View Full Version : Planting Limnophila aromatica and the like ...
WaywardSon
08-25-2008, 8:35 PM
Just got through planting some Limnophila aromatica - much bigger job than I anticipated.
Would love to hear from the experts - for future reference, give me the inside "tricks" to planting Limnophila aromatica and other plants of this nature.
Hurley
08-25-2008, 8:50 PM
Trim from the top....it will produce side shoots and is much easier to deal with then having to replant after every trim. You can then put the tops in the substrate to propagate. You will have lots in no time!
calivivarium1
08-25-2008, 8:52 PM
Will it produce "leggy" plants if you constantly prune from the top?
WaywardSon
08-25-2008, 9:00 PM
How much of the top do you usually prune?
The actual putting them in the substrate seems to be a bit of a challenge. Any tips?
tweezers!! Flat tip tweezers are the ones i use (not ones for plucking eyebrows)
(typing out a few other things give me a min)
To give the plant a bushy look do what one would do with any stem plant. First plant the stem using tweezers. With a plant like limnophilia aromatica which has plenty of leaves, try and plant one stem at a time and separate it slightly (1/2" between each stem). Trimming the lower leaves is unnecessary since those at times help keep the plant down in the substrate.
Choose a stem thats about 6", plant it using tweezers and so on with the other stems. After a few weeks (or in this case Coy with your steroid co2 after a week) trim the plant about 4-5" from the substrate and replant the top anywhere in the tank (can sell/trade as well) That lower 5" half will soon develop 2+ shoots. Once those new shoots grow about 6-8" from the point where it branched off from the first lower half, trim it to about 5" again (so now thats 5" first lower + 5" new stem trim) so here you have a 10" plant. Give it a few more weeks and out of the previous 2+ stems you will now get even more shoots. Basically its like a tree branching.
Eventually as the plant reaches 15"+ it will have very full bushy appearance.
WaywardSon
08-25-2008, 9:05 PM
Maybe they are a little top heavy - you think? I couldn't get the tweezers off of them before they were floating out. Nothing like planting micro swords, hairgrass, etc with tweezers! I ended up wrestling them in (boy do I love that) - just looking for hints for next time (if there is one - lol).
Hurley
08-25-2008, 9:05 PM
Will it produce "leggy" plants if you constantly prune from the top?
It shouldn't. Trimming from the top should encourage bushy plants. Leggy plants could indicate a number of things such as too high of a temperature to too little light.
I usually trim off anywhere from 5-6inches when I trim, leaving anywhere from5-8 inches still in the substrate.
WaywardSon
08-25-2008, 9:15 PM
tweezers!!
(typing out a few other things give me a min)
To give the plant a bushy look do what one would do with any stem plant. First plant the stem using tweezers. With a plant like limnophilia aromatica which has plenty of leaves, try and plant one stem at a time and separate it slightly (1/2" between each stem). Trimming the lower leaves is unnecessary since those at times help keep the plant down in the substrate.
Choose a stem thats about 6", plant it using tweezers and so on with the other stems. After a few weeks (or in this case Coy with your steroid co2 after a week) trim the plant about 4-5" from the substrate and replant the top anywhere in the tank (can sell/trade as well) That lower 5" half will soon develop 2+ shoots. Once those new shoots grow about 6-8" from the point where it branched off from the first lower half, trim it to about 5" again (so now thats 5" first lower + 5" new stem trim) so here you have a 10" plant. Give it a few more weeks and out of the previous 2+ stems you will now get even more shoots. Basically its like a tree branching.
Eventually as the plant reaches 15"+ it will have very full bushy appearance.
Amazing - is there anything about this you don't know (besides where to get a pressurized Co2 setup for free - lol)?
My floor space is limited (as you have seen). What I ended up doing today was planting about 4 or 5 stems relatively close together. A couple have roots and the others are just stems. Should I rip them out and replant only a couple (rooted). It sounds like to cover the area I want to cover, only a plant or two into the substrate is required - ?? It will bush up from there - correct? Or, should I just leave the 4 or 5 planted?
Amazing - is there anything about this you don't know (besides where to get a pressurized Co2 setup for free - lol)?
My floor space is limited (as you have seen). What I ended up doing today was planting about 4 or 5 stems relatively close together. A couple have roots and the others are just stems. Should I rip them out and replant only a couple (rooted). It sounds like to cover the area I want to cover, only a plant or two into the substrate is required - ?? It will bush up from there - correct? Or, should I just leave the 4 or 5 planted?
With the trimming that i told you about, those 4-5 stems will give you 20 beautiful shoots at the top. But then again you dont always have to do that 2nd trim. This way you will have about 10 shoots.
Really want to see how this plant will do under your lighting/co2. Normally under great conditions this plant gets very very beautiful
WaywardSon
08-25-2008, 9:25 PM
Cool - I'll leave the 4 or 5 I have in there (hope they are not jammed). We'll see what happens! Let the magic begin (LOL)!
Cool - I'll leave the 4 or 5 I have in there (hope they are not jammed). We'll see what happens! Let the magic begin (LOL)!
only issue that can occur if they are jammed together is that once the plant gets tall, the lower parts of the plant will not be able to get the light they need, and thats when the lower leaves will drop. But if you have midground plants they should be able to block off the ugly bottoms
WaywardSon
08-25-2008, 9:30 PM
They are behind the driftwood and just to the left of the dwarf hairgrass (right side of tank). They replaced that big ugly, stringy bush plant that was taking over the right side of the tank. The Mrs. said it should go - that was all the "push" I needed.
They came a little curved from packaging (ordered them from a member) - eager for them to straighten up!
WaywardSon
08-25-2008, 9:44 PM
Should I thin? There are 5 stems back in there.
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=321&pictureid=2081
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=321&pictureid=2082
Will they straighten up okay?
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=321&pictureid=2084
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=321&pictureid=2083
WaywardSon
08-25-2008, 9:49 PM
Notice how I sprinkled just a small taste of the glosso in the pics???
let the stems stay for a few days. With the light they should straighten out in no time. Then decide if you want to trim now or later..
glosso looking good lol
WaywardSon
08-25-2008, 9:53 PM
Cool - as usual, thanks BK! (No, I'm not sending the **** Co2 setup!)
Cool - as usual, thanks BK! (No, I'm not sending the **** Co2 setup!)
Then i take back everything I said :devil:
Fordtrannyman
08-26-2008, 12:47 AM
My technique is to slightly bend the bottom of the stem under the substrate to keep it down. I tend to let is get to the desired height and then top and replant.
Furthermore if they do not get good light penetration to the bottom part of the plant the leaves will fall out. This plant is also an Iron hog. Lots of Iron makes it purple/red on both sides of the leaves.
WaywardSon
08-26-2008, 7:42 AM
My technique is to slightly bend the bottom of the stem under the substrate to keep it down. I tend to let is get to the desired height and then top and replant.
Furthermore if they do not get good light penetration to the bottom part of the plant the leaves will fall out. This plant is also an Iron hog. Lots of Iron makes it purple/red on both sides of the leaves.
Thanks for the great tips!