Propagating/trimming vallisneria

[chris_todd]

Stupid newbie question:
Can I propagate Vals by simply snipping off the top half of a leaf and planting it in the substrate? I'm pretty sure the answer is no, but I figured I'd ask the experts.

I ask because we have some Vals in our 20 high that have gotten so long that they go from the back left of the aquarium, spread across the water surface, and then fall down the right front of the aquarium. They must be almost 30" long. Kinda cool looking, but if I can build a denser forest of vals, rather than a few long stringy vals, I think it would look nicer.

Chris

[eleontie]

Nope. Only through runners.


Eugen

[PadreJP]

Another newbie here, when I first put some vals in my tank I tried "trimming" them by snipping off the top with scissors (much like you would for stem plants). Big mistake. The ends simply fray and it looks horrible.

Really nothing you can do. I finally decided my tank was simply too small to keep vals in.

[tomterp80]

I think I recall that Ghazanfar recommended pulling them off so that they break off at the bottom, but they never seem to break of where I want them to, and sometimes are so resiliant the entire plant is uprooted, which is decidedly NOT the intention.

[fredyk]

I would just pull out the vals, leave one plant, and let it propagate, and then repeat. : )

[magsdez]

We have jungle vals in our 75 that grow so long that they to grow over the top of the water and wind up shading the plants underneith. I just cut the tops long enough to kinda hide the cut area. Looks ok to me, but evendently, husband to be wants them to continue to grow out. BTW, he's the one who also wanted the onion plants-which are also well known to grow long!