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Pruning a sword "down" to a lower size?

2K views 9 replies 5 participants last post by  equatics 
#1 ·
I have a dozen+ Kleiner Bar swords that arrived and are literally too tall for the 40 breeders they were intended to fit in! They have all been grown emersed and I was wondering if their soon-to-grow immersed leaves would tend to stay under the water?

Alternately, once the swords are well established would trimming all the leaves and letting the crown regenerate new leaves cause a "reset" of the overall growth form, at least temporarily, back to a smaller form?

Why'd I get such big plants? I ordered 6" potted sword plants, and when they arrived, they were anywhere from 12" to 18" tall. That explains why they were on sale, I suppose!
 
#2 ·
I pruned down a ruffled sword and had no problems doing so. I'm not sure about your species of sword.

The leaves grew so fast, they were poking out of the water and the tips were dying. I was gradual about the pruning, though. A couple long leaves each week. I think so long as you do so gradually, the plant will be able to recover/survive.
 
#3 ·
I've not tried it, but Kasselmann writes that if the leaves of larger plants are truncated, it will not impact on growth, but adult leaves will initially remain smaller in size.
 
#7 ·
Byron,
Truncated how? Cut 1/2 off the leaf, or cut the leaf from the stem and leave a truncated stem?
I may try both, just to see.
 
#4 ·
Smaller leaves temporarily would work. I'll try it out, be a neat little experiment. I think I'll let them settle in for a few weeks before doing any pruning though, see what happens with the new growth.
 
#5 ·
I have had a variety of swords in the past and I did that to a few of them due to a large algae outbreak in the tank. In the end I pulled the roots out as they were just down there rotting. Maybe the plant was too weak because of the algae on it, though that one didn't have much. Give it a shot. Let us know how it works. :) Good luck.
 
#6 ·
Ok, here's the experiment start. I cut all the leaves except a very small emerging one.
The sword was originally 12-14" tall with leaves 5-6" long. Now, the leaf is about 2" in length to give you a perspective on the photo below. The crown is 1.5" in diameter, so it's a robust root bunch.
 

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#9 ·
This *might* have some information about pruning Amazon Swords.

See here:
Read our blog or sign up for our newsletter for more information on aquarium plant profiles, small aquarium plants, aquarium plant soil, easy low light plants, collecting wild aquatic plants, light, nutrients, using plants for cycling an aquarium, substrates, how to prune aquarium plants, amazon plants, bocopa plants, four leaf clover, tiger lotus, mangrove plants, best freshwater aquarium plants, hardwater aquarium plants, brown roots, best low light plants, colorful plants, CO2 and plant nutrients, freshwater low easy plants, and collecting wild aquatic plants,

Planted Aquarium Plants and Aquatic Plants - Greg Watson's Guide to Dosing Strateges for Live and Freshwater Aquarium Plants
 
#10 ·
Sorry but I can't find the blog or the newsletter. On the page that the above link goes to, there are 2 links at the very bottom. I found some information but not what you're looking for. Maybe if you google the phrase about pruning Amazon plants you can find it. Hope you find it.

Steven
 
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