# How do you trim Hornworts?



## YSS (Mar 5, 2005)

Hello all,

Didn't know what I was getting when I got some hornworts. Anyhow, I need to trim my hornworts and wasn't sure how to do it. I have couple of strands that are well over 2', may be close to 3' and some little shorter. Do I trim from the top, bottom, leave them alone? Also, I would like to get thicker growth rather than tall and thin. Any idea how I would achieve that? Thanks!


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## Ahkuma (Dec 5, 2004)

I float mine at the top of the tank and found that they grow much better when not bound by rubberbands and such. When the strands become to long I pinch them off to shorter ones. 

Also my hornwort grows and looks much different in the two tanks I have it in. My C02 tank grows long and stringy, my non CO2 gets much more bushy. I'm always switching it between the tanks to get the growth and look I want. Seems to require lot's of rinsing as well because it collects lots of fish food, that protein gunk at the surface and very fine algae from time to time.


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## DarkCobra (Jun 22, 2004)

Break it up any way you want. It has no roots, so almost any piece of hornwort is a viable piece that will grow...and grow...

The bushiness of a single strand will depend on light/CO2/nutrients/etc. However, you can force it to branch out into multiple strands by pinching off the growing tips periodically.

-DarkCobra


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## danmhippo (Feb 3, 2005)

My LFS has a show tank that they have these hornworts that never seems to grow too tall. One day I asked them how they managed hornworts. They indicated that they pull out the tall one's and trim it from the bottom so the top portion is at the desired height, replant the top portion and discard the bottom part.


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## YSS (Mar 5, 2005)

Thanks for the replies. So if I break the top, would it still grow after that, or it stops growing, and may be try to branch out from the base?


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## danmhippo (Feb 3, 2005)

I've never kept hornworts myself in the recent years. I can't stand loose needle fragments all over the surface. But, I am pretty sure the top will keep growing, but the lower part should branch. 

If I remembered right, the branched lower part doesn't look that good.

But either way, you should try yourself. What's to lose?


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## elgecko (Apr 18, 2004)

I do it the same way that danmhippo first post describes.
I grow my Hornwort by pushing it into the gravel. When it gets too long I pull it out, trim the bottom and replace in the gravel. Trimming the top in my opion does not look as good.


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## Aphyosemion (Oct 15, 2004)

There are 2 ways to manage your hornwort. The first was already mentioned and that is to just keep replanting the top part back in the gravel when it gets too tall. I did that in my 75 for a long time and the effect was awesome. I got thick bushy hornwort that looked like some sort of forest and grew to the top of the tank every 4 days or so. It also gets reddish (or maybe copper) on the tips, which is an attractive effect.
The other way to do it is just to keep trimming the upper portion of the hornwort at the desired height. The lower portions will branch and quickly grow to the max height and need to be trimmed as well. You will get a big, thick, bushy plant by doing that.
A couple of notes, though. First of all, hornwort needs a lot of light or it grows tall and stringy and only bushy at the top. I'm not entirely sure if adding CO2 will make it stringy, since when I had my hornwort forest, I wasn't using CO2. Second, it doesn't matter if you use scissors or pinch or rip or whatever. Hornwort can be torn into 100 pieces and you will get 100 plants, as long as there is a portion of the central stem.
I have some hornwort in my tank right now, hoping to reproduce the effect I had back in the no CO2 days, but for now it will have to wait. I have my lighting turned down temporarily and my hornwort is growing long and stringy. 
-Aphyosemion


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## YSS (Mar 5, 2005)

Great! Thanks for the info everybody.


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## rtuo8795 (Dec 21, 2020)

DarkCobra said:


> Break it up any way you want. It has no roots, so almost any piece of hornwort is a viable piece that will grow...and grow...
> 
> The bushiness of a single strand will depend on light/CO2/nutrients/etc. However, you can force it to branch out into multiple strands by pinching off the growing tips periodically.
> 
> -DarkCobra



It does has roots tho........


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 4, 2008)

rtuo8795 said:


> It does has roots tho........


Not quite sure why a 15 year old thread was revived...


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## Roboto (Mar 24, 2020)

Darkblade48 said:


> Not quite sure why a 15 year old thread was revived...


Because miracle rooted hornwort.


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