Re: Lobelia foregrounds (and backgrounds)

[Roger Miller <rgrmill at rt66_com>]

On Thursday 01 August 2002 13:48, Tom Barr wrote:


> Well not many folks do layouts with Lobelia are the main foreground (A few
> folks in Europe do) but I wonder why not:

I've done it and I agree that dwarf Lobelia can make a beautiful foreground.  
I don't think I'd call it low-maintenance though.  The plant grows straight 
up, so every now and then you have to take all of it out, shorten everything, 
remove the side shoots and replant.  I did this every couple months with my 
ten gallon tank and I considered it to be a major chore.  You can probably go 
longer between trims in a deeper tank.

And re Greg Watson on trimming regular Lobelia...

Just pull the plant, top it and replant the top.  It reroots fairly quickly.  
I trim just below a pair of leaves and use the leaves to help anchor the top 
when it is replanted.  If you want you can propogate the plant by leaving the 
bottom in place.  New shoots should grow up from the sides of the old stem.

Roger Miller