Aquascaping/pruning question

[irishspy]

Hi all,

I was looking at my 10g the other day and noticed that, while the plants are doing very well (yay! ) , the wisteria is looking ... "rangy." There's a lush canopy near the surface, and bare stems lower down. Interestingly, a bunch of plants have sprouted from the substrate, but have spread laterally, like ground cover. I assume they're looking for light. In effect, that corner of the tank resembles a jungle forest, with a thick, matted canopy, bare "trunks," and a "fern carpet" below.

So, my question is this: If I were to cut the old stems away, close to the substrate, could I reasonable expect the "ground cover" to start growing up, toward the light? It would leave the water column in that part of the tank looking empty for a bit, but I would expect wisteria to fill in fairly fast.

Does that sound reasonable?

(There are fairly recent pictures behind the link in my .sig, if that helps.)

 

[John N.]

If I were to cut the old stems away, close to the substrate, could I reasonable expect the "ground cover" to start growing up, toward the light? It would leave the water column in that part of the tank looking empty for a bit, but I would expect wisteria to fill in fairly fast.

Does that sound reasonable?

Yup, if you trimmed the upper canopy of the wisteria, the ground plants would start growing more vertically because of the available light. Wisteria grows pretty quickly so the gap would fill in no time.

-John N.

 

[irishspy]

Thanks, John. I see a trim coming this weekend. :thm:

 

[Fishy_Fun]

good luck
be sure to post some pics when you get done with the trim

 

[Mgamer20o0]

can also cut the bottom and plant the tops. trimming it often you can get it to look how they want.

 

[irishspy]

I might do that with the bacopa, since it needs a good trim, too.