have a greenhouse 
)
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I don’t know if they grow better in salt water, thats just where they are found. They propagate by floating propagules (already sprouted seedlings encased in the fruit essentially) in the ocean and emerge when they anchor or stop moving around. They are more likely to end up in salt water because of that. They grow pretty deep up rivers though, where the water is mostly if not completely fresh.
They just have an adaption for saltwater growing if needed. Different mangroves have different ways to filter out the salt.
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I have sold and taken care of a lot of mangroves in aquariums. They grow about half as fast in full salt or full fresh, but they do fine in both. They definitely grow the fastest in brackish water.
One beautiful way to grow a display of mangrove is out of the top of a 55 gallon acrylic hex or 27 hexagon acrylic tank. It’s quite a nice look. It supports the plant nicely and has lots of room for all the roots. The acrylic top deck is perfect support area for this. I will have to take a pick next time I service that tank. I am sad I did not have one ready.
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