Observations/testing of long-term carpet planting

[tranquil_anteater]

Hi, does anyone have any experience of (or has done any testing of) planting and leaving carpeting plants for a very long time without trimming/thinning out (I don't mean a few weeks, I mean anything between multiple months to years)

For example:

1. Do they just grow to the available space and carry on thriving?, or

2. Do they just grow to the available space and carry on just about surviving?, or

3. Do they choke and die out due to overcrowding?

4. If your experience was they do choke out and die, can this actually be attributed to the lack of room (or for example could it be just as likely the lack of access to nutrients as they consume all the good stuff left in the substrate, and/or the substrate structure degrades)?

Many thanks in advance

 

[rebel]

planting and leaving carpeting plants for a very long time without trimming/thinning out

Choke out and die then float off. If you give it light, it will come back but patchy and then repeat the cycle again.

Have you ever kept a grass lawn? Similar sort of progression if you don't cut it regularly, the bottoms can yellow etc etc.

 

[Wolf6]

Hi, does anyone have any experience of (or has done any testing of) planting and leaving carpeting plants for a very long time without trimming/thinning out (I don't mean a few weeks, I mean anything between multiple months to years)

For example:

1. Do they just grow to the available space and carry on thriving?, or

2. Do they just grow to the available space and carry on just about surviving?, or

3. Do they choke and die out due to overcrowding?

4. If your experience was they do choke out and die, can this actually be attributed to the lack of room (or for example could it be just as likely the lack of access to nutrients as they consume all the good stuff left in the substrate, and/or the substrate structure degrades)?

Many thanks in advance

Depending on which type of carpet it can grow quite thick before dying off. I'm a lazy maintainer so I've had my carpet 5cm thick more then once. By then it starts to let go of the soil and starts to come up, helped by the kuhli's that love to wriggle underneath the plantmass. So thats my queue I really need to cut it down

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

leaving carpeting plants for a very long time without trimming/thinning out

I think if you want to do this you need to start with a slow growing plant, <"like a moss"> or <"Cryptocoryne parva">.

It is a bit like planting a hedge in your garden. If you use Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus), Box (Buxus sempervirens) or Yew (Taxus baccata) they take a while to get going, but don't need much annual maintenance and can be pruned hard if you do need rejuvenate them. If you want to be "busy"? Plant Hemianthus callitrichoides "Cuba" or Cupressus x leylandii

cheers Darrel

 

[Tim Harrison]

Like Darrel mentions it's just like any other type of gardening, choose the plant best suited to your vision and the environment.
In the case of aquatic lawns what happens over the longterm is dependent on the plant species. But generally speaking in the confined space of an aquarium when it's no longer possible to grow laterally most will start to grow upwards possibly smothering the leaves below and starving them of light, CO2 and nutrients. For instance, MC will eventually lift as the roots of the plants below start to die...

 

[zozo]

I have been growing Lilaeopsis brasiliensis as carpet for 3 years without trimming it once, it actually took 2 years to carpet 70% of the surface on its own devices. Never had an issue with it. Long time ago i had a huge carpet of Helanthium tenellum in a large aquarium for many years. Also never trimmed it once.

I guess the grassy narrow-leaved or rosette plant sp. are most forgiving in this, compared to stem plants. Next to a number of other factors of course, low or high energy environment... Any high tech race car simply screams for extra maintenance and regular pruning no matter what you plant...