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Frogbit help

BarryH

BarryH

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Joined
25 Feb 2017
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607
Location
Derbyshire
If it's not to daft a question, I'd like a bit of advice about Frogbit please.

A few days ago I bought a pot of Tropica 1-2 Grow with Frogbit and added it to a tank. First time I've ever had the plant. Within the short time the Frogbit has been in the tank, the roots have grown rapidly, some are over 8" long now.

As I don't want the roots to reach the substrate, is it safe to keep them trimmed? The last thing I'd want to do is damage the plant through bad management.
 
As above. I've had it in tanks before whereby the fish have nibbled/ate the roots right back (they were not longer than 10-15mm) yet the plant still thrived
 
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dw1305 said:
Hi all, Have the leaf rosettes grown in proportion to the root? or have they remained much the same size?

cheers Darrel
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The individual leaves have grown in the few days they've been in the tank Darrel but I wouldn't say in proportion to the roots.
 
Hi all,
BarryH said:
The individual leaves have grown in the few days they've been in the tank Darrel but I wouldn't say in proportion to the roots.
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Yes that sounds OK, I'd just keep an eye on them. It may be that they are fairly happy and have just grown roots initially and the leaf growth will catch up. That is partially why I like Limnobium, they are <"extremely plastic in their growth response to nutrients">.

This is Frogbit really enjoying Itself.

sigrjybcq-width-3264-height-2448-cropmode-none-jpg.jpg

I've found that when the root growth is out of proportion to the top growth it is often because the tank is relatively low nutrient and the plant has apportioned more biomass to root growth.

cheers Darrel
 
dw1305 said:
Hi all, Yes that sounds OK, I'd just keep an eye on them. It may be that they are fairly happy and have just grown roots initially and the leaf growth will catch up. That is partially why I like Limnobium, they are <"extremely plastic in their growth response to nutrients">. I've found that when the root growth is out of proportion to the top growth it is often because the tank is relatively low nutrient and the plant has apportioned more biomass to root growth.

cheers Darrel
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All the floating plants you recommended in an earlier post seem to be doing really well.
 
I used to trim the roots and that was OK, but now I let them grow freely (in the tank with the glass lid, in your water evaporation thread). The limnobium stays better in place and I’ve learned to appreciate the wilder look 🙂
 
Majsa said:
I used to trim the roots and that was OK, but now I let them grow freely (in the tank with the glass lid, in your water evaporation thread). The limnobium stays better in place and I’ve learned to appreciate the wilder look 🙂
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That's a good idea. I was worried about them taking root in the substrate.
 
BarryH said:
That's a good idea. I was worried about them taking root in the substrate.
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My low tech tank is perhaps 10" from surface to substrate and I've never had a problem with them taking root or getting down that far. What I tend to do though is harvest some out each week (I find my double in quantity each week even in the low tech tank) and just remove the older plants with the longer roots, meaning not only does it limit the overgrown root look but also means that generally the plants are all fresh/young ones
 
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