Beach Cruiser Posted August 26 Share Posted August 26 It seems that when i trim back my RR, the new sprouts are very small with super tight node lengths. About 1/4 the size of usual. Could probably trim it low into a tidy bush over time, but it looks out of place on a taller plant... No other stem plant in the tank does this. Normal, uniform growth up front, "stunted" growth behind on several lower stalks... 50% WC weekly, stable 15/1.5/25 NPK, 6gH-2kH, 7.0 pH, 78°. Normally, i pull the whole stem & replant half when they get tall, but I'm trying to thicken up this particular clump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seattle_Aquarist Posted August 27 Share Posted August 27 Hi @Beach Cruiser, Stunted leaves can be caused by insufficient available nitrogen, phosphorus (phosphate), or the micro-nutrient zinc. The only nutrient related issue that can cause short internodes is zinc. Another symptom is insufficient available zinc is interveinal chlorosis darker leaf veins with lighter area between veins. What are you dosing for micro-nutrients? Interveinal chlorosis on newer leaves can also be caused by insufficient available iron (or dosing the wrong iron for the pH). -Roy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s_in_houston Posted August 27 Share Posted August 27 I love this forum. I was going to ask this same question but for Moneywort. I find when I cut mine, a new stem will grow from the top that is thinner than the original. It keeps growing that way, with smaller leaves. i don’t have an answer. When the mini stems grow long enough, though, I’ll cut them off and plant them directly into the substrate and see if they grow into full-sized stems on their own and over time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beach Cruiser Posted August 27 Author Share Posted August 27 (edited) Hey Roy! NO3 = 15-20ppm PO4 = 1-2ppm In general, the water parameters i test for (pH, gH, kH, no3, po4, temp, etc) are extremely stable. To the point that i only test every month or so now. Micros = Plantex csm+b @ EI "low light/weekly" per rotala butterfly. Equals .006ppm zinc & .1 ppm edta Fe. Also .2ppm dtpa Fe. Plus the gH buffer mix you recommended. Micros are added on different days than macros. They are in solution (except dtpa) at a 10ml dose. I shake the pump bottle vigorously before each use, but it is several months old. Maybe I'll mix up a new batch or dry dose... Oddly, the stunted growth is only on clipped stems. New growth on established or replanted stems is uniform & consistent. No IC on other stem plants or epiphytes. Edited August 27 by Beach Cruiser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony s Posted August 27 Share Posted August 27 @Beach Cruiser I’m actually wondering if this is not a nutritional thing at all. For terrestrial plants we often dead head them to produce more compact growth. I wouldn’t see why this wouldn’t work for some aquatic plants as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beach Cruiser Posted August 27 Author Share Posted August 27 On 8/26/2024 at 10:36 PM, Tony s said: @Beach Cruiser I’m actually wondering if this is not a nutritional thing at all. For terrestrial plants we often dead head them to produce more compact growth. I wouldn’t see why this wouldn’t work for some aquatic plants as well I kinda thought about that, but that practice usually just makes terrestrial plants denser in my experience. This occurrence reduces actual leaf size to 1/4 of normal or less! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony s Posted August 27 Share Posted August 27 On 8/26/2024 at 10:41 PM, Beach Cruiser said: but that practice usually just makes terrestrial plants denser in my experience Denser yes. But often with smaller leaves as well. And it may be a combination as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beach Cruiser Posted August 27 Author Share Posted August 27 Hmm. I've never noticed that on my house/yard plants, but I'll take your word for it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony s Posted August 27 Share Posted August 27 On 8/26/2024 at 11:06 PM, Beach Cruiser said: Hmm. I've never noticed that on my house/yard plants Usually I see it on true geraniums. The ground hugging ones. Not the pelargoniums people call geraniums. They do eventually get back up to size. But takes a bit. What makes me think it’s just pruning is you don’t see deficiency symptoms. It’s only on the trimmed stems. On every trimmed stem. If it was a deficiency, you’d see different responses in different spots. Not a uniform response 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seattle_Aquarist Posted August 27 Share Posted August 27 On 8/26/2024 at 7:29 PM, Beach Cruiser said: Hey Roy! NO3 = 15-20ppm PO4 = 1-2ppm In general, the water parameters i test for (pH, gH, kH, no3, po4, temp, etc) are extremely stable. To the point that i only test every month or so now. Micros = Plantex csm+b @ EI "low light/weekly" per rotala butterfly. Equals .006ppm zinc & .1 ppm edta Fe. Also .2ppm dtpa Fe. Plus the gH buffer mix you recommended. Micros are added on different days than macros. They are in solution (except dtpa) at a 10ml dose. I shake the pump bottle vigorously before each use, but it is several months old. Maybe I'll mix up a new batch or dry dose... Oddly, the stunted growth is only on clipped stems. New growth on established or replanted stems is uniform & consistent. No IC on other stem plants or epiphytes. Hi @Beach Cruiser, I can only provide some insights as to where to look. Keep in mind that with a pH of 7.0 only about 10% of all that EDTA iron is available to the plants so about the only iron they are getting is the DTPA chelated. You might try upping the DTPA dosing and see how the plants respond. You should be able to see a difference in 2 weeks or so after increasing the dose. Personally I dose about 4.0 ppm of iron weekly for my tanks. Interveinal chlorosis is typically caused by two nutrients. If it occurs in new leaves the cause is typically iron related and if it occurs in older leaves the likely cause is magnesium related. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beach Cruiser Posted August 27 Author Share Posted August 27 I'll try that for a few weeks. The Mg should be covered in the gH buffer, i would think. Thanks! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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