Radican Sword Propagation

[fishdaze]

I have a nice Radican Sword in one of my tanks that's growing really well and has doubled in size/leaves since I got it. I was wondering how to go about taking part of it to put in another tank? I'm new with the whole plant thing so I wanna make sure I do it right and don't end up killing the whole thing. Thanks!!!

 

[Turbosaurus]

There is no easy way. They're not like stem plants where a single piece of a plant will grow into a whole new one.

Swords propagate two ways, one by runners and two, sometimes the crown of the plant (where the leaves and roots come together) will split to multiple eyes- I don't know if that is the right terminology, but you will see it if you pull out the plant. If it has split, there will be two (or more) distinct areas where a set of leaves will grow up and roots grow down, it should look like two plants with their bases stuck together. If you press the two bases gently in opposite directions the plants will come apart. The part of the plant where the leaves meet the roots is very brittle so be gentle or you'll break half the leaves off.

Unfortunately, you either have to wait until it sends out a runner or you have to pull the whole thing out to see if potentially you have more than one crown and can therefore divide it.

To encourage a runner you can place a root tab underneath the plant to give it extra nutrients.

 

[fishdaze]

THanks... ok here is where I am having my problem I guess. What exactly are runners?

 

[Kashta]

A runner is a side shoot the sword plant sends out laterally. A new (baby) plantlet or several of them will sprout along this runner. Once those develop their own roots, you can cut off the side shoot and plant them separately.

Another way.. once the main plant matures, it may send up a bloom stalk. That has to reach above the water surface. Then you would fertilize the open buds with a soft brush. After blooming, this "mother" plant will form "daughter" plants along the nodes of that stalk. Same thing, wait for the new plants to show roots themselves, then cut them off and you have lots of new sword plants.

Sometimes, you can gently but firmly twist the baby plants off the runner without cutting it. If that works, the runner will keep producing new plants.