# Trimming Plants Video



## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

Nice, wish I could understand what he was saying.

Craig


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## smoq (Feb 19, 2008)

hehe, what you've got me for on this forum?

From the beginning:

(From 0:32 to 2:02)Przycinanie roslin- Trimming

Then he talks about green rotala- you can trim rotala they way you want, so you'll gain desired effect after trimming. In every stem you cut, they'll be 2-3 new stems growing in where you cut it. It takes about two weeks to regrow. After that time, when new stems are about 1.5 cm (about 5/8"), you can cut them again to get very dense composition. This procedure can be applied on all small-leafed stems, like rotala rotundifolia, green rotala, rotala wallichii... well, almost all stems, except that with those that have small leaves you'll get the best, most dense bunch and you can trim it however you want to form desired shapes.

(2:03 to 2:22) The plant next to it is ludwigia arcuata that we can trim the exact same way to get one level. Basically we get an impression that it's one little mountain consisted of two different plants

(2:25-2:49)

You cannot be afraid of trimming that way, because if you have good conditions in your tank, and that would be a nutrient rich substrate, CO2 and liquid ferts in the water column, there's no worry, plants gonna kick-back for sure rather than root and perish.

(2:50-3:10)
Now you can see a tiny o2 bubbles coming from the cuttings, that's because of o2 canals inside the plant being cut and that excess o2 is being released to the water. This effect will be more intensive in a while.

(3:20-3:41)

Trimming is also very important right after planting, when plants grow to the surface. They have to be trimmed quickly, if not, all the stems will be visible and they'll start to shot aerial??(I'm not sure if it a correct word) roots which are not very decorative

(3:42:4:10)

The third stem plant here is dipilis diandra that can be trimmed the exact same way and every trimmed stem is gonna shot two new "branches". Next plants is bacopa australis, which likes trimming a lot and the more frequent it's trimmed, the more it gets dense, forming a nice "ball".

(4:12:4:28)

Here we have hygrophila difformis that needs a little bit different trimming technique because it's not that dense and it has very thick stems. When trimming it, the point is to uncover that parts of the plant we want to be seen...

(4:29:4:38)

...for example here, to unveil that Proserpinaca Palustris and dipilis diandra, we can shorten it here and of course there will be a new baby plant growing from where it was trimmed.

(4:39-4:59)
Those two stems here don't have to be trimmed as they not cover any other plant yet- and here's another bunch of bacopa australis that can be shaped to get one nice level without single stems being taller than the others.

(5:02-5:16)

There is no strict rule of shaping to achieve that effect, it's every aquarist's own preference and what one's want it it to look like 

(5:17-5:36)

Now we're gonna trim a plant known as Hedyotis salzmannii. It's also as stem plant that grows very dense, has hard stems, but as you can see, trimming technique is thesame as with rotalas.

(5:39-5:49)

We're gonna shape the plant as we would like it to look

(5:50:6:15)

Here also, new shots will be clearly visible, as in the bunch next to the one we're trimming, in about two weeks and there is no worry that the plant is going to die or stop growning, even if trimmed that drastically. That kind of aquascape is typical to dutch style of aquascaping, which is recognizable by large bushes of single spiecies of plants.

(6:15-6:38)

Now we're gonna trim Hemianthus micranthemoides, known as Big hemianthus (_*that's how they call it in Europe I guess*_). The method of trimming, as you can see, is exactly thesame as with other plants we trimmed, we cut it to the shape desired by our imagination.

(6:41-7:35)

It's a special kind of plant, it leaves a nice visual effect because it's really hard to see those little stems even after trimming. It also has a very weak root system. here you can see that roots are free floating above the substrate and are hardly rooted into it. However, if we're gonna trim it on a regular basis it's gonna stay in place. If not trimmed frequently, it's gonna grow up to the surface and eventually float freely.

(7:36-8:06)

Next plant we are going to trim is Hygrophila polysperma sunset. It's a very nice plant, the closer it is to the light source, the better it looks with it's red hue. It grows very quickly and it's reccommended for freshly set-up tanks.

(8:07-8:12)

When we want to trim a single stem, we should always cut it...

(8:13-8:22)

... right here, between the leaves, so fresh shots are gonna grow right above old leaves.

(8:23-8:49)

Big hemianthus, even with it's weak root system, stays anchored to the substrate and when it's trimmed regulary just like here, there's a chance to form a carpet out of it. I saw other people's tanks that has been trimmed on regular basis, once or even twice a week and big hemianthus gets so thick that it creates a perfect carpet.

(8:50-

All the trimmed parts of plants are floating nicely on the water's surface and if we collect them just like I do now, the tank can be cleaned in about half an hour and ready to impress your guests.

Then there are credits... 

Wow, it took me well more than an hour to translate this I hope you'll ebjoy it more. I am sorry if I made mistakes translating it to English, any corrections are very welcomed.

One more thing- I actually learned a lot from this video, didn't you?


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

Thanks for the play by play, makes it much more fun to watch, iff to watch it a second time.

Maybe you can do a voice over on it for us, like the old scholl japaneese to american ones where the mouths move fast but words are slow 

Thanks again.

