Wisteria Question

justintoxicated

justintoxicated

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Dec 19, 2005
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I bought some from my LFS like 4 pieces for $2...But I noticed they were fresh cut branches and did not have roots. When I got home I Planted them in my fluorite substrate, I only have about 1.5 inches of substrate though..

Anyways a couple weeks have past and the new leaves are about 5 -10 times thicker (wider) than the leaves that were originally on it.

it is starting to look more like lettuce.

The old leaves seem to be dying and falling off as my mystery snails climb on them to eat algae.

Now the interesting par this all the roots shooting off to the side of the main stem, and then roots shooting off these roots.

The roots are mostly to the right side of the plant, and instead of the plant growing up it seems to be bending to the left with only the new leaves pointed up.

Like if I were to lay the plant on it's side (right side) the newly developed stem area would be pointing straight up.

So do I let them do their own thing or plant them on their sides or what? One of them seemed to be pulling the stem area to the ground with it's roots, the main stem is like a 45 deg angle with the floor, and the new stem growing the opposite direction so the new leaves are pointed straight up.

How do I trim/maintain these things!
 
Wisteria grows along the ground in my tank too. I haven't played with it much but you may be able to train it to go up. As for the leaves, in medium/low light growth is slowed down and it forms longer broader leaves, presumably resonding to the need for more light. This is the way it grows in my 10gal under 28W of PC lighting.

It is a curious plant. In my tank I have a piece of arching driftwood. At one point the Wisteria grew a thick stem underneath the driftwood to the other side where it began sprouted new leaves. There was an long section of bare stem. It seems when left to its devices Wisteria will fill in every concievable space.
 
Ok thats what I have also 10 gallon 28 watt PC...

Should I just let it do it's own thing then and not worry about planting the rooted stem in the ground?
 
I was going to post this very question this AM as I just pruned my wisteria. So will it be ok just to poke the fresh cuttings into the substrate?

I also know what you mean about the leaves changing. Mine did that, got much thicker after I bought it, but then as it grew taller and bushier the leaves were again more "lacey" and delicate looking. Some of the growth underneath the plant has the thicker leaves and mine is full of the roots that just hang down throughout the plant. The angels and rosey barbs love to nibble it but there is so much that it doesn't hurt the plant.
 
Fun isn't it? You can do what you want with it! Let it float, lay it on the substrate (like lying down horizontally), plant the end, pinch off the "aerial" roots (the ones growing higher on the stem), keep it tall, short...and ppl wonder why we get into this hobby!?!
You can do just about anything with wisteria but much of the time it does what it wants to. If it's growing along the substrate and not up, try shading it some. If it naturally grows up for you, you'll likely have to cut off the top and replant it to keep it short. Once the stem has a couple leaves on it, you can pinch it off and replant it as a seperate plant.
Good luck.
 
I removed wisteria from my high light tank a long time ago because I just couldn't get it to grow upwards. No matter what I done it just wanted to grow horizontally.

I recently added some to a medium light tank and it's growing bushy and straight. I'd forgot what a nice plant it is.
 
I have Wisteria too. You can cut it and stick the cut part into the substrate and it will start growing again. It takes a little while to catch though. My cut pieces are staying low and bushy. I'm sure that if you trim the roots that are growing along the stem, you could get it to grow upwards. It is a great plant to work with. From what I heard, it is great to balance the water chemistry too. This plant seems to have a mind of its own, but it is trainable.
 
Here is a picture of Wisteria in my 10 gallon.....as you can see it sort of has taken over the whole tank.

10gallon2.jpg
 
Thanks for the responses.

My Wisteria is definately growing upwards, but it looks like it wants to lay down part of the stem (like it is turning into a big root)

I will definately have to chop the top off them eventualy, I already did it to one pice and it forms a root by the next day, after about a week it has a new root structure.


.\|/ <--Top
..|
...\
.....\
....../ <--Stem
..../|
../ || <- Roots
/
 
in my low light tank wisteria grows upwards..but i think the more light you give it the more it will grow sideways
 
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