# Plants That Don't Need Trimming?



## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

In my experience, dwarf sag will choke out any and everything in its way. Just saying.


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## Da Plant Man (Apr 7, 2010)

Anubias, alternanthera renickiii (sp?) is a rather slow growing stem, IME. Bucephalandras....but most likely out of your price range. Bolbitis, and java fern are also good. In low-light, Staurgyne is very slow growing also. Then again, I have seen all these plants (besides bucephalandra) turn into weeds. My plants just don't like to grow


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

Church said:


> In my experience, dwarf sag will choke out any and everything in its way. Just saying.


This is true when it is grown very densely together in a mat like hairgrass. I have had no issues with it and pygmy chain swords growing in my 1 gallon bowl over the course of one year.
though i am concerned if dwarf sag is able to choke out a crypt. hopefully not in low-medium lighting conditions. I imagine it must spread densely in high light.

Thank you very much for all those plant suggestions, Da Plant Man, I will be checking them out.
That one plant you mentioned is not out of my price range, however the issue with it is that I am worried about killing such a rare plant. much like Erio species, I am not looking for a fragile plant. i do not want it to melt on me like Erio plants seem to do for people.

Speaking of melting lol, I dont think anubias like my tap water either. every anubias i have even received has melted on me shortly after purchase, except one nana petite that lived just fine...i have some anubias curse going on as all my other plants i have ever tried have grown fine.


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## VeeSe (Apr 16, 2011)

Newman said:


> This is true when it is grown very densely together in a mat like harigrass. I have had no issues with it and pygmy chain swords growing in my 1 gallon bowl over the course of one year.
> though i am concerned if dwarf sag is able to choke out a crypt. hopefully not in low-medium lighting conditions. I imagine it must spread densely in high light.


Dwarf sag gets owned by anything and everything in my tank. It just sits there and doesn't grow, or grows and then rots away.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

Staurogyne sounds very interesting indeed - does this plant need any trimming and will it grow horizontally and not too vertical (requiring constant trimming of vertical growth)?


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## Dog (Dec 26, 2004)

Newman said:


> I am trying to find plants that would not need to be trimmed.


Dead ones!!

seriously if it is living and growing unless you have unlimited space all plants will need to be trimmed at some point.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

if taken absolutely in a literal way, then yes they do need trimming, but i mean plants that do not need trimming as they grow: old leaves die, old plants die and create room for the younger plants as replacements.

I have had pygmy chains and dwarf sag in a 1 gallon bowl for one year that have not needed to be thinned, pulled or trimmed. The same cannot be said for my moss growing in the same vessel. the new plants replace the old ones that decay. So based on this i consider dwarf sag and pygmy chain swords to be plants that do not necessarily require trimming. Perhaps in 10 years they will overrun their tank or all die out, who knows. I am still looking for such low maintenance plants. Unlike mosses that will fill up a tank to extreme levels (just look at what happens with java moss).

Any plant suggestions for me?

I think slow growing plants are best (aside from faster growing stuff like sag and chain swords)
For example: Worst case scenario is I would cut an anubias up a bit, and remove some after it has been growing for 3-4 years in the same vessel (and is taking up too much room).
So please do not take the no trimming thing too seriously, but I am basically looking for things that I can keep in my tank for a few years before anything needs to be done to them. This is planning that is going into my "no maintenance" tank concept lol.

The plant list has been updated in the first post. Thank you for the suggestions guys.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

bump for suggestions.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

bump


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

Is there any truth to that anubias poisoning shrimp myth? because all these slow growth plants are meant for a smaller shrimp tank, so i am wary of including anubias in my list.

Crypts poisoning shrimp has been shown to be more of a myth than fact. hopefully anubias is the same way? what do you guys think?


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Anything slow growing will fit the bill. But, lower light and no CO2 would be key. Some plants will still thrive in this environment (sunset hygro is invasive in any environment) but you can put many "high light" plants in lower light conditions with no co2 and they will grow very slow. Some may actually even color up really well, I don't know why, I think it has something to do with lack of nutrients and just the fact that it gets more light per amount of growth. 

I have had various species of rotala grow incredibly slow in non CO2 tanks. Even something like Blyxa will grow crazy fast in a high light/co2 injected tank but I have had it grow incredibly slow in a lower light, non co2 tank. 

