Trimming of Stemmed Plants

[renrub]

Had bad experience with some thin stemmed plants like rotala indica. Problem is when i cut off the top and leave the bottom part to grow, it'll grow produce two or more shoots where i cut it. Overtime, i get more and more shoots.

Can someone advise or share your own experiences on how to trim stemmed plants?

I tried uprooting the bottom parts and replant the crown portion but it always create a mess in the tank when the fert mixes with the water.

[xxdivinityxx]

IMO most would trim them at the bottom, in the lower mid region, so when they actually split, they'll grow up nicely into looking like full bush which is what most dutch-aquascaping stylist do.

Please correct me if i'm wrong

[chua]

I had the same problem.
The more i trim, the thicker it becomes.
What i did is that i remove just a few stalks of the stem plant and that really help.
Since it is thicker, we do not need that many stalks as before.

[sherchoo]

Personnaly I'll uprrot them all and plant the top portion again. It does cause some mess. I only perform this task following a major water change. I'll siphon as much dirt that is waterbourne as possible. Normally clears up the next morning.

[Darkkon]

In my opinion trimming them into a bush shape might not always be desirable. I have a bush of what looks like bog moss (not too sure abt id) which started ok, after trimming became Y shaped bush, blocking light to hairgrass below. Upon each trimming the Y shape became wider and wider. And because it's a bush i dun think i can possibly uproot and replant the whole bush. Quite a headache.

Single stalks like my Ludwigia i will cut and replant. Makes a mess but worth it rather than having branched out stalks which looks freaky.