New Decade, New Decadence...

[Jayefc1]

Trucking along here @Jayefc1 and trust all is well there. Lurking allowed around here 😆

All is good mate a busy house at the moment but it takes your mind off thing and little light lurking never harmed anyone lol

Running the trimming in amalgamative fashion at the moment. So each trim cutting the top third and just poking them back in amongst the other stems rather than into soil. This is working out nicely for Rotala green, macrandra, palustris and H’ra. Large bushes of each species. Growth of the erectus and arcuata is much slower though so just leaving them be plonked in the soil. Been through about three cycles so fa

Does the uneven growth not do your head in when you just reinsert the top third of the steam I know it was me do you stick to the 7 trims rule and replany or just do it by sight I know I need to do a replant but need time and need the stems to recover a lot before that happens (and thats only if my fingers stop.itching to rescape)

There’ll be a decent wedge of helferi soon to close up the cavern a bit and mask the wood, took an age to get going but it’s on the move now. After a few colourful weeks will hit the reset and go full replant into the soil with the bunches, return to mid-lean dosing of the water column.

I love helferi such a pretty plant.i also like the wood being exposed in your hardscape too though gives it really deep dimension will be interesting to see how prominent the wood is when its fully grown in the contrast wood reds and greens will be very interesting to say the least

Glad to hear the nitrate descending is working for you, it worked really well on the last scape in this 1200 too. Your tank looks fab Jay 😍

It did work really well and I think the vivids helped a lot i have turned them down now as the growth was too much to keep on top off but as I said above really.getting the itch to rescape fancy a iwagumi in there the hemianthus micranthemoides is a beautiful plant but it is growing like a weed and taking over a little just thinking rocks mc and grasses of different heights and textures

 

[Geoffrey Rea]

little light lurking never harmed anyone lol

😂

Does the uneven growth not do your head in when you just reinsert the top third of the steam I know it was me

Not so much now no. The last scape was clear blocks of species at exact heights so got that out of the system.

do you stick to the 7 trims rule and replany or just do it by sight I know I need to do a replant but need time and need the stems to recover a lot before that happens

Well this is sort of the point. Not a fan of rules, looking at how specific setups behave that month. Once one round has passed, want to mix the stems together e.g. H’ra and Rotala green. If one species is accelerating ahead can just reach in with finger and thumb then pinch the stem to deny access to the soil to slow growth. Obviously this is under very lean dosing so it’s always walking a line, but it’s effectively trimming the stem at the base rather than the top to impact growth speed. You know my only rule Jay, one hour per week per setup. This sort of stuff is in service of that.

will be interesting to see how prominent the wood is when its fully grown in

Covered in plants basically 😂 The whole point was to have a ton of differing locations with different conditions to try stuff out. Not very good at considering the hardscape element, just see it all as ‘plant attachment space’.

It did work really well and I think the vivids helped a lot i have turned them down now as the growth was too much to keep on top off

This is not an option with Solar RGB’s. Keen to know how well replenishing the substrate with tabs and oscillating between very lean to mid lean water column dosing can extend the scape. It’s primarily to manage the workload and confident enough to commit to the idea of delivering nutrients specifically by location by certain cues given by plant behaviour.

getting the itch to rescape fancy a iwagumi

Whatever you do it’ll be fab @Jayefc1 . Understand the want for a simple Iwagumi. Could do a shallow like the 45F UG tank. Get the iwagumi and less trimming than a whole 1200. There’s a reason why aquascaping showrooms shy away from large carpeted Iwagumi setups.

 

[Ady34]

Hello 👋🏼

View attachment 165017

Love this shot 😎

 

[Geoffrey Rea]

Just over 4 months:



Desperately overdue a prune but too busy at the moment so tank is just getting weekly water changes. The helferi in the right hand cove is growing in very slowly, it will eventually fill up the dark void on the right once it’s height puts it into more light.

 

[Geoffrey Rea]

Missed the 5 month update. 5 1/2 months:



Tank still desperately needs a trim, still just water changes because of workload and just for fun... pulled my back - yay 😀

Working flat out whilst splayed flat out... It’s going well! 😂

With any luck June will be the month to get the tank straight. All the tanks straight for that matter. A rescape of the AS600 is on the cards and the Blyxa in here would be great as a background plant for the 45F against the UG. Play a bit of musical plants with all the tanks and will do a switch around.

Hope you’re all well and enjoying your tanks 😉

 

[Luciën]

It has grown in very nicely. Love the full look of it, stunning job!

 

[Deano3]

Looks great with just water changes , hope your back sorts it self out soon mate hate having a back problem looking forward to see what comes

Sent from my SM-T595 using Tapatalk

 

[Geoffrey Rea]

Lean dosing forms:






AR mini not so mini. Over a foot tall and breached the surface:





Going to let it run. Hoping it might flower.

 

[erwin123]

Hi Geoffrey, as my AR Minis grow upwards towards the light, I'm finding that the leaves that are closest to the top are getting blasted by a lot of light and getting bright green algae on their leaves which I presume was unavoidable but your AR Minis have no problems whatsoever... do you have any tips?

 

[Geoffrey Rea]

Hi @erwin123

Going to need more details about your setup to help effectively. You could start a thread and get the thoughts of everyone on the forum? If you’re happier posting on here, go for it.

Need setup details (tank dimensions, light, filtration, Co2/non Co2, dosing, soil/inert substrate), water parameters (if you know), maintenance habits, photo’s (full tank shot to see where in the setup your AR mini is located) and a close up photo of the problem leaves if possible. It’s a lot of details but it helps to rule things out and work holistically 😉

 

[Geoffrey Rea]

It’s either mossy Donald Trump or a very stylish Pug with one ear up:



Can’t not see it now either 😂 The scape is ruined! Tear it all down!!!

 

[Geoffrey Rea]

Yeah... time for a trim 😂

 

[Deano3]

Yeah... time for a trim

View attachment 170366


View attachment 170367

Wow thats amazing never seen growing out that much and looking so healthy

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[Geoffrey Rea]

Been away this week @Deano3 and redoing the AS600 next week. Left them to grow. Using the plant mass from this one to bump start the next tank, but it went a bit more mental than anticipated.

 

[Geoffrey Rea]

Leftovers from the big trim:

 

[Courtneybst]

Leftovers from the big trim:

View attachment 170641

Wow! That's some seriously impressive leftovers.

 

[CooKieS]

Plant master…congrats

 

[Geoffrey Rea]

Meanwhile, back down on the Rea farm…

Onions 🧅



The temperature halved very suddenly recently. We were enjoying 28-30C sunny weather and soil temps were very decent. It’s now closer to 15C and soil is remaining quite damp and cool.

Noticed the first round of onions this season started bolting after the temperature drop so pulled them smaller than would be desirable. The above picture is a quarter of them in total but quite a few of them have bolted.



Wondering if any one else has had a problematic growing season with the backwards season so far?

Even the strawberries have been unremarkable but it’s still early. On the plus side have planted out cottage plants which are getting along and have attracted a lot of bees, dragonflies, aphids, ladybirds and sparrows to the garden.









They’re a welcome splash of colour when the kids aren’t launching their football into them.

 

[Courtneybst]

You have some beautiful plants Geoffrey! That onion harvest looks amazing.

I too have had issues with this season. Normally by now I'm already harvesting courgettes, gherkins, beetroot, early tomatoes. This year everything is really behind, not by a little but by a lot!

 

[Geoffrey Rea]

It has been a very weird growing season so far @Courtneybst and beginning to wonder how the rest of it will be. Every year presents its challenges but root development was shocking earlier on, on everything. Reliable soil temperatures haven’t been there.