I guess my point is that light/co2 will play a big role. If you look at my 5 gallon journal, most of the plants in that tank actually grow really slow, even though they grow like weeds in my tank that is high light with co2. My anubus is actually one of the faster growers, not because it grows fast, because so many plants grow incredibly slow. 

That tank is not low maintenance, but only because of the design. If I wanted it to be more "wild" and had less species, it would be something I could trim monthly. That may be more often than you would like. My point is just that these plants are weeds in other tanks but in that environment, I trim more for cosmetic reasons than for growth issues.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

I would like to stay away from stems because i expect that they will reach the surface and beyond, start curling and taking up too much room within the first year.

Any other suggestions guys?


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

bump


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## gordonrichards (Jun 20, 2009)

Anubias plants are good, would take years for one to grow out in a tank.
Try petites :^)

Shorter varieties of cryptocoryne like Wendtii green, parva stay low which means your scape won't over grow.

Stem plants will over grow. You need things that will stay short.

-Gordon


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

> Anubias plants are good, would take years for one to grow out in a tank.
> Try petites :^)
> 
> Shorter varieties of cryptocoryne like Wendtii green, parva stay low which means your scape won't over grow.
> ...


Glad you dropped by this thread. In the future I'd be interested in getting a few plants for this idea, from you. particularly a Red variety of crypt, some Staurogyne, and possibly a Bucephalandra.
Do you have those from time to time?


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## gordonrichards (Jun 20, 2009)

Bucephlandra are illegally harvested so no I don't have them for sale. You can't even import them into the country which adds to the general appeal. I attempted to put together a sizable order of about 400 plants, but when I found out photo-sanitary certificates weren't available I wrote the company off. I am not willing to put that much money on the line even though it would have been a substantial sale. Its like buying elephant ivory from poachers. You know its illegal, so why support it?

Staurogyne you'd want to contact Tom Barr (Plantbrain)

Crypts, I have access to every commerical species. Regarding red varieties... perhaps bronze might be on interest. How deep is your tank?

-Gordon


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## tbarabash (May 18, 2011)

Hey gzordon, prolly can't ship to Canada hey? I second the crypt larva suggestion. Even if it does grow it's mainly just bunchy off the main plant which can be trimmed easily


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

the tank is going to be around 10" deep, and its ok if the leaves grow out of the water but they will likely just dry up if they do that 

You didn't use to sell Bucephlandra before? I thought i saw someone selling them on here...despite it being illegal in the states? is it fine if I buy from someone who has grown it in the US?


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

bump


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

Are a red crypt and Staurogyne my best bets for my tank?


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## gordonrichards (Jun 20, 2009)

Never sold Buceph before.

Your best bets would be anubias, crypts and Staurogyne for low maintenance.

-Gordon


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

I'm still interested in getting Bucephalandra somewhere down the line. does anyone you know sell them legally? as in they have some in the US and are growing it and selling?

And thanks, I've decided to go with a red crypt for the center and Staurogyne for the rest of the tank (its going to be a bowl btw lol.)


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## DogFish (Jul 16, 2011)

Newman - Gordon has a good price on Cryptocoryne Parva. I have some in a Finnex 4g actually grows rather fast for crypt ( I have 23 sp.) Of course fast in the crypt world is still pretty slow. I'd say 20% new growth in two months.

4 pots speed out will fill in nicely in a 10g over 4-5months


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

thanks for the parva suggestion. i was either going to go with dwarf sag/pygmy chain sword, Staurogyne, and now cryptocoryne parva for my ground cover plant. I'm still leaning toward Staurogyne at the moment.

I know dwarf sag/chain sword will work, but they will grow the full length of the bowl eventually, plus i already have them in my current Shrimp Bowl, so i was looking forward to another look to a planted bowl. I hope Staurogyne will give me the medium-low lying plant look that i am after.
Crypt parva will lie very low right? hmmm...

Basically this will be the setup (it is a 2 gallon bowl):

Floating Salvinia layer on top
Red Crypt in the center
Staurogyne on the bottom, covering the entire bottom half of the tank hopefully.
Then maybe a Bucephalandra in there somewhere, off-center to provide variety.


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## jccaclimber (Aug 29, 2011)

I've never needed to trim my lilaeopsis, although it is slowly spreading everywhere so I might need to curb its spread someday.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

i have been thinking about microsword. i could probably add that to the list too, but I'm unlikely to use it in this tank just like im unlikely to use crypt parva. that may change if Staurogyne completely fails though.(like it it grows all the way to the surface and completely chokes out the tank.


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