Pruning techniques for Amazon sword

[Onescout]

My Amazon sword doubled in size over the past few weeks and I wanted some guidelines on trimming so I don’t make it ugly or accidentally prune it to death (if that’s a thing). The tallest leaf has its tip out of the water.

 

so what’s the best way to trim an Amazon down?

[Ken Burke]

I generally cut the stem as close to the crown as possible.  
 

But my swords have very short stems and long blade like leaves.  I wonder if you have enough light.  Plants can get a little “leggy” if they don’t get enough light.  

[nabokovfan87]

how has your experience been with this plant?

[Odd Duck]

That looks more like a radicans type sword, not Amazon sword (Echinodorus bleherii).

Most swords, you’ll want to trim the oldest, outer leaves since those will deteriorate eventually.  If new leaves are deteriorating, especially at the tips, you usually have nutrient deficiencies.

As far as controlling height, more light tends to keep swords a bit shorter since they aren’t “reaching” for the light as much.  Careful species selection is your friend when it comes to keeping swords at the right height.

Oh, and @nabokovfan87, the fern you’re pointing at should not be planted, but attached to something since the rhizome will usually rot when buried.  It looks like Bolbitis heteroclita maybe, but I can’t be 100% from that photo.  I’ve had mixed luck with that one.  It seems to be doing well, then the mature leaves fade but it produces babies, which seem to take forever to mature.  I suspect it might be better emerse?

Edited May 19, 2022 by Odd Duck

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/19/2022 at 8:46 AM, Odd Duck said:

Oh, and @nabokovfan87, the fern you’re pointing at should not be planted, but attached to something since the rhizome will usually rot when buried.  It looks like Bolbitis heteroclita maybe, but I can’t be 100% from that photo.  I’ve had mixed luck with that one.  It seems to be doing well, then the mature leaves fade but it produces babies, which seem to take forever to mature.  I suspect it might be better emerse?

Yep. One of my favorite plants. I always want to know how it's doing when I see it.

[Odd Duck]

On 5/19/2022 at 11:12 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

Yep. One of my favorite plants. I always want to know how it's doing when I see it.

If you’re growing it successfully, give me some tips.  Mine is inconsistent, at best.

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/19/2022 at 9:17 AM, Odd Duck said:

If you’re growing it successfully, give me some tips.  Mine is inconsistent, at best.

Mine did fantastic right up until I took the thread off the rhizome and glued it. It has a very small root structure and rhyzome. It's not very demanding at all but definitely has some issues for me. That's why I tend to ask about it.

I've also heard it's not fully aquatic. So there's that. At the big box store they sell it under the name el nino fern.

[Odd Duck]

On 5/19/2022 at 11:24 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

I've also heard it's not fully aquatic. So there's that

I’ve read the same.  I may try to grow one of my plantlets emerse and see how it does.

[Torrey]

On 5/19/2022 at 10:33 AM, Odd Duck said:

I’ve read the same.  I may try to grow one of my plantlets emerse and see how it does.

It is coming back, slowly, fully submerged in my endler bachelor tank.

It's the slowest growing of all my plants I have tried. 

It dies if I remove the thread around the roots.

Because it is so slow growing, by the time a nutrient deficiency shows up, the plant seems to be too far gone.

The *only* time I have been able to salvage one (and I am not convinced I salvaged it, more like slowed it's death spiral) is the one in my bachelor tank with a top grow light and a side tank LED, and daily ferts dosing. 

For @Onescout I second Odd Duck, I don't see a true Amazon sword in your tank. 

[anewbie]

If you want to 'reset' a sword plant you cut the leaves as close to the rhizome or crown (all the leaves - not a few). It can kill the plant but normally it won't. HOWEVER - many species of sword plants will attempt to reach the surface over long period of time and convert to emersed if they find the correct distance. If the sword was already in emersed form (many new swords are since they grow faster emersed so dealers grow them emersed); the first few leaves will be in emersed form and grow long stems but if you cut off all the emersed leaves it will convert to submersed. 

[Odd Duck]

On 5/19/2022 at 6:13 PM, anewbie said:

If you want to 'reset' a sword plant you cut the leaves as close to the rhizome or crown (all the leaves - not a few). It can kill the plant but normally it won't. HOWEVER - many species of sword plants will attempt to reach the surface over long period of time and convert to emersed if they find the correct distance. If the sword was already in emersed form (many new swords are since they grow faster emersed so dealers grow them emersed); the first few leaves will be in emersed form and grow long stems but if you cut off all the emersed leaves it will convert to submersed. 

Not disagreeing with any of this although I’ve never purposely cut a sword back to the crown.  I still think these leaves look more radicans group, not bleheri.  I’ve gotten emerse grown bleheri and it has slightly longer stems sometimes, but significantly wider leaves and the width is almost the entire length of the leaf still with a very short petiole (less than 1/5 the length of the leaf).

These leaves have petioles nearly twice the length of the leaf with a much more spade shaped leaf.  Very pretty (I want a trio of them), but I’ve never seen that in bleheri.  I’ll be the first to admit I’m FAR, FAR, FAR from knowing everything about plants.

[anewbie]

On 5/20/2022 at 4:01 AM, Odd Duck said:

Not disagreeing with any of this although I’ve never purposely cut a sword back to the crown.  I still think these leaves look more radicans group, not bleheri.  I’ve gotten emerse grown bleheri and it has slightly longer stems sometimes, but significantly wider leaves and the width is almost the entire length of the leaf still with a very short petiole (less than 1/5 the length of the leaf).

These leaves have petioles nearly twice the length of the leaf with a much more spade shaped leaf.  Very pretty (I want a trio of them), but I’ve never seen that in bleheri.  I’ll be the first to admit I’m FAR, FAR, FAR from knowing everything about plants.

I'm not commenting on the species. I merely covered the generalities for the different state (emersed/submersed). I'm not sure if there is difference in treatment depending on species. I do know in my 120 (2 ft tall) aquarium I've had two species (ruffle and one of the melon like species - though probably not melon) reach the top of the tank and i had to cut them down to reset the leaves height. There is a natural tendency of the larger sword plants to try to find the water line and then grow leaves with long stems that are above the water line since they are more efficient that way - and my melon like sword (that is a sword plant with a purple tint but bit different than melon) started sending leaves up with stems over a foot long. The ruffle sword didn't have particularly long stems it just had brutally large leaves. My bleheri has been less problematic with regards to actual height; my problem with that plant is that it sends out one or two runners every bloody week. The ones that stick up i can cut easily enough but the ones that get trapped near the bottom well i don't have room for any more of them - a 120 is just not that large....

Edited May 20, 2022 by anewbie

[Odd Duck]

On 5/20/2022 at 9:20 AM, anewbie said:

and my melon like sword (that is a sword plant with a purple tint but bit different than melon) started

I want one of those!  😆 

 

On 5/20/2022 at 9:20 AM, anewbie said:

I'm not commenting on the species. I merely covered the generalities for the different state (emersed/submersed

I understood and knew what you meant.  I just wanted to make sure it was clear to other readers, also, that wasn’t what you were saying.  It’s so easy to misunderstand when it’s just written.  😉 

Edited May 20, 2022 by Odd Duck