# Training plants to grow up



## kaegunim (Jan 15, 2010)

I have three Hygros in my 20g tank: difformis, polysperma, and polysperma 'Rosanervig' (sunset).

I expect these upstanding plants to be towering pillars of the aquarium, but instead they seem to want to become carpet plants - they start out vertical, then start leaning over, then put out a lot of air roots towards the substrate before finally rooting.

How can I convince these plants to remain vertical? Other than their tendency to fall over, they are growing madly fast and looking quite healthy.

I have a bacopa that is staying nice and tall, though not quite as quickly (only 4" in the last month T_T) so it is not a universal phenomenon....

Setup:
20g tall
4x24" T12 (80W) on a 10h timer
DIY CO2 (1 2L bottle) which is holding steady at about 23ppm
EI dosing with K2SO4 instead of GH booster (water is hard enough already~)

other than the mentioned hygrophila, there is a stand of bacopa, some moss, a few vals and a float of riccia on the surface covering about 1/6 of the surface.

for fauna, I have some number of cherry red shrimp (more than 50) and a tri of BN plecos.

I had a bit of a BBA scare last week, but it seems to have cleared up mysteriously on it's own (coincidentally right AFTER I went to the trouble of making myself a 2.5% glutaraldehyde solution to kill it with >_< ohh well, I will have it on hand to nip it in the bud if it decides to come back) I am not sure if the mini-BBA outbreak is pertinent, but I want to give all of the facts.

Thanks for any advice~


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## NuclearTech (Mar 23, 2008)

Let me first say that I'm no expert.
I think that hygros do this naturally when grown in the emersed form. They all send out roots from higher and higher up the stems. I'm not sure if there is any way to prevent this. Stronger lighting?

The hygro in my 20 gallon has been doing this for 2 years. The stuff at the back has grown up to 75% of the wall, while a good portion has carpeted the front of the tank. Combined with my stunted vals, I've managed a 'poor-man's' carpet for the front half of my tank.


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## NuclearTech (Mar 23, 2008)

On second thought...maybe not stronger lighting. Are your lights on for quite a long time? I know mine are. Maybe the light is on too long...leading to too much light (even though my light is low, it may be on for too long a time).


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## Rmwbrown (Jan 22, 2009)

You can probably take a few tips from the Amano school. First, if it is not already, get your lighting suspended above the tank opposed to lying on a glass lid. Suspended lighting seems to give an even light across the tank and help get the plant growing upwards instead of the light source. Second, you can train the plants to grow upwards buy using thread and soaked bamboo skewers just like you would any other plant. Pull the plants, tie them to the skewers and then insert the the whole thing in the gravel. This can be a bit unsightly, however, after the plants have been trained and the bamboo is removed you are left with a vertical stem. 

Opposed to adding more light, I also wonder if you shouldn't cut down on the light a bit. I lost a lamp on my nature aquarium while I was away on holidays this past week and the Hemianthus micranthemoides that was carpeting had finally started growing upwards. This is a bit of a long shot though, opposed to the above post, I have not known hygro to have a carpeting tendency.


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## qwerty (Dec 15, 2009)

Plants do this to get more light to hit their leaves, especially their lower leaves which get shaded out by the top leaves when growing straight.

One solution might be to have a lamp shining through the front or back of the tank so the taller leaves wont block it from reaching the lower leaves. This may not be very aesthetically pleasing to you though.

I believe Diana Walstad in her book mentioned that when putting aquariums by a window for natural light, she noticed that her plants grow upright, because the sunlight was plenty for the lower leaves.

But other problems can be brought up by having your aquarium by a window...

Anyways, that's why your plant's doing it... What specifically you should do to correct it, I'm not entirely sure...


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