Dr Mike Oxgreen
Member
I grow a clump of Rotala wallichii in my 25 litre nano tank. It grows quite well, and has a nice pink colour on new growth. I’m experimenting with leaner NO₃ in my fert mix to see if I can get it to go pinker still, but I’m basically fairly happy with it.
But it only looks its best for a few days out of every fortnight - the couple of days when all the stems are at the right height underneath the water surface. Then it gets too long and blocks the spray bar flow, so I trim it hard, cutting it down to stumps a couple of inches long, and wait for it to regrow. It takes a few days before new shoots start to appear, and it must be 10 days before those shoots are looking really good.
So how can I optimise my trimming schedule to maximise the duration of the plant’s best appearance? Is it a mistake to prune it down hard every time?
I often look suspiciously at those pictures of tanks where every stem of the stem plants is at the perfect height. Are those pictures merely taken at a carefully judged moment 10 days after the last trim, and the tank actually looks a bit rubbish for 90% of the time?
But it only looks its best for a few days out of every fortnight - the couple of days when all the stems are at the right height underneath the water surface. Then it gets too long and blocks the spray bar flow, so I trim it hard, cutting it down to stumps a couple of inches long, and wait for it to regrow. It takes a few days before new shoots start to appear, and it must be 10 days before those shoots are looking really good.
So how can I optimise my trimming schedule to maximise the duration of the plant’s best appearance? Is it a mistake to prune it down hard every time?
I often look suspiciously at those pictures of tanks where every stem of the stem plants is at the perfect height. Are those pictures merely taken at a carefully judged moment 10 days after the last trim, and the tank actually looks a bit rubbish for 90% of the time?