Sword Plant Pruning/Replanting? - MyFishTank.Net Freshwater Saltwater Aquarium Fish Forum

littletankbigworld · 10-05-2009, 06:15 PM

I have a sword plant in my smaller tank and would like to see if I could grow a new plant in my 29 gallon. I was reading up on pruning, and I know that you have to pull the leaves off by yanking downward and essentially pulling off the entire portion of that leaf down to the crown. However, I was wondering if removing the leaves and replanting them would work? Or would there not be enough roots for it to survive? Also, is it alright to use scissors or a piece of wire to slice the leaves off vertically? (I'm not sure how skilled I'll be with yanking them off.)

Thank you. This forum is always so helpful!

Newman · 10-05-2009, 07:33 PM

Um what kind of sword plant is it? regular amazon swords will grow long stems which eventually develop buds, and from those, baby swordplants grow (roots and all) after those matured a bit with a good root system, you can clip them off.

Idk, but the way you described could work for some variety of swords i havent heard of yet. yet for regular swords it sounds a bit wrong...

OrangeCones · 10-05-2009, 07:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by littletankbigworld

I have a sword plant in my smaller tank and would like to see if I could grow a new plant in my 29 gallon. I was reading up on pruning, and I know that you have to pull the leaves off by yanking downward and essentially pulling off the entire portion of that leaf down to the crown. However, I was wondering if removing the leaves and replanting them would work? Or would there not be enough roots for it to survive? Also, is it alright to use scissors or a piece of wire to slice the leaves off vertically? (I'm not sure how skilled I'll be with yanking them off.)

Thank you. This forum is always so helpful!

Swords produce child plants from a larger mother plant. You will see dark patches on older leaves, usually those that rest on the substrate (many mistake this for a decaying leaf or algae and remove them). Once a small plantlet develops on the top of the leaf, it will grow roots. Left alone, the original leaf from the mother plant will dissolve away and leave several child plants to grow. Once the plantlet has some roots and several leaves, you can clip it from the parent's leaf and transplant it to another location or tank.

They do no grow roots from leaves that are trimmed.

You can use sharp scissors or wire to saw through the leaves, getting as close to the crown as you can (the crown should be slightly above 'ground level' anyway). Yanking down on a large sword will usually uproot the plant and swords can get MASSIVE root systems, so that would make a mess!

Newman · 10-05-2009, 07:49 PM

What kind of swords are we talking about here, cuz its definetly not the kind im thinking of... I KNOW ive seen those long stems with baby plants on them.

littletankbigworld · 10-06-2009, 03:17 PM

I'm not sure what type of plant I have, and it would take me at least until the weekend to have time to upload pictures. But I have been noticing black spots on the larger leaves.

Newman · 10-06-2009, 03:21 PM

Sounds like you should listen to orange, cuz his description is matching your plant more.

tropicalcrazy · 10-07-2009, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OrangeCones

Swords produce child plants from a larger mother plant. You will see dark patches on older leaves, usually those that rest on the substrate (many mistake this for a decaying leaf or algae and remove them). Once a small plantlet develops on the top of the leaf, it will grow roots. Left alone, the original leaf from the mother plant will dissolve away and leave several child plants to grow. Once the plantlet has some roots and several leaves, you can clip it from the parent's leaf and transplant it to another location or tank.

They do no grow roots from leaves that are trimmed.

You can use sharp scissors or wire to saw through the leaves, getting as close to the crown as you can (the crown should be slightly above 'ground level' anyway). Yanking down on a large sword will usually uproot the plant and swords can get MASSIVE root systems, so that would make a mess!

are amazon swords this way? just curious becuase i have one and may have possibly seen that in the past but thought it was a decaying leave.

i usually cut as close to the crown as possible with some really good sharp scissors and it seems to work very well.

littletankbigworld · 10-08-2009, 04:01 PM

I think mine might be an Amazon Sword. It looks like this sword plant:

http://aquaria-blog.com/wp-content/u...on_sword_2.jpg

Newman · 10-08-2009, 04:22 PM

ya do the leaf pulling propagation method. I was talking about a sword that looks different.

blamejames · 10-24-2009, 08:20 PM

So for amazon swords you would just pull the leaves off and replant them from what i have read so far correct?

10-05-2009, 06:15 PM	#1 (permalink)
littletankbigworld Little Fish Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 216	Sword Plant Pruning/Replanting? I have a sword plant in my smaller tank and would like to see if I could grow a new plant in my 29 gallon. I was reading up on pruning, and I know that you have to pull the leaves off by yanking downward and essentially pulling off the entire portion of that leaf down to the crown. However, I was wondering if removing the leaves and replanting them would work? Or would there not be enough roots for it to survive? Also, is it alright to use scissors or a piece of wire to slice the leaves off vertically? (I'm not sure how skilled I'll be with yanking them off.) Thank you. This forum is always so helpful! __________________ 29 gallon tank-2 guppies, 2 mollies, 3 Mickey Mouse platies, some platy fry, 3 bleeding heart tetras, 3 serpae (blood) tetras -hornwort plants 5 gallon tank-36 molly fry, 3 snails -sword plant, small rocks, decorative castle 1.5 gallon snail tank-30+ snails R.I.P. Mimzy 9/20/09 R.I.P. Oreo 9/22/09

