Pruning Hygro

[AndyL]

Hey folks,

Well, I'm finding a small headache with my hygrophilia polysperma... At its current growth rate, it'll fill the tank by next week  *thumbsupsmiley*

So I have to ask, is it possible to prune it into a more vertical growth (its growing out about as quickly as its growing up)

Actually, that same question could be applied to the val in my tank... It seems to be growing outwards as well as upwards (not exactly what I wanted) Tho I see less posibilities for pruning...

Andy

 

[Avalon]

I've found that the best way to prune it is to clip the tops off and replant, then every so often, uproot the origional plants and trim the bottom, and so on. Hygro grows extremely fast!

How much lighting do you have on your tank? I've noticed with one of my 10G experiment tanks that the higher the lighting, the more lateral the growth. I was running 47 watts on mine, and the hygro and wisteria grow laterally. I've now taken 15 watts away, and now it's growing [more] vertically.

 

[AndyL]

Tanks only got 15W (see pictures in freshwater general, under i gotta show off or some such) So overlighting isn't such a issue... But I do see what you mean about the new plants, I've already replanted some clippings, and they're growing much more vertically than the parent plant...

Andy

 

[Avalon]

Well, hygro that grows sideways really isn't so bad! I was checking out my 10G, and I was thinking how it was really nifty how the plants were growing sideways! When they do grow laterally, the roots that shoot down from the stem will plant and anchor themselves into the substrate! It's kind of like a lawn of hygro! If you plant some more clippings (that grow vertically) behind the "lawn," it really gives it a neat look.

I'm inclined to believe that with certain plants such as hygro and wisteria, with excess light, they will grow laterally. I have not seen what 100% sunlight will do, as that would be your reference point. So, do these plants naturally grow laterally? It's easy to say that they do not from something you read on some dudes web site, but it's worth an experiment to see if they really do. Empirical evidence speaks very loudly! You could think of vertical growth as plants "reaching" for the light.

Furthermore, I had a wisteria clipping that floated out of the substrate. Well, I was busy this week, so I didn't replant it. When I did my water change yesterday, I noticed that it sprouted new leaves at the stem end. It was kind of bowed in the middle and was shooting roots out at the bow. So, I stuck it in the substrate (flourite w/ a bit of gravel). We'll see what happens! Keep in mind that the wisteria is growing laterally too! One of these days I'll get some pics, but my digi-cam sucks. It was a freebie, go figure.