Pruning Vallis

[Ebbo]

Hi,

Has anyone got any tips on pruning the smaller variety of vallisneria? It's spreading nicely however the leaves are getting extremeley long and I wondered if there was any better way to prune them?

I used to cut them off at the water line when I grew the much larger variety, however this always resulted in the ends getting algae ridden.

Thanks,
Paul

 

[Schmill]

Seems cutting with SHARP scissors is the recommended way;

Pruning

Tape Grasses
(Vallis, Sagittaria etc..)
These plants are all connected together by horizontal runners at the base of the leaves, they have normal roots on each plantlet but pulling one can result in the whole chain following on so be wary of this when pruning.

There is some debate over the pruning of vallis. I have often read that cutting mid leaf can result in brown tips followed by deterioration of the leaf. I have not had this problem myself and i do feel that as long as you use scarp scissors which don't crush the leaf then you can get away with it for a while. I always cut at a 45 degree angle so the cut leaf blends in with the uncut leaves next to it after pruning. You will however get to the point where it is taking over and needs thinning out. Remove whole plants by cutting the runners each side of the roots and removing whole plants.