Can You Help A Plant Newbie Please ?

Hi there,

Hope you can help me out here please. I'm a plant newbie at the bottom of a steep learning curve !

I upgraded the lights on my Juwel Vision 180, and now my plants are growing like crazy. Refering to the picture below, can anyone help to answer these questions please:


1. What is the name of the big plant in the foreground ? It is nearly 40cms tall now and growing at an exponential rate.

2. What are all the trailing, dangling things growing out of the nodes on the stems (they're most easily spotted on the left-side of the image) ? Are they roots ?!!? Have I planted this wrong, and that's why it is sprouting roots from so high up ? Is there anything I can do, other than just trimming these off ?

3. What is the best way to prune this plant please ? Can I just cut the top part of the stems and let the plant underneath continue to grow ?

4. What is the best way to take cuttings from this plant, in order to form a new plant ? Do I just cut off the top part of an existing stem, and then plant that in the substrate (gravel) ?


Please forgive my complete ignorance. It is a delight to watch these plants developing though, and I just want to do the right thing - learning as I go.

Any help gratefully received !

Thanks
Jules

Hey, the big plant is water wisteria. Yes, they are roots and its fine. And yes that is how you prune and plant cuttings. Sometimes the bigger leaves stop light getting to the leaves below so dont be afraid to cut that top off.

You'll find with Water Wisteria, and it shows in the pic, that as it grows, the lower leaves die off (I guess due to a lack of light). Therefore, the traditional way of pruning these (and other stem plants) is to chop the top off and replant it. If you leave the bottom part in, you'll probably find that it will "branch" into two, thus leaving you with two extra plants when you next prune it. This method is therefore great for cuttings, as it means you have a continuous supply, and can therefore send stuff on to your fellow tff'ers .

As for the aerial roots, yes, I guess you can just chop these off - when you plant a cutting it will develop its own roots in your sand/gravel anyway - although you may wish to use them to anchor the plant down when you first plant it.

Hope this helps,

Rob.

just to let u know that plant on the bottom right hand corner of the picture is not aquatic. I made the same mistake and was told otherwise. I wish the lfs didn't sell those plants. As far as I know its a ribbon plant for Terrariums.

Many thanks to those who replied. They were all very helpful, thank you !

Ted: I also didn't know that plant is not aquatic... It was bought from my LFS, who are a proper fish specialist and only sell a few plants (so maybe plants are not their speciality).

So, should I remove it, or just wait for it to die ? I've noticed that it hasn't grown since entering the tank. A single bottom leaf has died and fallen off. It looks very nice in there. Presumably it's just going to slowly die and decay ? Ironically, it does have the texture and feel of a plastic plant anyway. Lol !

Here's a fuller picture of it below:

Lost Cause said:

Many thanks to those who replied. They were all very helpful, thank you !

Ted: I also didn't know that plant is not aquatic... It was bought from my LFS, who are a proper fish specialist and only sell a few plants (so maybe plants are not their speciality).

So, should I remove it, or just wait for it to die ? I've noticed that it hasn't grown since entering the tank. A single bottom leaf has died and fallen off. It looks very nice in there. Presumably it's just going to slowly die and decay ? Ironically, it does have the texture and feel of a plastic plant anyway. Lol !

Here's a fuller picture of it below:

Click to expand...

Yes Remove it. I have the same plant potted outside and its really taken off. Its a really attractive plant that will slowly rot when submerged in water

Thanks for that. It's now sat in a pot, looking a bit drenched

i bought the wisteria from the store and mine is growing like crazy too, the baby plants are the prettyest, because they get so tall, and root off at the top, i cut the bottom stem off when i prune, leaving the young leaves looking prettyful

Yes, the wisteria is certainly a pretty plant. And it's grown so well (so easily), that it has made me feel all proud of myself - a great morale booster to try more difficult aquarium things !

Lost Cause said:

Yes, the wisteria is certainly a pretty plant. And it's grown so well (so easily), that it has made me feel all proud of myself - a great morale booster to try more difficult aquarium things !

Click to expand...

how much light does the wysteria usually need? mine grows pretty slow, but booms when i renew the CO2 mix

sorry out of topic but i cant stand to not shout this out...I AM GETTING SOME NEW PLANTS AND GERMAN BLUE RAMS 2MORRROWOWOWOWO!!

where do u even cut them from? right before the hanging roots?

DiscusLova said:

sorry out of topic but i cant stand to not shout this out...I AM GETTING SOME NEW PLANTS AND GERMAN BLUE RAMS 2MORRROWOWOWOWO!!

Click to expand...

lol

TrueNoob said:

Lost Cause said:

Yes, the wisteria is certainly a pretty plant. And it's grown so well (so easily), that it has made me feel all proud of myself - a great morale booster to try more difficult aquarium things !

Click to expand...

how much light does the wysteria usually need? mine grows pretty slow, but booms when i renew the CO2 mix

Click to expand...

My tank is a Juwel Vision 180 (180 litres). I replaced the standard tubes with a single 25w Arcadia Freshwater and a single 25w Arcadia Tropical. Both are in the standard Juwel light fitting. Once a week I add API Leafzone liquid fertiliser. My substrate is gravel. I don`t have any CO2. It`s a basic set-up.

The wisteria is growing like there`s no tomorrow ! Tall, bushy, laterals, the whole lot.