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Re: Aquatic Plants Digest V3 #894
> Subject: Trimming Vals
>
> >What is the best way to trim long leafed plants like most vals? Can I
> >just chop them off the top to the desired length, or should I remove the
> >long leaves and allow new ones to replace them?
>
> The best solution is to not choose plants that will outgrow your tank.
> Failing that, removal of the whole leaf is a much better option. If you
> strat cutting them, the leaf ends just start to rot back slowly, and you
> end up trimming further and further back to get rid of the rotted area.
I beg to differ... My val has been seen to grow over 40" in length before cutting it. I doubt that anyone really has a tank 40" tall. At least not very many! :)
Add to that, my Amazon Swords regularly stick out of the top of the tank. My Hygro is always in need of pruning, as it quickly fills the tank to capacity. Heck, even my java fern is outgrowing my tank. If I limited myself to plants that "won't outgrow
my tank", I would be pretty severly limited in my choices.
As far as triming the val and it then rotting, that has not been my experience. I trim my val back to about half tank height once every 3-4 weeks or so. I don't experience any rot because of this, and there is noticable growth at the cut tips by the
next day.