# Ludwigia inclinata var. verticillata 'Cuba'



## akamasha (Mar 25, 2008)

So i received 3 stems that were around 4-5 inches long about 3 weeks ago. Now they are 15 inches tall. They are starting to get side shoots i think( see red stems off the sides in pic). My problem is they are about to out grow my 55 gallon tank and i don't want to loose them by topping them. I have read that people have actually lost both the tops they cut off and the bottom portions. Any advice on what i should do to keep them or even propagate them. see pics below.


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## Wö£fëñxXx (Dec 2, 2003)

You top them just above the last side shoot you want, you won't kill it.

Those tops are gnarly, they are really stunting=insufficient C02.

Just take the top off and leave the rest until the stem/s are long enough
to cut/plant.
Rinse, repeat.


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## akamasha (Mar 25, 2008)

Thank you Wö£fëñxXx. If i top them just above any of the side shoots my stems will still be 12" tall. Can i top them any lower? I mean below the shoots or not.


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## Wö£fëñxXx (Dec 2, 2003)

Yeah, you sure can, just above any node/stem you want to keep will be fine.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

Wö£fëñxXx said:


> You top them just above the last side shoot you want, you won't kill it.
> 
> Those tops are gnarly, they are really stunting=insufficient C02.
> 
> ...


Ditto big time.
This plant is a good CO2 indicator.
I've run EI on more tanks than I can count, and this is a total weed. The ony tanks that it does not show enormous red showy growth is when I mess with the CO2, or a client's tank that's had some CO2 issues. Since the dosing for nutrients is the same in every case and non limiting, the results are entirely independent of nutrients............somthing quite a few nitwits that should know better seem unable to realize:redface: 

Thus..............this alows me to fiddle with light(which we can measure in terms of PAR anywhere in the tank) and then CO2.........

So CO2 is really easy to test if you rule out the other issues and see how they relate. 

A lot of folks get hung up on CO2.
It's tricky and burns even the best of us with our own foolish assumptions.
Never assume too much about CO2.

Trim and add more CO2, or reduce the light a little, better yet, do all 3 things.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## akamasha (Mar 25, 2008)

Thank you very much Wö£fëñxXx and plantbrain.


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## akamasha (Mar 25, 2008)

Ok so i have diy co2 ei ferts and dose excel every other day, i know the plants isn't at it's optimal for shape and color. I have a bunch of lateral shoots and i was wondering if i cut them off and stick them i the substrate to get new ones or will they just die off ? Should i wait until they are a certain length or have roots coming or what? Any help appreciated


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## Ebichua (May 13, 2008)

I usually only cut the lateral shoots off when I start trimming the cuba. Trimming the cuba is basically uprooting the entire thing, cut the top and replant. 
During this cut the top and replanting stage, I also cut off any sideshoots I find. Anywhere from around 2 inches or so is safe to pluck off. One inch works too actually, it just gets blocked from the light, unless you have an open space for it to grow.


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## punkytin (Aug 24, 2009)

Hi everyone, sorry to bring an old thread back up, but anyone experience yellowing and bent tips from iron dosing on L. inclinata Cuba? I dose flourish iron as well as flourish.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

punkytin said:


> Hi everyone, sorry to bring an old thread back up, but anyone experience yellowing and bent tips from iron dosing on L. inclinata Cuba? I dose flourish iron as well as flourish.


Read what myself and the others already said........it is a very easy to grow plant otherwise.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## punkytin (Aug 24, 2009)

Thanks for your reply, Tom. I've read this, as well as many other threads/forums regarding my problem. I have had no trouble growing Ludwigia inclinata Cuba in the past. I noticed the problem after the iron dosing, and was just wondering, perhaps, if anyone had ever experienced the same thing with Seachem iron and L. inclinata Cuba. Here's what my L. inclinata Cuba looked like prior to trimming. I'll try to find a picture of the bent tips. 20gal, 55watts PL, Pressurized CO2









Kristine


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Curious symptoms. Did you stop with the iron dosing and see improvement? How long did you dose before seeing symptoms? Did you dose more or less than the recommended amount?


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## punkytin (Aug 24, 2009)

sewingalot said:


> Curious symptoms. Did you stop with the iron dosing and see improvement? How long did you dose before seeing symptoms? Did you dose more or less than the recommended amount?


Hi sewingalot! I saw improvement when I didn't inject the iron directly onto the plant, and/or stopped dosing. If I pour it into the water column, it's fine. Also noticed this with moss and iron, as well as P. stellatus. Had yellowing after pouring iron directly above where the moss was. I'm not quite sure how long it was before I saw symptoms, but thinking back, it wasn't long. I'd say about 2 days to a week after dosing because I immediately had a hunch it was the iron. Likewise, I was dosing the recommended amount, roughly 1.5ml for my 20g, 2-3x/week. I'm only dosing Flourish and iron for now, so maybe I'm pushing some kind of deficiency? I'm a newbie to ferts, forgive me! :icon_redf Subs are a mixture of black river sand and ADA.

Based on my experience, I'm inclined to pinpoint the iron, although I must say, it is totally based on observation, and not some controlled study. What makes me doubt is the lack of testimony, or similar experiences out there, which led me to post my question here.


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## timwag2001 (Jul 3, 2009)

i dose a TON of ferts in my tank and my cuba gets csm+b plus additional fe. much more than anything in my tank can use so i can say that fe isnt hurting your plant.

i say def. flourish itself isnt intended to be used by itself. it's meant to be used with the rest of the line of products.


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## punkytin (Aug 24, 2009)

Thanks, timwag! Anyways, I've got a lot more to learn regarding fertilization and I'm sorry if I've derailed this thread!  For now, I'll stop dosing the iron and try sticking to Flourish. Was just curious if anyone out there had similar experiences. Here's a picture of my P. stellatus, by the way, showing what I've experienced with the inclinatas:
















I also dose 1/4tsp equilibrium every water change.


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## timwag2001 (Jul 3, 2009)

dont stop dosing anything. keep dosing fe. and start dosing macro nutrients in addition to what you are currently doing.

why are you dosing equilibrium? are you using ro water? is your water very soft?


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Very good observations on your plants reaction to the iron. Really, in my opinion, that is the key to successful plants, learning how they respond to nutrients, co2 and such. Almost sounds like you could have been feeding the plants enough micro nutrients (flourish and iron) that the plant started growing fast and wanted the macro nutrients (Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium). My thinking is that without the extra iron, the plant was growing slower and the need for the other nutrients were also slowed down.


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## timwag2001 (Jul 3, 2009)

i dont know how they affect aquatic moss but i know that iron sulfate is commonly used in moss killers for terrestrial moss (i have some in my yard). maybe the iron does something to you moss but i highly doubt that its affecting your ludwigia


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## punkytin (Aug 24, 2009)

Thanks for the input, guys, I appreciate it much!  I guess I'll be doing a lot more experimenting with ferts. @timwag, after I experienced the dying moss with iron, I searched and found out that iron is used to kill terrestrial mosses, so there's a big possibility it has a similar effect on aquatic moss (I only experience this if I dose directly on the moss, but not so much in the water column). As for dosing equilibrium, I suspect we have very soft water, but can't really rely on gh test kits around here, which are old and non-reacting. So I tried equilibrium to see if it has any effect, and so far, I haven't seen anything negative. I will try to get my hands on some macros. Thanks again for your time!


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Experimenting is always best when learning fertilizers. I have one tank I now commit to experiments just to see how fertilizers interact with each other or in absence. It's really a cool hobby when you get down to it. You can either follow a 'recipe' and get good results or create your own and get excellent results with time and patience. Good luck!


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