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Re: Substrate depths
In a message dated 2/14/99 3:52:05 PM, Steve Pushak writes:
<<I've never done it but I think you could also take a garden trowel and
chop down around some of the plants like Echinodorus amazonicus to limit
the root spread and kill some of the roots. >>
Steve I've got an Echinodorus bleheri (spelling?) which if I didn't regularly
bushwhack it back would take over the 75G it resides in.
What I've noticed is that the root system grows so well it pushes the dirt out
of the pot. Leaves as well as roots are pruned back about every 6-8 months and
repotted into a terra cotta pot w/a 50/50 mix of topsoil and peatmoss, a
little osmocote or jobes sticks thrown in for good measure.
What's interesting is that not too long after the "haircut" the sword rebounds
and throws shoots with new plantlets on it. I'm not sure if it's the new
substrate or the harsh treatment that encourages the shoots. Cutting back of
the roots apparently has no negative effect on the plant. In fact when it's
repotting time, it takes both my husband and I to remove it from the tank
because it's so big. Last time out of the tank it pretty much filled a 33G
trash barrel <g>.
Susan