Can I cut these back???

[davidsnew]

The plant with the arrow pointing at it seems to be growing rapidly towards the surface and not filling out. My other like plants are, for the most part filling out nicely. Will pruning it back cause it to fill out somewhat or will it just die?

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h124/snowdrifter0/Tank9-22-0608-1.jpg

[plah831]

ah, Cabomba. congrats on being able to grow them so well, mine always rotted and died.

Yes, you can prune those back. Most people prune Cabomba and other stem plants by cutting off a nice portion of the top and replanting those. The bottoms tend to get kinda ugly because of their age (and probably less light), so people just discard them.

In your case, since you want to get rid of the "bald" part, you could cut it there and replant the little cap. It should still grow upward at the top as usual. However, the old bottom won't be able to grow from the top anymore. It will lay down scar tissue there and send new growth to the sides. I don't even know if Cabomba does that, but other plants do.

On another note, the rapid shooting upwards without filling in on the sides, sounds like it's competing for light. Maybe they would do better if you separated the stems and let every plant have some room where light is not being blocked by their neighbors.

[fresh_newby]

you can cut all stems back and replant the tops as well as keep the base in to send side shoots.

[Mgamer20o0]

i would cut it a little farther down. that way you can make sure a good part of it is in the gravel and not going to come up.