Can sword be trimmed?

[beastie]

My sword grew too tall. It started so lovely, and recently none of the leaves are in the tank. It was supposed to be a plant that grows 40-60cm, my tank is 60 cm and none of the leaves are lower than 60...

If i cut, will it make sense? Should I just rehome it?

Never done that, the other one stays ok sized 😉

December

July, looking from the back

 

I dont have any picture from today, but none of the leaves are in the tank anymore

 

Thanks

[Odd Duck]

Stronger light will tend to keep swords shorter.  Under lower light conditions they will “reach” for more light and grow taller.  More light isn’t always going to be your friend for the Anubias and Java fern I can see, so increase light with great discretion.  Maybe floaters over the lower light plants so they don’t end up with algae.

Other than that, you may need to different tank for that sword if it doesn’t fit the look you want.  What’s the species or variety name?

[beastie]

It was sold as Echinodorus grandiflorus 'Argentinensis'. 

The sad part is, I have floating plants on the right side of the tank, but the echinodorus is on the left side 🙂 And yeah, so much algae. Ah well, will take it out and maybe buy a Hygrophila corymbosa ?

https://rybicky.net/fotogalerie.php?sekce=nadrz&c=16490&s=115&vse=8

[Odd Duck]

On 10/5/2023 at 3:03 AM, beastie said:

It was sold as Echinodorus grandiflorus 'Argentinensis'. 

The sad part is, I have floating plants on the right side of the tank, but the echinodorus is on the left side 🙂 And yeah, so much algae. Ah well, will take it out and maybe buy a Hygrophila corymbosa ?

https://rybicky.net/fotogalerie.php?sekce=nadrz&c=16490&s=115&vse=8

Google says up to 120 cm in height for that variety.  Probably why it’s not behaving the way you want.  I’d probably look for a different variety of sword that stays shorter but has the look you want.  E. harbich, horizontalis, osiris, and leopard all look like good options size wise and some interesting colors, too.  I’m sure there are others that have different leaf shapes that would fit the size and look you want.  I’m a big fan of swords.  I can’t give you any advice about the Hygrophila since I’ve never tried it.

Edited October 5, 2023 by Odd Duck
Typo

[nabokovfan87]

On 10/5/2023 at 1:03 AM, beastie said:

Ah well, will take it out and maybe buy a Hygrophila corymbosa ?

There should be a normal and a compact version. For plant details there's a website called flowgrow that has a plant database, very valuable resource for me. There's a language flag on the top left I believe so you can read all the details in English.

 

The hygro corymbosa Should be pretty easy, plug and play, grow well enough. 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

This is a 5.5 gallon tank, and these are rosette swords. Previously one was in a 1 gal jar. The only reason I removed it is because the stem plants were shading it out. (The thing in the very back, in the pot, is some Java fern)

[JoeQ]

Anything can be trimmed once! 😂

[beastie]

Well I trimmed it all out 🙂

 

Will do another post about my crypt, need advice there

 

Look at my anubias, it could be easily split into 6 plants