Any Tips For Hygrophillia Polysperma

[mattwhite]

I have some Hygrophillia Polysperma growing ain the back right corner of my 80l tank. I really like this plant as it grows well and the fish love hiding in its leaves.
The only problem i have with this plant is that it seems to get too leggy very quickly. When this happens i prune the largest stems and replant them in bunches to fill in the gaps around the existing stems.

My problem is that I use metal strips to weight the new bunces down but after a couple of days the stalks always seem to break free and end up floating around.

Any tips on keeping this plant looking 'bushy' and 'full'.

(hope all this makes sense)

 

[madcaow]

i just prune regularly, i just look at how its growing and prune the parts that are getting a bit crazy big. it usually splits and gets quite bushy covering all the horrible looking roots underneath hah.

what kind of substrate do you have?? i dont seem to have any issues keeping the cuttings stuck in there. i have smallish gravel.

 

[Themuleous]

If you can just plant it in the gravel, that should hold it.

Sam

 

[JamesC]

How much light do you have in your tank as 'leggy' plants are usually due to insufficient light?

 

[robjack]

In terms of keeping it rooted without using weights, I tend to prune the plant in half, then when replanting the top half, push the bottom leaves under the ground. They anchor the plant down, just as roots would, and I never have a problem with them floating up etc.

Rob.