Trimming techniques

[Darkkon]

Just trimmed my Ludwiga last night cos they were growing too fast too furious... anyway i wanted to ask what do people normally mean when they say "clip and replant"? Does it mean you cut the root off and replant the stem? That was what i did but i found out pulling the roots out after that was a whole lot of mess... is it ok if i just clip the top off, though it makes the plant somewhat ugly? Ludwiga roots went all the way into my fertiliser and i really dun want to experience the mess again especially when they grow very densely together and it's hard to replant them in the same spot. Many thanks! [:]

[jacian]

Yes, what you did is fine.

[Simon]

for my personal experience pruning can be done either by cutting off the stem e.g. 15cm from the tip down and replanting it (I do this to propagate more stalks). The other way is to simply cut off the stem as above and throwing the bottom portion away.

how pruning is done, depends on the effect you wish to achieve (e.g. bushy effect) also depending on the species, some plants requires light penetration at the bottom, or else they will rot. While others can be tightly packed together as a bunch

[Darkkon]

Ok... but don't you guys find pulling out the stalk create a whole lot of mess? Not to mention replanting it is hard when it was in a densely planted spot before you pulled it out? How do you keep the hassle to a minimum?

[theodore]

Instead of doing it one stalk at a time, I always pull out, cut and the replant a bunch.

Btw, what kind of Ludwigia are you keeping? Those in my tank (Ludwigia sp)don't seem to have thick, long roots.

[Simon]

Dark,

it depends.. sometimes, I rip out everything and start anew.. [] a water change with solve the cloudiness. I have tried half of tank of ludwigia sp. , weekly maintenance for a must

[Darkkon]

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On 8/7/2003 10:53:38 PM

Instead of doing it one stalk at a time, I always pull out, cut and the replant a bunch.

Btw, what kind of Ludwigia are you keeping? Those in my tank (Ludwigia sp)don't seem to have thick, long roots.
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Hee hee hee hee hee... I learn something new everyday... lesson of the day today is that I actually have 2 variaties of Ludwigia without knowing it! When i bought them from Teo's it was because there's this very tanned guy who recommend me this plant when i told him i wanted something long enough to cover all the filter pipes. So i also don't know the name, had to find out myself. Patrons of Teo's might know that they don't really go by scientific names .

While finding out exactly what species of Ludwigia mine is I also checked out what is Ludwigia sp. and turns out that I have some mixed into my Ludwigia arcuata, and all along i thought they are the same [].

So anyway i have both, but FYI Ludwigia is more of a pain than a gain... the man wasn't kidding when he said it grows super fast. I foresee many maintainence days ahead. But it smells really nice when out of the water though! []