trimming stem plants

[Danielle]

How do you go about this?

do you trim off the tops and discard or replant and let things branch out from there?
do you uproot the plant, trim off and discard the bottom and then replant?
do a mix of both?

[goalcreas]

Depends on the stem plant.
For instance, Cabomba is best to remove the plant, trim the bottom off and re-plant.

Many other stem plants will grow several side shoots (most all do actually, but some don't look good that way) and get very FULL looking and with these plants that would be the desired effect.

Look at this wonderful tank to see what I mean by very full looking.

after the rain

[Danielle]

I have rotala indica and ludwigia arcuata that I'm mostly concerned about. I have some mayaca fluvitans but my shrimps mow down the leaves on it so I'm not worried about trimming it :29:

thanks! and that is a beautiful tank!!!!

Originally Posted by goalcreas

Depends on the stem plant.
For instance, Cabomba is best to remove the plant, trim the bottom off and re-plant.

Many other stem plants will grow several side shoots (most all do actually, but some don't look good that way) and get very FULL looking and with these plants that would be the desired effect.

Look at this wonderful tank to see what I mean by very full looking.

after the rain

[John N.]

Rotala indica and Ludwigia arcuata are easy ones tor trim, and follow the standard stem plant trimming guidelines.

1) Trim off half right under the node (see Plant Anatomy Article),
2) Replant top half
3) You can leave the bottoms and new stems will sprout from nodes.

To get a bushy effect, repeat #3 on several stems as they grow out. I think Mayaca fluvitans should be work out the same way.

-John N.