Plant weights

Originally posted by jeanbell
gnome:
The nuts/ washer sounds like a good idea. But won't they cut into the plant as it grow?
Click to expand...

I guess it would depend on what sort of plant you wanted to use it for. If you're planting a rosette-type (like swords or crypts) it's a bad idea since the crown will typically grow in girth and the nut or washer will probably cut into a critical part of the plant. I don't really see any reason why you'd have to use this method for rosettes, anyway, since you would already have some roots to hold the plant in place. But if you're using it for stem plant cuttings, you're going to only slip it onto the base - enough to hold 2-3 stems snuggly. In a situation where it does "cut off the circulation" from the portion below the nut, it's not going to matter much because roots can grow out of nodes *above* the nut. If the cuttings are already as thick as they're going to get, then the nut shouldn't cut into the stem at all. Just don't bunch too many into one nut because it'll make it harder for light to penetrate to the lowest leaves. like I said, it worked *great* on my Cardamine lyrata (where the stems are really thin and the leaves don't grow out very dense, anyway).

If I'm slightly incoherent, sorry - I just got my bottom two wisdom teeth yanked out this morning. Boy - that sedative is *something*! I may ask them to pull out a few more teeth ;).
 
Originally posted by gnome
This was the only thing that worked with Cardamine lyrata.
Click to expand...

Did it eventually root? I've had this plant as well, and it never rooted, despite growing well enough. I eventually got rid of it, but now I think I might buy another bunch. I'm wondering if this plant really does have a rooting problem, because then I'll pass.
 
It's been so long that I can't remember, but I think if you bury it deep enough (to cover a couple of nodes), roots should come out of at least one of them. Or better yet, since the dang thing grows aerial roots out of nearly *every* node ABOVE the substrate, snip the stem right below a node with an aerial root and stick that into the substrate.

How funny - I've been toying with the idea of trying the plant again, too, only I'd like to put it into a non-heated tank, since it's supposed to grow best that way. It's been about two years. Those dang roots annoyed the heck out of me, but I may try getting it to creep along driftwood rather than grow it vertically. Always worth a try.

I really don't think this plant has a rooting "problem," per se. It *is* a cold-water plant so it might behave differently in a heated tank. Leaves will be smaller, and maybe it does have a slightly more difficult time rooting. And remember that colder water can retain CO2 (and all gases in general), much better than in higher temps. So maybe if you can maintain a higher CO2 level in a heated tank, you'll get the same sort of growth as you would in cold-water with less CO2 being injected.

-Naomi
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom