growth of plants (need to trim?)

[mordrake]

my stem plants have been growing very fast.
some have already reach the water surface and beginning to bend.
is it ok to cut the stems and re-plant the cut plants?

i am using pl 2x18w lighting for a 1.5 feet tank.
enough lights? dunno y the stem plants start to bend

[juggler]

It's good to trim those away because they will be blocking the light from other plants below. It's good to replant the tops if not too troublesome to you. The bottom part can also grow and become bushier. Over time you might want to discard the bottom part of the plant too which has become "old".

If you don't cut and leave the stem growing on the surface, new shoots might appear and grow emersed.

[DEA]

stem plants will either bend or grow out of the water
ime only certain stem plants like to grow out of the water while others seem to enjoy trailing on the surface
technically the best thing to do is to pull up the bugger, snip and replant the top
but it's very sickening to see all the base fert follow the roots, so what some people do is they snip off the offending top at the place where it joins the main stem and leave it alone

the problem with this is the plant stem will eventually stagnate and die off
so, try to alternate the two methods if you're going to be slack

[vinz]

Most stem plants grow back multiple shoots and become bushy if you cut off the tops and leave the bottom planted. After this is repeated a few times, the bottoms become old and scraggly. This is when you uproot the bottoms and replant the tops.

[mordrake]

which means that i will have to overhaul my tank after some time right?
if the condition of the base of the plants get bad enough for a overhaul, how will it impact the fishes n plants?
need to re-cycle tank?

[Lighthammer]

Sorry to hijack this thread guys...

I have some problems when i uproot the plants that i don't intend to keep in my tank. But some of these plants have a really strong root system and when i pull them up they pull up my base fert as well (eg. H.Difformis). Really gives me a headache as i have to do a large water change. Any advice how to uproot the plants without causing the base fert to leach into the water column?

[bclee]

Just pull it up very slowly. Pull a bit, jiggle a bit to let the gravel settle, pull a little more... (repeat)

BC

[juggler]

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On 4/29/2003 11:15:13 AM

which means that i will have to overhaul my tank after some time right?
if the condition of the base of the plants get bad enough for a overhaul, how will it impact the fishes n plants?
need to re-cycle tank?
----------------

You can do a little each time. Even among the stem plants, you can choose to do snip-off-and-throw or replant-the-top-and-discard-bottom alternately.

That's why it can be quite tedious to maintain a tank full of stem plants. But not so tedious as to overhaul the whole tank!

[dx]

I would prefer to let them grow emerge and only trim those above water level. Why ? I think those leaves will be able to take in CO2 more efficiently from the air and because of this advantage, it produces healthier tank. Of course blocking the light is one disadvantage so some arrangement in the planats is needed. The stem is bend near the surface because it is not strong enough to support aerial growth. I am wondering if we could somehow clip the stem so to support it growth upwards to the air (I haven't try yet).