Sag subulata is getting tall

Post by **krisw** » Wed Apr 07, 2004 8:11 am

Sean gave me some of his sag subulata about a month ago. He warned me that it was very inconsistent in terms of height, having some pieces lying across the water surface, while others will stay close to 6 inches. Sure enough, in my tank, I have the same diversity, ranging from 4" up to roundabouts of 24".

Does anyone have any ideas as to what triggers this? The tank that I have mine is a 75 gallon, with 260watts light, CO2, and Flourish added weekly or as needed.

-Kris

PS: Sean, how's that compacta sword going that I gave you. Hopefully, it's not more than 6-8" tall!

SCMurphy · Post by **SCMurphy** » Wed Apr 07, 2004 9:03 am

The swords are staying small, they are a nice change from what I'm used to with swords.

The sag is hitting 24 inches? Are you sure it's all sag? There might be a crypt spiralis mixed in there.

Post by **krisw** » Wed Apr 07, 2004 9:10 am

Well... I guess I haven't actually measured 24", but assuming that my tank is 18" high, and they're lying on the water surface, it can't be too far off... It all looks like sag... You didn't happen to slip in some crypt spiralis into that huge clump of sag subulata you gave me, did you? <img border="0" src="smileys/smiley2.gif" border="0">

Actually... I kind of like having the variety, as it gives more of an unpredicable jungle look.. I was just curious if there's anything I could to control it. <img border="0" src="smileys/smiley1.gif" border="0">

Glad to hear that the swords are working out!

SCMurphy · Post by **SCMurphy** » Wed Apr 07, 2004 9:49 am

I can't even tell you why the sag is suddenly growing tall on me. It has been at 3 to 5 inches for so long that I thought I had a stable variety. I had C. spiralis in the 10 gallon tank that the sag was in and they kept popping up new ones after I thought I had removed them all. I also had a corkscrew valisneria in that tank. I might not have gotten them all out when I tried. As you might have noticed, I didn't dig through that clump of plants that I gave you, so there could be all kinds of good stuff in there.

I have sag flowers in both that 10 gallon tank and my center 30 gallon tank. I've never seen them flower before.

Post by **krisw** » Wed Apr 07, 2004 10:25 am

Oh well... A grab bag of plants never hurt anyone! I haven't had any of mine flower, but I've seen a few sideshoots already since I've planted them... In anycase... If you discover how to keep your sag from growing tall... please do share.

Ghazanfar Ghori · Post by **Ghazanfar Ghori** » Wed Apr 07, 2004 10:28 am

I've noticed that if a sag is 'born' in shade, it
tends to be taller - and grows tall. However, one that
is 'born' in high light, starts off short and stays
short. I have nothing to back this up anymore. I did
give Liz some 18"+ 'dwarf' sags that had lineage to
some I had that were 2" tall.

Post by **krisw** » Wed Apr 07, 2004 10:46 am

That's an interesting observation. I guess it kind of makes sense. I haven't had mine long enough to really determine if that's what's going on in mine.

For the really long shoots, is sag subulata one of the plants that you can just cut mid-stalk? (ie/ like mowing the grass, so to say.) Or would it be better to remove the whole shoot at the base of the plant?

Ghazanfar Ghori · Post by **Ghazanfar Ghori** » Wed Apr 07, 2004 11:00 am

Best way is to pull the entire leaf off the base. It
should come off pretty easy. Cutting it won't work
since it'll start rotting away from the cut end.

Sag subulata is getting tall

Sponsors