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Re: Cropping vallineria



Dave wrote:

"DONT! Why ruin a beautiful plant?"

Giant vallisneria, plus some of the other big species, like V.asiatica, can
reach lengths of over 1 metre. You need a very long or tall tank for these!
Besides, the older leaves become algae covered eventually, especially
thread algae around the edges. Plecs ignore this algae, and it gets all
matted, traps flake and generally looks unpleasant (in the wild this growth
is the base of aufwuchs).

A great big vallis will also shade lower plants. Cropped back, especially
by removing old leaves completely, makes the plant fill out, and encourages
runners (daughter plants). These are easily moved to other tanks or traded
for different plants.

Giant vallis are so vigourous, you can afford to set them back every couple
of months to change the look of your plants. The main thing is not to get
gravel between the leaves at the base, and keep the roots partially
exposed.

Neale.