Craig


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## smoq (Feb 19, 2008)

Craigthor said:


> Thanks for the play by play, makes it much more fun to watch, iff to watch it a second time.
> 
> Maybe you can do a voice over on it for us, like the old scholl japaneese to american ones where the mouths move fast but words are slow
> 
> ...


LOL-it's not gonna be that fun because there are about thesame amount of words spoken in both languages But you would laugh at my broken English if I would be a lector I write better than I speak, that's for sure
Have fun.


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## smoq (Feb 19, 2008)

one more thing- you should change the thread title to trimming plants video faq or something alike cause right now it's little misleading IMO


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## dantra (May 25, 2007)

smoq, thanks for the translation. Title changed.


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## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

That was very interesting. Thank you for posting that and thanks for the translation. This helps to see how some of these plants are trimmmed. I know I am way to slow trimming my plants and this guy just mows it down. The question I have is...some of the plants I have if no light is getting down to the lower part of the stem, it melts, breaks off and floats to the top. Am I doing something wrong or is it just the nature of the plant? (The plants that do this are Limnophila SP & Cabomba) Maybe I ought to look at switching my current plants I have for different ones. This guys tank looks awesome with some very easy to grow plants.


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## belladee (Jun 15, 2007)

Thanks for the translation. I learned a lot from it. i didnt realize that rotala would make such a thick bush like that.


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## dantra (May 25, 2007)

What I learned from this video and what Tom Barr has always said, if you have no limiting factors, CO2, ferts and so on, then you can basically mow your plants down and they will bounce back. I'm finding out that plants are resilient and will grow if they have what they need.

I thought no matter what your level of expertise, everyone would find this video interesting :smile:


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

Great find and even greater translation!

I kinda figured what he was saying just by what was being filmed and his hand gestures and whatnot. But the way he really mows down on the stems with no regard to his fish was a bit frightening to me! He has a few dozen CPDs in there amongst the other fish and he is just moving like its a tank of just plants.

I think this should be stikied somehow so all the trimming questions can be direct to this lol...

Also, can anyone recognize the scissors? I want some :hihi:
-Andrew


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## Coltonorr (Mar 12, 2008)

Wow, great informative video...especially after that tranlation smog...thanks!


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

Great video! Thanks for the video and the translation


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## wendyjo (Feb 20, 2009)

Great vid - and what a lovely tank he has! I was also worried he was gonna snip a fish in half tho.

Hey what were the little bright red fish in there?


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## eyebeatbadgers (Aug 6, 2007)

Good video (very nice translation!), shows how few brain cells it takes to trim aquatic plants!

It is important to note that a good water change is advisable to follow up a big trim like that. Also, you want to make absolutely sure you get all the little nagging pieces of plants you trimmed, preferably before you fire up the filter again. Rotting plant trimmings in the tank, or leaving lots of trimmings floating on the surface is a good way to let algae get a foothold.


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## kali (May 8, 2009)

i was just done watching that video too , thanks for the translation .w/o that just kill it


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## fish-aholic (Dec 23, 2007)

Greatly informative video and very nice translation. Thanks smoq


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## smoq (Feb 19, 2008)

But we have to admit his tank is far from low-maintenance one Imagine if he made a plant package after trimming


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## Left C (Nov 15, 2003)

How in the world are his little fish kept from being chopped to smithereens? Several of them were right in his scissors.

Great video and translation.

Thanks!


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## sidefunk (Apr 22, 2010)

Wow, thanks for the translation. I'm a newbie and have been so tender with my plants to date. Now i think I'n just going to start hackin' away and watch my plants bush up.


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## arn24 (Jan 31, 2009)

Does this method of trimming get you nice, bushy plants like his? I've never seen plants so thick and dense! Awesome.

Aaron


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## kcrossley (Feb 22, 2010)

What language is this?


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## Casty (Sep 28, 2006)

Smog thanks so much for translating this. This video actually helped me see how wrong I've been trimming, no wonder I never get bushy growth...


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## Captivate05 (Feb 23, 2010)

Wow, I didn't realize you could just butcher away at the plants like that! I've been doing it the freaking hard way then... About to get me some new scissors and start trimming a different way!


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## Casie (Jun 8, 2010)

Nice vid! Thanks for posting and translating ya'll. =)


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## TheVisionary78 (Mar 6, 2010)

I am afraid to trim like the Euro's do but I guess it comes back right after two weeks. I guess I am always afraid I am going to shock the plants or something. Nice vid.


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## Da Plant Man (Apr 7, 2010)

This thread requires a *BUMP!*.

Is it just me, or do you want to be at the point where you can trim as much as he does every few weeks?


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

wah.. what a fast trim!


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## keithy (Jun 8, 2010)

excellent tank and video!


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## non_compliance (Dec 1, 2009)

Good video... thanks for the translation!! I have known that you can hack the plants like this, but mine have never got so bushy.

I have the same problem as another poster. Once the plants get to a certain height, they block out the light to the bottom of the plant and it rots and breaks off. IF my plants were as bushy as the video, and I trimmed them, there would be just stalks, no leaves!!!


I guess I need more light.... pressurized co2 3bps and EI dosing... also root tabs... son of a!



Also, I think the red things are RCS....


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