Propagating/Splitting Aquatic Plants

[pzuzu]

So, I've been searching all night for articles dealing with this topic and have not had much luck. I'm basically looking for a link to something that can help me split some of my plants up or teach me how to prune them to get the best results. I'm a complete newbie to this and have no knowledge of anything. I think I finally know what a rhizome is! Anyway, can anybody out there help me out? Any information would be welcomed. Mainly, the plants I'm looking to split because I like them so much are listed below. Some of them I don't know the names of, but would like to find out. I got those in an assortment package from aquariumplants.com and they didn't include a little list of what they were shipping me.

Water Wysteria - these have nice thicker stems that are a dream to plant, unlike some of the other bunched plants with really thin stems. I end up breaking them or just throwing them away if they become uprooted cuz I lose my patience with them. But I love the wysteria. They are growing nicely and starting to get tall. Surely I can get more out of them by splitting, but don't know how or where. I only have five of them, but would definately like more without having to purchase another bunch.

Anacharis - I thought that's what these plants were, but now I'm not so sure because I pulled up a picture, and it slightly varied from what I thought it was. They are tall thin plants with thicker stems than other bunched plants. The leaves are small, and it reminds me a little of seaweed. I really like how these look, especially at the top where they open up a little more, the leaves reaching out a little further. Anyway, would like to split these as well. I was told to just cut them in half once, but both halves ended up dying. Perhaps there is a technique to cutting them I should know about.

Red Tiger Lotus - I have two of these and have read that with good pruning they can get really bushy near the bottom. I would love to see this happen, but can't figure out what they mean by good pruning. I have no experience with plants whatsoever except for maybe mowing the lawn, and lately that has been a neighborhood kid taking care of it.

There is another plant, I don't know the name of it. But I love it! At first I thought I would hate it because it has a thin stem. It's a type of bunched plant. I thought they would be like cabombas, which I just couldn't keep cuz my platties (cuties) would just destroy the hell out of them. But this plant I'm talking about has very pine-needle-like leaves that are quite coarse, yet flexible in a fan-like sort of way and stay on the stem. I have yet to see them floating around in the water! Was quite impressed by them. They're growing nicely, and would love some more!!! If anybody knows the name of this plant, please let me know. I have already gone through so many species looking for a picture of it, and haven't found one yet. Another reason I love this plant is that it collects a lot of debris, so while I'm vacuuming the gravel I stir the plant around a little with the vacuum tube and everything comes right off and into syphon. Nice!

Also, the Amazon Sword is getting really big and would love to split that one as well.

Any other type of pruning advice would be appreciated as well. I know this is a lot to ask for, but I really need some help. I have already been researching for hours yesterday and today with very little results. And please, if you use "aquatic" vocabulary, define the terms in paranthesis. As I said, I just learned what a rhizome is... hopefully it's the main stem of a plant. Me thinks... Of course, I do know what roots and leaves are... phew!

Thanks!
Fernando

 

[phanmc]

Water wisteria is about the easiest plant to propogate, they will literally grow new plants from just a leaf. Break off a leaf at the base and let it float for awhile, eventually you'll see tiny roots forming at the break. Bury the roots with the leaf exposed to light and voila, you got a new plant. If one plant is getting too big, you can cut it anywhere, and both sections will do well.

Anacharis are like most other stem plants, you'll want to cut about 3/4 the way down the stem and replant the top section. The bottom section will grow side shoots at the node right below the cut.

I don't have any experience with Tiger Lotus.

The pine-like stem plant can be alot of plants, some guesses are milfoil (Myriophyllum simulans) or hornwort. I'm betting that they should be split the same way as anacharis.

Amazon swords will produce runners (thin stemlike shoots) from its base that will eventually form several nodes where the new plants will grow. Cut the shoots when the node gets a good root system growing and replant.

 

[reiverix]

With tiger lotus, I cut the leaves as far down to the base as possible. I try and not to let leaves get to the surface but sometimes I'm a bit relaxed on that. They propagate with runners. I'll wait until a new plant has about 4 leaves before taking a cutting. My red lotus can put out several new plants every week. For some reason my green lotus has never put out a runner in the 10 months I've had it. The only difference between the plants is that the green lotus were bulbs when I bought them and the red lotus was a rooted plant.

 

[iangibbs]

Any suggestions on splitting bulbs? I have two plants now growing out of the same bulb and would like to divide them but don't want to hurt the mother plant. Thanks for your help!