Basic Guide to Proper Plant Trimming

[BLASK]

I got an assortment of south american plants - i need to know the proper way to trim an ANACHARIS and CABOMBA plant. Do i just snip the tops off? I am about to do this, but I want to make sure. THanks

This is the assortment I have, so any advice on proper trimming would be great. All I know so far is to cut the top!

2 MARBLE VALLISNERIA
1 AMAZON SWORD
1 RUBIN SWORD
6 DWARF CHAIN TENNELLUS
2 RED TEMPLE BUNCH PLANTS
2 MONEYWORT BUNCH PLANTS
1 RUFFLE SWORD
1 ANACHARIS BUNCH PLANT
2 CABOMBA BUNCH PLANT

 

[nodding_dino]

Hi Blask,

I asked the very same question a few weeks ago...(link here!), and the one thing that I would have done wrong was to chop the top off and chuck that bit...this is the wrong way of doing things though! You can prune the very top section a couple of times to promote bushier growth, but in the main, remove the top few inches of the plant...pull the bottom section out, and replace with the fresh top growth...

take a read of the link - a few of the 'old pros' helped out with some great tips and explain things more fully!

 

[BLASK]

EXCELLENT THANK YOU!!!!

i was about to do that same mistake lol

 

[jimbooo]

i was about to post a link to that thread, thanks ND.

glad we could help.

 

[kenneth_kpe]

so thats how you trim stem plants !!! ive been doing it wrong all along !!!

 

[jimbooo]

so thats how you trim stem plants !!! ive been doing it wrong all along !!!

[snapback]892516[/snapback]​

oops sorry just made me smile. you learn something every day!

 

[kenneth_kpe]

yup yup yup i always throw the top parts of my stem plants away and i always thought they were such a waste because they were so pink! (rotalas)

but there is justice why i just throw the top parts away! its hard to plant the top parts because they dont have roots yet ! they tend to float up sometimes! but thats just me being lazy eheheh

 

[jimbooo]

your not quite on track there ken.

For a stem plant pull the whole plant out of the substrate, cut off the bottom 1/4 and replant (the new "bottom" should still have roots coming out of the stem, you really want at least 3/4 root nodes left intact) then about a week pinch off the top bud and the plant will "fill out". a week or so later you can pinch off the next top bud. a further week and you have to cut the bottom again.

so day 1 cut bottom 1/4
after 1 week take off top bud
next week take off the next top bud
next week cut bottom 1/4 and so on

i remove the bottom 1/4 every 3 weeks with bud removal every weekend in between.

that schedule obviously depends on growth rate so adapt accordingly.
do that and in a month your rotalas will be pink top to bottom. at least much more pink than you've had before (in theory anyway).

hope that helps.
James

 

[kenneth_kpe]

hmmm im gonna try it out this weekend! massive plant cutting hehehehe