# Massive root growth on my Ludwigia repens - can I trim it off?



## jmeeter (Nov 22, 2015)

I brought home some _Ludwigia repens_ from Petco and in the last week the growth has been *explosive* - leaves getting huge, huge spike in vertical growth, etc. But I'm finding that towards the top of the plants, they're sending out massive amounts of roots which are becoming quite unsightly. Can I just trim off these roots or will that harm the plant?

It looks kind of like this picture but 3x worse:


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## jkrohn (Sep 17, 2015)

You can trim them off.


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## fishophile (Feb 6, 2012)

It does this really bad. That and it's crazy growth rate is why I ended up giving it away.


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## jmeeter (Nov 22, 2015)

fishophile said:


> It does this really bad. That and it's crazy growth rate is why I ended up giving it away.


Aw, really? Yea that incredible rate of growth kind of surprised me but I think it's an attractive plant and I think it diversifies the tank


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## fishophile (Feb 6, 2012)

Yeah the leaves where also the biggest in my tank so it stood out even worse when it out grew the scaped lines I was going for.


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## drip loop (Apr 12, 2014)

If I'm not mistaken those are put out by the plant as a means of stability. They use them to offset currents or to help stay secure. Are they actual roots? I don't believe so as I'm sure someone knows what they are called but imy pretty sure that's what your seeing. Many plants do this.


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## jmeeter (Nov 22, 2015)

drip loop said:


> If I'm not mistaken those are put out by the plant as a means of stability. They use them to offset currents or to help stay secure. Are they actual roots? I don't believe so as I'm sure someone knows what they are called but imy pretty sure that's what your seeing. Many plants do this.


Anyone know more about this?


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## Daisy Mae (Jun 21, 2015)

drip loop said:


> If I'm not mistaken those are put out by the plant as a means of stability. They use them to offset currents or to help stay secure. Are they actual roots? I don't believe so as I'm sure someone knows what they are called but imy pretty sure that's what your seeing. Many plants do this.


They are roots. They help to anchor the plants, yes, but even below-ground roots do that in addition to the absorbing function.


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## vols6 (Nov 16, 2015)

I like to chop off the individual sections with roots and replant them and take out the main stems. This creates a very bushy appearance if that's something you desire. It takes a little while for them to reestablish but after they do they just take off like they did before


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## drip loop (Apr 12, 2014)

I lifted this from another forum but it means were both right on all accounts.. This even includes that specific roots type and name

"Those roots growing from the Nodes ("Joints") are called aerial roots and natural. It helps anchor the plant, and gather nutrients from the water column.

The Ludwigia Repens (?) in the first pic always sprouts out aerial roots, and so does the Wisteria in the second pic. You can trim them off, or leave them be. Since they always grow back, I try to trim the visible portions and block the lower portions of the plant with another plant.

The fact that they are growing, and your plants look healthy means you're doing a good job! Congrats!"

As an additional tip, lud repens is fantastic for planting horizontally just barely covered in substrate. This will promote the stem to send several new shoots from each node that will grow nearly perfectly vertical. Ive found planting just a stem vertically like most plants causes it to grow in a twisting pattern towards the light and those shoots that would normally grow vertical if planted as i mentioned will just randomly appear in different levels of water which just doesnt look as nice. Give this method a try sometime. It works with many other stem plants too!


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## Daisy Mae (Jun 21, 2015)

drip loop said:


> As an additional tip, lud repens is fantastic for planting horizontally just barely covered in substrate. This will promote the stem to send several new shoots from each node that will grow nearly perfectly vertical. Ive found planting just a stem vertically like most plants causes it to grow in a twisting pattern towards the light and those shoots that would normally grow vertical if planted as i mentioned will just randomly appear in different levels of water which just doesnt look as nice. Give this method a try sometime. It works with many other stem plants too!


That's for the tip!


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## quietdusk (Jul 11, 2011)

I had some bacopa that did the same with aerial roots. I added some root tabs and it seemed to help. Might be worth a try.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk


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