Question about trimming and dosing.

[dantra]

I have two questions that I've been pondering. First question is, how long does one wait to trim plants? In other words, once you have introduced plants to your aquarium how long should you wait to trim them? Can I trim immediately or is there a mandatory waiting period?

Second question is, if I dose macros early morning is it possible and does it have any benefits to dose micros midday or say early to mid afternoon? Say I dose 1/8 KNO3 every other day can I dose 1/16 every day as opposed to every other day? Same question with all ferts that I dose.

Thanks
Dan

 

[Gerryd]

Hi,

Since the plant should have been trimmed when first planted , you can wait until you want to trim it.

It depends also on if you just want to cut the tops, as no replanting is done. Also some species grow much more quickly than others.

I would wait at least 2-3 weeks for most plant to develop decent roots.

I know many stems have them sooner but that is a good average.

Up to you when and how much to trim.

The higher the light, the more trimming usually.....

I don't think it will make much difference when you dose...... I tend to dose macros in the morning and micros at lunch, both before lights on, but have dosed either at all different times and see no difference in growth.

Hope this helps.

 

[dantra]

Gerry, its good to hear that I can dose both micro's and macro's in the same day without penalties. I guess I'll just wait two weeks before trimming just to err on the side of caution.

Patience is a killer!!!

 

[Gerryd]

Hi,

You may need to keep macros and micro dosing separated by 4 hours or so as some products may not interact well together. I think it is the iron but can't remember..........

 

[dantra]

I started dosing macros early morning between 8:00am - 9:00am and micros at about 1:00pm - 2:00pm. Lights usually don't come on until 10:00am. The lights are on 7 (maybe 8 but rarely) hours daily.

 

[wilsar]

the way i look at trimming is i imagine what the group of stems will grow out to look like. after planting i usually allow some stems to reach the surface before i commence a trim, cutting the group of stems at an even height so that after two weeks i get a nice even bush of many stems togetherwhile replanting the top pieces either in front/back or intersperced to fill out the plants foot print area if needed.

 

[dantra]

I already have an idea how I want to trim the stems, however I was being impatient, I guess because I was asking about the minimal amount of time one has to wait before trimming

Anyway I saw thing awhile back, although I didn't understand what was said in the video I still found it interesting. You basically get an idea of the concept. Here is the video.

Here is the translation by smoq over at TPT