# Tired of having to trim and replant leggy stems



## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

I think it may be the selection of plant, Christina.

Ambulia and most Myriophylliums just seem to get leggy as they grow. No matter how much light you give them, they just seem stringy and scraggly. I have keep both variety of plant and eventually replaced them because of that very growth habit.

Mike


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## wonder woman (Oct 30, 2003)

Yeah, I knew they were going to be leggy, but I guess I forgot that it would be hugely exaggerated in my tank because of the relatively low light and co2 levels. I just wanted to try something fancier and different than good ol' hygro. And I wanted to see if red myrio would actually GROW in my tank (it does, surprisingly fast, but l-e-g-g-y). What else do you think might work back there? I'll give you the stats:
Back-left side of tank, behind very large rubin sword (whose leaves cut out a lot of light). Need a "foresty" look. Mid to low light (240 wpg), low DIY co2. 
Should I just go with more hygro until I can go pressurized and get more light? Or should I pull out the huge sword and replace it with a smaller one? (You can kind of see the layout of my tank from the pic I posted in the photo album forum just a few minutes ago). 
Thanks Mike!


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## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

You could pull the Hygro across. I like big plantings of the same plant. It give the aquarium a continuity. 

If you are looking for another plant to bide time until you get that CO2 and lighting upgrade, how about something like Brazilian Pennywort (Hydrocotyle leucocephalia). That should add another interesting leaf shape and grow like a monster for you!

Mike


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## anonapersona (Oct 19, 2002)

*ambulia*

I noticed some strange growth in the school tank with the ambulia, the school tank is more compact. I think it may be due to lower temps. The CO2 in that tank is less than the home tank. Lighting is same temp but school is flourescents and home is CF.


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## IUnknown (Feb 5, 2003)

> I usually have to pull up the entire stem, cut in half, and re-plant the top half once every 2-3 weeks. Is there any better way to do this?


Why are you replanting? Why not just trim and leave the bottom of the stem in place. It will grow new stems that will be bushy.


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## pjhaddock (Sep 21, 2004)

I also pull out my stem plants, cut the tops off and replant the tops.. The bottoms always look like poo, roots everywhere and no color. Is there something wrong that my plants always look like this to make me replant only the top portion or am I missing something???

Philip


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## IUnknown (Feb 5, 2003)

You should be aquascaping so that you don't see the bottom of the stem plants. In this picture the bottom portion of the Rotala "Green" looks bad but is hidden by the MM.


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## wonder woman (Oct 30, 2003)

IUnknown- I'm replanting because, like pjhaddock, the bottom 1/2 of the stems look like "poo". Sometimes, the stem part that goes into the gravel even "melts", but the new roots anchor the stem anyways. And my tank is not aquascaped in such a way that I can hide the bottom of the stems completely. But I prefer it that way. I actually like to see some of the nice black gravel. 
I've noticed that in your tank, you really don't have any tall, shading plants, so almost all of the light reaches the bottom of the tank. In my tank, I have lots of jungle val and a huge sword, which filters out a lot of light before it reaches the bottom.


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## Urkevitz (Jan 12, 2004)

Wonderwoman have you tried R. indica? when I grew it the bottoms would stay intact even when heavily shaded.


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## wonder woman (Oct 30, 2003)

I'm not sure- I don't remember offhand what it looks like- I'll look it up. I have tried red ludwigia, which turned green, and was overtaked by algae, but that was in the first month of this tank.
I'll take a look, and see if I can track some down locally, or on Aquabid.
Thanks!


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## bharada (Mar 5, 2004)

If you want to try some R. rotundifolia I can prune some tops for you. You can also try some Micranthemum micranthemoides (can send some of this to you, too). It gets very bushy as it gets tall as it is very prolific at sending out side shoots.

As for the bare/rooty lower stems, you can try pruning the stems earlier, while they're still in their prime. This will promote new stem growth. Also, planting the tops among or in front of the rooted stems will fill out the stand and hide the bare spots.


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## wonder woman (Oct 30, 2003)

Bill-
How kind of you- I'd love to give both of them a try! Please let me know what you need for shipping, or if you want something in trade (I have lots of hygro :tongue:, some small-to-medium swords (2 baby red rubins or whatever they are, they grow large with reddish leaves, a few small red-speckled ones), some tiger lotuses (lillies? both green w/ red speckes and all red). Anything there you'd like? I can post pictures of the particular plants if you'd like.
I think I'll try pruning the stems earlier, although they branch when I do this, which kind of changes the look of the plant. But I guess that's what most people do with stem plants anyways.


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## bharada (Mar 5, 2004)

Christina,
I'll PM you.


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