Pruning questions

clb2196

clb2196

AC Members
Feb 21, 2009
1,174
0
36
40
Mass
So I'm a total n00b to live plants. I got a few from my LFS. One of the largest ones (I need to post a picture for ID, not sure what they are, they were labelled as water onions but they don't look like the pics I've seen) has already grown to the point it's at the water line.

So obviously it needs to be trimmed. Do I just remove the whole stem with the leaf that's that tall? Remove it where it meets the main stem? Also, when I remove the leaves at the bottom should I trim the stem and replant it? It seems weird to remove the roots.

Also when I got them I removed a smaller plant that was growing out of one of them, and put that in the gravel also. It seems like it's dying, the leaves are brown. :( I haven't used any ferts yet, I'm about to add fish and read not to add ferts right away, is that right?
 
...anyone? I've been trying to research but everything I find says something along the line sof "...you must prune your plants." And that's it. :(
 
pictures would be great to see what you are dealing with

you can add 1/2 strength of fertilizer to boost the plants.

if the leaves are not canopying over then they should be fine for now. removing half of an onion leaf is unattractive, but you could try it. I have an onion plant now for over a year, and I never have to trim it, it actually stays at water level.
 
clb2196 said:
So I'm a total n00b to live plants. I got a few from my LFS. One of the largest ones (I need to post a picture for ID, not sure what they are, they were labelled as water onions but they don't look like the pics I've seen) has already grown to the point it's at the water line.

So obviously it needs to be trimmed. Do I just remove the whole stem with the leaf that's that tall? Remove it where it meets the main stem? Also, when I remove the leaves at the bottom should I trim the stem and replant it? It seems weird to remove the roots.

Also when I got them I removed a smaller plant that was growing out of one of them, and put that in the gravel also. It seems like it's dying, the leaves are brown. :( I haven't used any ferts yet, I'm about to add fish and read not to add ferts right away, is that right?
Click to expand...

sed03f said:
pictures would be great to see what you are dealing with

you can add 1/2 strength of fertilizer to boost the plants.

if the leaves are not canopying over then they should be fine for now. removing half of an onion leaf is unattractive, but you could try it. I have an onion plant now for over a year, and I never have to trim it, it actually stays at water level.
Click to expand...

I can post pics when I get home. I'm relatively certain that it's not an onion, though, the leaves are pretty round. It's strange, both plants were about the same size when I got them, but one of them is definitely growing, and the other isn't (it's only been 4 days so I wouldn't expect much growth, but the other one is definitely bigger). Also the smaller one has one leaf that's turning brown, but the tip was already brown when I got it.
 
Onion plants are long and thin. Some plants loose a few leaves when you place them in new tanks. Maybe one of the leaves were damaged during transit. I would give it a while before we know what the plant is up to.
 
I made a thread to id the plant here.

So basically I need to know how each plant reproduces to know if I can plant a cutting of it?
 
I think your plant is a type of sword and in that case you would need to remove leaves from the bottom. Why do you think it need pruning? It doesn't look overgrown or unhealthy to me.
 
leeser28 said:
I think your plant is a type of sword and in that case you would need to remove leaves from the bottom. Why do you think it need pruning? It doesn't look overgrown or unhealthy to me.
Click to expand...

That one's fine, the matching one has some dead leaves. And just for future reference. :)
 
Oh - that makes sense. Just remove the dead leaves from the base of the plant and discard them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom