Pruning Plants

[Angry_Platy]

I have a few plants that are growing out of control....which I guess is a good thing since I must be doing something right

2 weeks ago I trimmed my ambulia by kind of pulling the tops off....now where I pulled off the tops the stems seem to be dying. So I was in chat and asked Nisha why and she says I need to trim at the nodes using proper trimming scissor things...what is a node? Where exactly am I meant to trim? What kind of scissors do I need to do this?

Any help would be most appreciated

 

[gaya]

Hi Angry!

I think you can get aquarium scissors at your lfs. I think i've seen them at mine. I don't use them personally, I just pinch the stem off at the base of the plant with my finger nails.

Node: The point on a plant stem where a leaf or leaves are attached; the point on a stem from which new leaves or stems will grow.

 

[Mr Miagi]

Yeah, sometims if you just pull off plants they rot in the water, so its best to use somesort of scissor or knife. I have just bought a really sharp pair of scisors and they are doing the job.

Im not sure about exactly where to trim, but i do it just abouve where the leaves are or bellow the last set of leaves by a few centimetres.

Goodluck

 

[Yenko]

I use a pair of small, sharp scissors to cut my plants, and a razor to scrape alage off the sides of the tank. I've also used a pair of tweezers from a swiss army knife to plant small plants.

Nodes are junctions between the sections of a stem plant's stem. They are where the plant will grow leaves or branch off.

 

[Mr Miagi]

hey Yenko, i read and heard of ppl using razor blades etc, to cut glass......*shudders, an easier and safer way is to use an old student ID card. Trust me, it does work! Or any plastic card you dont want!

 

[Angry_Platy]

ha ha...thanks peeps...kinda makes sense

I use an old credit card to scrape algae...works like a dream.

Razor blades can't cut glass....the only thing that can cut glass is diamond

 

[Mr Miagi]

Glass can be cut by things other than diamonds. Try a rock.