I had a question regarding Stem plants like rotala and ludwigia. As they get taller and bushier with trimmings, how do the lower leaves get light? It seems like the top level will shadow the lower leaves and won't that cause the lower leaves to die off? Or is it that the top leaves are getting the energy so the stem as a whole remains healthy? Thanks!
Stem Plants and Light
- Thread starter puopg
- Start date
I see this in my tank's which are low light .
I simply cut the stem's about half way up where leaves still look good, and pull out bottom half where leaves were few.
I then re-plant the top half and after a few week's ,month's, when situation reappear's,, I repeat the process.
I simply cut the stem's about half way up where leaves still look good, and pull out bottom half where leaves were few.
I then re-plant the top half and after a few week's ,month's, when situation reappear's,, I repeat the process.
Thanks but i meant, i see tons of tanks that have these huge dense bushes of rotala and i wonder how the lower leaves are getting light.
Even in heavily lit tank, they eventually fall off at some point of time. You cant do anything about it. And replanting is quite a hectic job if you have to replant like 100s of stems in each type of species. Theres an exception for some plants like rotala wallichi, tonina belem, limnophilas for instance that dont produce side shoots, so their tops need to be replanted.
The trick is to hide the bottom halves of the stems by some means...as far as I have seen, good aquascapers do it by any of the following
1-by placing stems behind hardscape material and trim plants to that level.
2-low growing plants like blyxas, crypts, p. helferi, hydrocotyles, grasses are also used to visually block the lower ends of stems.
3-trimming a bunch of stems to form a steep sloping hedge also helps to a great extent
And also the bunch of plants with thick crowns cast a dark shadow and hide the lower ends. This along with a dark background effectively conceals the lower stems.
The trick is to hide the bottom halves of the stems by some means...as far as I have seen, good aquascapers do it by any of the following
1-by placing stems behind hardscape material and trim plants to that level.
2-low growing plants like blyxas, crypts, p. helferi, hydrocotyles, grasses are also used to visually block the lower ends of stems.
3-trimming a bunch of stems to form a steep sloping hedge also helps to a great extent
And also the bunch of plants with thick crowns cast a dark shadow and hide the lower ends. This along with a dark background effectively conceals the lower stems.
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Spacing is very important. If leaves get 3in long, you don't want to plant them an inch apart. This is done a lot with newbies as I was one. This will help a lot with that issue.
As Hamza mentioned, there are tricks as well.
As Hamza mentioned, there are tricks as well.
Hey just wanted to update,
I was at Aqua Forest Aquarium a few days ago and I was looking at the tanks there in awe. Then i walked to the back of it and sure enough, they hide the lower part of the stem since so little light is able to penetrate down. Stem was still healthy, but the leaves were all gone.
I was at Aqua Forest Aquarium a few days ago and I was looking at the tanks there in awe. Then i walked to the back of it and sure enough, they hide the lower part of the stem since so little light is able to penetrate down. Stem was still healthy, but the leaves were all gone.
