The specification of programming “rules” that apportion growth to various plant organs within an eelgrass ramet constitutes the most original contribution of the Virtual Eelgrass Meadow (VEM). The following descriptions of the VEM individual-based model (IBM) rules are representative of the more creative aspect of numerical simulation, where the computing environment allowed for the creation of a virtual, visual world of growing and colonizing eelgrass shoots. While this description may conjure a task comparable to cartoon animation, the process of developing the VEM was grounded with empirical data and general biological knowledge of how these plants grow and reproduce. The process of crafting these rules-based descriptions also forced a reckoning with our understanding of life history stages, botanical units, and separation of above and belowground growth. At a moment in time when our technological tools enable ever more sophisticated images and visualizations, it should be emphasized that the value of the VEM is as a computationally enumerated hypothesis that may test our understanding and serve as a starting point for further investigations of eelgrass autoecology.