10-05-2009, 07:33 PM	#2 (permalink)
Newman Large Fish Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Northern NJ Posts: 815	Um what kind of sword plant is it? regular amazon swords will grow long stems which eventually develop buds, and from those, baby swordplants grow (roots and all) after those matured a bit with a good root system, you can clip them off. Idk, but the way you described could work for some variety of swords i havent heard of yet. yet for regular swords it sounds a bit wrong... __________________ AQUARIUMS: 40 Gal 1 Female Orange & Black Oranda GF 1 Female Blood Red Swordtail 5 Otocinclus 3 Swordtail Fry 3 Cherry shrimp 1 Gold Apple Snail Java fern, Anubias, Anacharis, Cabomba, Marimo Moss, Flame Moss, Dwarf Hairgrass 10 Gal 2 Otocinlus 20+ Swordtail Fry 4 Cherry Shrimp Dwarf Sag HC 2.5 Gal Christmas moss 1 Female Deltatail Betta Credit goes to Lludu

10-05-2009, 07:49 PM	#4 (permalink)
Newman Large Fish Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Northern NJ Posts: 815	What kind of swords are we talking about here, cuz its definetly not the kind im thinking of... I KNOW ive seen those long stems with baby plants on them. __________________ AQUARIUMS: 40 Gal 1 Female Orange & Black Oranda GF 1 Female Blood Red Swordtail 5 Otocinclus 3 Swordtail Fry 3 Cherry shrimp 1 Gold Apple Snail Java fern, Anubias, Anacharis, Cabomba, Marimo Moss, Flame Moss, Dwarf Hairgrass 10 Gal 2 Otocinlus 20+ Swordtail Fry 4 Cherry Shrimp Dwarf Sag HC 2.5 Gal Christmas moss 1 Female Deltatail Betta Credit goes to Lludu

10-06-2009, 03:17 PM	#5 (permalink)
littletankbigworld Little Fish Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 216	I'm not sure what type of plant I have, and it would take me at least until the weekend to have time to upload pictures. But I have been noticing black spots on the larger leaves. __________________ 29 gallon tank-2 guppies, 2 mollies, 3 Mickey Mouse platies, some platy fry, 3 bleeding heart tetras, 3 serpae (blood) tetras -hornwort plants 5 gallon tank-36 molly fry, 3 snails -sword plant, small rocks, decorative castle 1.5 gallon snail tank-30+ snails R.I.P. Mimzy 9/20/09 R.I.P. Oreo 9/22/09

10-06-2009, 03:21 PM	#6 (permalink)
Newman Large Fish Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Northern NJ Posts: 815	Sounds like you should listen to orange, cuz his description is matching your plant more. __________________ AQUARIUMS: 40 Gal 1 Female Orange & Black Oranda GF 1 Female Blood Red Swordtail 5 Otocinclus 3 Swordtail Fry 3 Cherry shrimp 1 Gold Apple Snail Java fern, Anubias, Anacharis, Cabomba, Marimo Moss, Flame Moss, Dwarf Hairgrass 10 Gal 2 Otocinlus 20+ Swordtail Fry 4 Cherry Shrimp Dwarf Sag HC 2.5 Gal Christmas moss 1 Female Deltatail Betta Credit goes to Lludu

10-08-2009, 04:01 PM	#8 (permalink)
littletankbigworld Little Fish Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 216	I think mine might be an Amazon Sword. It looks like this sword plant: http://aquaria-blog.com/wp-content/u...on_sword_2.jpg __________________ 29 gallon tank-2 guppies, 2 mollies, 3 Mickey Mouse platies, some platy fry, 3 bleeding heart tetras, 3 serpae (blood) tetras -hornwort plants 5 gallon tank-36 molly fry, 3 snails -sword plant, small rocks, decorative castle 1.5 gallon snail tank-30+ snails R.I.P. Mimzy 9/20/09 R.I.P. Oreo 9/22/09

10-08-2009, 04:22 PM	#9 (permalink)
Newman Large Fish Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Northern NJ Posts: 815	ya do the leaf pulling propagation method. I was talking about a sword that looks different. __________________ AQUARIUMS: 40 Gal 1 Female Orange & Black Oranda GF 1 Female Blood Red Swordtail 5 Otocinclus 3 Swordtail Fry 3 Cherry shrimp 1 Gold Apple Snail Java fern, Anubias, Anacharis, Cabomba, Marimo Moss, Flame Moss, Dwarf Hairgrass 10 Gal 2 Otocinlus 20+ Swordtail Fry 4 Cherry Shrimp Dwarf Sag HC 2.5 Gal Christmas moss 1 Female Deltatail Betta Credit goes to Lludu

10-24-2009, 08:20 PM	#10 (permalink)
blamejames Teenie Weenie Fish Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 51	So for amazon swords you would just pull the leaves off and replant them from what i have read so far correct? __________________ _______________________________________________ 90 Gallon 4ft Glo balast 6 jumbo neon tetras 6 glolite tetras 3 lamp eye tetras 5 algae shrimp 4 cherry shrimp Plants Amazon Swords, Java Fern, Lace Java Fern, Dwarf Pygmy Micro Swords, Anubias Nana, Crypt. Spiralis. _______________________________________________