To Trim A Stem?

[si walker]

Hi.
Not wanting to miss an opportunity of replanting a Stem Plant, I have been doing a bit of reading up an the forum, back to 2007 about trimming and replanting when stems get a bit ragged.

It seems normal practice to pull growing stems from the substrate, trim off the bad bit and replant the nice bit back in.

My concern is that when I do this I uproot other stems etc in the vicinity, and create a load of dirt in the water from my old substrate (3 years ish).

Is it a bad idea to trim off low down and leave the stem rooted and then plant the other nice stem top as well?

Will the old trimmed bit rot and cause more probs that uprooting? It will probably grow back as well though.
This is the problem when your limited on space and growing stems!

Let us know your thoughts on this situ?

Si

 

[Cazza]

I usually trim a top section off, at a node, where there are hopefully new roots already forming. I then carefully remove the leaves at the very bottom of the cutting and replant.

I trim the rest of the planted section down a bit, if it's extra straggly.

 

[Tim Harrison]

Don’t pull them up, just trim and replant the tops. Best to trim at a level just below any hardscape so the ugly ends are hidden until they start to grow again. And repeat as and when necessary. The rooted stems should produce two or more new shoots, so you should end up with dense bush. One I prepared earlier

And check out Dennis \Wong's video below, he doesn't plant the cuttings, but uses dense planting to start with. He only removes the original stems, and plants the tops, once they have become old and tatty and have started to lift from the substrate. But it's not always necessary since the stems are good for many trims. Takashi Amano used the same method.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I usually trim a top section off, at a node, where there are hopefully new roots already forming

That is it, just below a node (where the axillary buds are), and then trim the cut stem back to the next node <"The Art of Nature Aquarium">., removing the "snag" of tissue (the section above the node).

Plant the cutting (the bit with the apical bud) and the axillary buds should then "break".

If it is a plant with alternate leaves (rather than opposite (like above)) prune it to an <"outward facing bud">, so that it bushes out.

cheers Darrel

 

[PARAGUAY]

If eventually the original (after several trimmings)bottom of the plant starts to look iffy, lack of light maybe dropped leafs it can be cut at substrate level keeping soil disturbance to minimum

 

[si walker]

Thats wicked guys!
Thank you all for your collective technique!
Good to know that its okay to not uproot the stems. Phew!!
Si

 

[Andy Pierce]

Huh. I pretty much always wind up just tearing it all out. It doesn't make that much of a mess and clears up pretty quickly. Next time I'll have a go at leaving the bottom pieces in.

 

[richardcunliffe]

Now Si has his answer can I hijack this and ask if anyone has seen Bacopa compact or Carolina doing this two for one deal on tops? I just get one for one and have all these single stem plants and no bush effect