Make A Plant Bushy

[donkey]

Hi guys
whats the best way to trim a plant to make it more bushy

 

[PaulEbs]

Hi guys
whats the best way to trim a plant to make it more bushy

I'm no expert, but I do know that different plants have different requirements.

What sort of plant is it?

Paul.

 

[donkey]

no sure to be honest mate .its kind of long stemed and has bushy kinds of leaves on it .i some times i cut the tops off and push them in the sand and it starts to grow again

 

[TammyLiz]

This may sound a little bit too obvious, but maybe you should buy a plant that is bushier? If you're dealing with a stem plant and you want it to look like a bush you can trim it to keep it low, and plant a group of stems together. Simpler would be to get some java fern windelov or some other plant that has a bush-like appearance anyways.

 

[donkey]

sounds like a good plan .but my plants only live about 3 weeks anyway .the one i have now seams to be the only one i can keep for any length of time . i will see if i can find a pic of it

 

[atmmachine816]

You might be buying non-aquatic plants, check out plantgeek.net before buying plants to see their requirements.

austin

 

[donkey]

i cant seam to find a pic of this plant .but it looks a little like CABOMBA but not as fine .i get most of my plants from Greenline over here in the U.K

 

[lljdma06]

It depends on the type of plant. Many times, exposing a stemplant to more intense lighting will cause more "compact" growth. You can, however, also train many stemplants to become more bushy. When you prune a stemplant, you cut a length of stem and replant the top. If you cut halfway, you can use both sides. The top can be replanted and will usually form a long shoot. The bottom half will also grow, but it will usually spring a side shoot or two, creating a more bushy effect. I do this on a regular basis with my rotala , HM, and egeria to get a more "bushy" appearence. In addition, if you allow a stemplant to float along the surface, you can also get side shoots to for, making for a more bushy look. This method is just for stemplants. For root-feeders like crypts and amazons, I find it works best to just remove the tallest leaves. For bulbs like Nymphaea, you can train it to grow shorter by not allowing the leaves to hit the surface.

Hope this helps,

llj

 

[donkey]

Thanks for that lljdma06 .i tend to just cut the black stuff off and keep as much green as i can . and replant whats left

 

[d3tained]

Hi

I have found two ways to get stem plants to bush.Trim them very hard all over every 3 weeks depending on the growth speed OR give them limited amount of space to grow in for a while and it will grow more closley together to use all space availabile.Worked for me before but only my PO.

 

[MoreCoffee]

sounds like a good plan .but my plants only live about 3 weeks anyway .the one i have now seams to be the only one i can keep for any length of time . i will see if i can find a pic of it

Donkey,

To be honest I'd start by looking at why your plants only live for about 3 weeks.
Assuming that your plants are true aquatic plants, something they require must be missing, some plants have much higher requirements than others when it comes to light or nutrients etc
There are other plants that have much lower requirement and are much easier to grow successfully.

If you can figure out what it is and change it then you'll probably save lots of money through not having to buy new plants all the time....

What size is your tank ?
How much light does it have over it ?
What sort of substrate does the tank have ?
Does the tank have an undergravel filter (these can sometimes cause problems with plants) ?
Do you add any aquatic plant fertiliser ?

Cheers

 

[PaulEbs]

From your description, it sounds like Elodea Densa, or similar?

 

[donkey]

Thanks for the help so far guys .lots of good tips there my tank is 50x18x15 . it has two T8s and two T5s over it .i did have more tubes over it but i turned them off . its been running for about 5 years now .at present it has Discus in it .i have had fish for most of my life .never had any problems keeping them . then one day i got some plants then all my problems started .

after about a few weeks of having the plants the BGA started it coverd everything in the tank .so i tryed more lights .then less lights .then CO2 .nothing worked .i did the EI thing for 8 months and i still had it .blacked the tank out for 3 days .it came back after about 2 weeks . dont get me wrong the plants do grow but they get coverd in this black slime so i have to cut it off the plants every few days . the slower growing plants die in about 5 days . i stair the sand up every week when i do my water change and it stinks so it must be under the sand as well .

The only thing that has ever worked is Antibiotics but i need to keep adding them every few month for it to keep the black slime away .but there hard to come by over here in the U.K and its starting to cost to much now for me to keep putting them in the tank . to be honest i think im at the end of trying to keep plants as im getting sick of it . all i ever wanted was to grow nice green plants and not black ones .

sorry forgot to say that all my plants are true aquatic plants and i do add fertiliser . and i am using power filters no undergravel filter .