plants with long stem at bottom

[panboy]

i have a couple plants that are very fast growing and grow to the top of the tank very fast.

however i have 2 bunches. and 1 is growing a whole bunch more starting at the roots.

and the other isnt. this 2nd one is very bare at the bottom and there are no leaves, however the plant is not dying at all. its bare for about 2 inches.

do all plants grow long stems at the bottom?
how can i make this bunch grow more 'baby' stems?

the left is a picture of a bare one, the left is the one that is good

 

[Bol]

Hi, panboy.

To start, the plant on the right sure looks a lot like Hydrocotyle Leucocephala, usually called "pennywort" or "Brazilian pennywort". I'm going to assume it is. (and you say the one on the left is the same plant?)

The ones I have grow those "roots" all over. There's a clump of them every couple of inches all the way up the stems. I have low-light (1 to 2 wpg) tanks, though.

From what I understand, these growths may be the plant trying to propogate, but usually they're produced merely to absorb more nutrients from the water. In almost a year, I've never seen a "new" stem grow from any of these growths. I've also seen similar growths (but far fewer of them) on anacharis stems.

Sorry, but I don't know how to make the plant grow more of them.

By the way, for info, in my experience it won't cause the plant any harm if you trim them off (if they become unsightly).

As for being bare on the bottom few inches, I often find that is the case (with pennywort and other stem plants), especially when there are many stems clumped very close together (like you have). I've always assumed this is because there's not enough light getting to that densely packed area to keep the leaves alive. I don't think the bareness is a problem for the plants, because mine seem to do fine higher up on the stem.

Hope that helps.