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Can sword plants be divided?

2K views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  Calmwaters 
#1 ·
Hi in a few of my tanks I have different varietys of swords and some of them are getting very large and I was wondering if there is a way to divide them and turn them into more plants? One of the swords had a sprout which grew to the top and I removed and planted after asking Byron but the others do not have the sprout the are just thick one is an Ocelot Sword and another is a Marble Queen Radican Sword while the one with the sprout is I believe an africa sword. I can show you guys a picture if that would be helpful.
 
#2 ·
Are you talking about re-planting its new runners/ shoots to the side? These you can replant.
If your talking about the Motherplant, like one large leaf "clump" then no you can't break these in half that would harm your plant.
 
#3 ·
I have not noticed any runners on any but one of the plants and it went to the top of the tank and sprouted another plant at the top and another about half way down the one at the top I removed and replanted, the other I am letting grow a little more before I trim it off. The other plants just seem to be getting more and more leaves not really getting what I would call runners. Does that make since? Can the leaves be trimmed off to thin it out some? I am worried one plant in particular is going to choke out the wendit that is close to it. Could it be that these new leaves are sprouts comeing from the bottom and I just don't realize it? When I think of runners I think of something like the other one I was talking about that went to the top.
 
#4 ·
Echinodorus produce flower spikes (sometimes just one, sometimes two or even more at a time) which generally (when the plant is grown permanently submersed) develop daughter plants and not flowers. Like those you have. Some plants seem not to do this, others will. To my knowledge all runners are above substrate, even in the pygmy chain swords (E. quadricostatus, E. tenellus) the runners usually remain just above the substrate so the daughter plants can easily root, though I have some that are higher in the water column probably due to light conditions.

You can trim off large swords by removing the outer leaves. Always remove the outer leaves; the new growth occurs from the centre of the crown. Removing outer leaves on some of the larger Echinodorus can force the plant to develop smaller leaves, and also more of them. Like all Echinodorus (to the best of my knowledge), E. osiris produces adventitious plantlets as mentioned.

Peter Hiscock does mention that if large enough the plant can be divided by cutting through the crown with a sharp knife. To be safe, not knowing how large your plants are, I would suggest trimming off the outer leaves and see if this works. You can also of course move the plant, Echinodorus don't mind being transplanted, if not done too often.

Byron.
 
#5 ·
Ok thanks you guys. I think I will just trim it back a little. I like were it is in the tank but the leaves are begining to shade the wendit to much.
 
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