I have some swords that have some leaves in bad shape before I got everything settled in my aquarium. Some of it is shipping related I am sure but oh well. I have a few leaves that are brown or transparent looking. Will they get better or should I just prune them out?
Should I just cut off damaged sword leaves?
- Thread starter Yoemen
- Start date
Trim them off. Cut them as close to the base as possible. The plant will use its energy to grow new ones instead of wasting it trying to repair old leaves.
Prune them from the base of the stem without damaging the root. I usually don't wait that long to trim. When the leaf starts to turn yellow (I do it at the faintest change) I prune. Usually 2-3 new baby leaves in a couple of days.
i leave yellow leaves on... brown and dead ones, and severely damaged ones all get trimmed immediately.
kj5kb
KEEPER OF CATS, FISH AND CATFISHES
Ditto on trimming damaged leaves. I had a couple that languished with damaged leaves, but started anew when i gave 'em a severe pruning...wasn't much left but they bounced back fine. Same with anubias and Java ferns too.
echoofformless
Peat Advocate & Defender Of Snails
This goes for almost all heavy root feeders. Lose those dying leaves so the plant concentrates its energy on healthy and yet to be born leaves.
Yellow and brown tip ones too! Echoofformless hit the head of the nail. I've seen swords with 40-50 leaves and no brown or yellow tips. Pruning is the key. As I everytime you take one off, 2-3 babies show up. I've had to split some of my swords because they got so big. i didn't force, the plant demanded it! It was spliting anyway so I speeded up the process.
Good Luck
Good Luck