Help on trimming plants please.

[RedFish]

My planted tank is a 10 gallon.  
The background is a lovely forest of hygro (thank you BigDaddy).
I have been cutting it back about a third to a half each time it gets too tall, but now I am wondering what to do.
The bottom third has barely any leaves, and is a mass of fine roots.
I would like to either, take some out and re-plant the tops, or cut it right back to the soil level and see if it comes back better that way.

It is difficult to take it right out though, the roots are so deeply into the substrate that it makes quite a mess to be pulled out, even carefully.
Can I cut it back to the soil?  If not, what is the best way to trim these guys back?

[RedFish]

bump

[BigDaddy]

Hygro?  I thought you got Watersprite?

Anyways...

With stem plants, trim at the node, and replant the tops.  You can keep the bottoms too, as two new shoots will come out from the cut.  Or discard the bottoms.

Frankly, since the stuff grows so fast, I cut the tops and discard the rest.

A good set of plant tweasers goes a long way to making it easier to replant the stems.

[charlie]

where is the node ?

[BigDaddy]

On a stem plant, the section where the leaves protrude is called the node.

You want to cut just above a node, this allows two new stems to start from that node.

This is also a good way to get your stem plants to look fuller, buy trimming them and letting dual stems grow out.

[gvv]

With stem plants, trim at the node, and replant the tops.
...
Frankly, since the stuff grows so fast, I cut the tops and discard the rest.

Exactly as it is written. These tops already have roots when I'm cutting them

Regards
Vitali

[RedFish]

"Frankly, since the stuff grows so fast, I cut the tops and discard the rest. "

So do you pull out the root portion?  Or just cut it where it enters the substrate?

I wonder if I never pull it out, will the substrate become such a mass of roots that I could never plant a new stem?

I have trimmed them way back many times, but the bottom 1/3 is just a mass of water roots (not in the substrate), and is ugly.  So I wondered whether to pull out (and make a mess-substrate stuck to roots), or cut it back to the level of the substrate.

[dannypd]

I'd cut/trim the roots.

Pull the plant out, cut down the roots, and replant  (roots should be 125% size of upper plant..

I dont normally say to pull out the plant when the roots grow in, but sometimes they get old and ugly and need a GOOD trim.

Like potted plants...but these are in aquaria.

Anyone know what I mean?

[BigDaddy]

Actually dannypd, no I don't.   :lol:

Stem plants in aquaria typically grow so fast that you never really get a chance to get a "root ball" growing the way you do with terrestrial plants.  So just pruning the roots is pretty useless, since eventually your going to discard that whole section of plant in a matter of weeks anyway.

Redfish.  Completely uproot the old plant.  Prune it and replant the new stem in it's place.

Watersprite is like that, if you don't keep trimming it, it grows out root balls above the substrate.  Gotta keep 'em well pruned to keep them looking good.

[dannypd]

WOW!

That make life easier then...

pull out, cut out 100%, pop back in?   cool!

[RedFish]

Thank you!   I will do it slowly over a few water changes, so as not to freak out my fish.