# Broad Leaf Chainsword Growing too tall



## three105 (Nov 15, 2007)

72 bow, 260 W CF, Co2 injection, E.I. Tested for Nitrate... was pretty high... think the recommended dosing of E.I. was too much for my tank... 6,700k/10,000k bulbs pretty new. injection at around 2-4 bps

anyways... the broad leaf chainsword I got is growing just a tiny bit too tall for my liking...

can I cut the actual leafs of it? will they grow tips where I cut the leafs ? or just get all brown and look poopy?

I don't just wanna try and trim the longer leaves... 



what would be best way to shorten this? I just put on another 96 Watt of CF lighting in hopes to grow it lower... 

tank is BRIGHT now...

Also, the broad leaf chain sword is pretty light green... do you think i have a lack of potassium? I've been dosing recommended E.I. 

no fish in the tank. now... used to have a lot...

plants always pearl pretty nicely by end of the day... ones on the bottom do pretty decent... at least he red tiger lotus on the bottom does...

and the red tiger lotus is staying relatively small but keeping a nice red color

My nitrate tested high and the tank is way cycled with xp4 and eheim 2234...


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## JoraaÑ (Jun 29, 2009)

Man! seems you didn't research before you grow Chainsword. Looking at your picture it looks more like a "Sag" to me....and you added 96 watts....so totaling 356 watts over 72 gal....higher the light the said plant will grow tall.....which means you need to cut the photo period or go other way for foreground....which needs high lights...with 2-4 bps co2 expect soon for algae boom with that much light!!


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## three105 (Nov 15, 2007)

no dude... its broad leaf chainsword... really is... it started off looking a lot different...

guess i will cut the photo period...

blah.

and get rid of the 96 watt...

should i just burst the 130watt extra for a few hours a day and run 130 watt for most of the day over the 72 bow?


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## three105 (Nov 15, 2007)

130/72 = 1.8 W per gallon...

would that be enough light?

and can I cut the actual leafs or what?


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## three105 (Nov 15, 2007)

this is annoying...

when i tried to grow glosso in my tank... it just grew vertically and I was pumping CO2 into the tank...

how many BPS would you say would be good for 72 bow?


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## JoraaÑ (Jun 29, 2009)

three105 said:


> 72 bow, 260 W CF, Co2 injection, E.I. Tested for Nitrate... was pretty high... think the recommended dosing of E.I. was too much for my tank... 6,700k/10,000k bulbs pretty new. injection at around 2-4 bps
> 
> anyways... the broad leaf chainsword I got is growing just a tiny bit too tall for my liking...
> 
> ...





three105 said:


> 130/72 = 1.8 W per gallon...
> 
> would that be enough light?
> 
> and can I cut the actual leafs or what?


Dude, you are twisting your own statement, in first post you wrote 260 watts and in your 4th post you are saying its 130 watts. 2-4 bps is good to go...so what is it really with light?


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## three105 (Nov 15, 2007)

260w fixture but I have another 96 w cf fixture that I can put on it if need be.... What lighting and bps/ ferts should I go for low growth of broad Leaf chainsword. I can switch half of 260 w off on my main fixture to 130w. So my options of lighting are. 130w, 226w, or 260 w...

Which would you suggest to keep chainsword growing low? Cuz w the 260w it's growing too tall for my liking 

-three


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## FrostyNYC (Nov 5, 2007)

To answer your question, you can cut the leaf to the length you desire. It will look generally unnatural and may start to turn yellow where you cut it. It will not grow back from the point you cut on the leaf. New leaves grow up from the rosette base only.

My suggestion: sell it and replace it with a narrow leaf chain sword, microsword, blyxa, hairgrass, etc etc. There are a lot of plants to try.


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## Franzi (Dec 7, 2009)

I just remove the leaf altogether when it gets too big (cut at the base). A new one will grow in its place in no time.


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## three105 (Nov 15, 2007)

The plant is broad leaf chain sword...

if you don't believe me here...



when i first planted it...

it's just growing like that under 260W...

but ya... maybe I'll just do hairgrass..

ahhhh.... annoying.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

I have broadleaf chain sword in my riparium, at low light. It grows very well that way, but isn't a fast grower, especially for the first month after planting, but it aggressively sends out lots of runners to cover the whole substrate. It is naturally a light green color, which is desirable because it lightens the substrate area. That 4 x 65 watt PC fixture is just two rows of PC bulbs, so it gives no more light than a 2 x 65 watt PC over a 2 foot tank. It is probably giving you low medium light, plenty for that plant. I think the more light you give it the higher it grows - in my case it grew highest where there was the least shade on it. Your photo looks a lot like my growth, back before it got shaded too much. I think it is a great plant, but if it is too high for you or too light colored, just replace it with something else, and sell the removed plants on the Swap n Shop forum.


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