Plant Pruning

I see leaves dying on the plant in my 10-gallon aquarium and I'd like to
cut them off and take them out without disturbing
the roots (and possibly pulling the plant up). What should I
use? Would a normal pair of scissors do the job?

Thanks,

Sharp scissors. I keep them next to the tank. Don't pinch plants - it
tends to damage tissue more than a quick snip.


I have the "aqua-thingy", but find the blade too weak, so tend to use
scissors and fingernails.

Oh, and stepladders.
It's 24" deep with 3" of graveland I'm only 5' 9" :-)

Peter

2pods wrote:
I see leaves dying on the plant in my 10-gallon aquarium and I'd like to
cut them off and take them out without disturbing
the roots (and possibly pulling the plant up). What should I
use? Would a normal pair of scissors do the job?

Thanks,

Sharp scissors. I keep them next to the tank. Don't pinch plants - it
tends to damage tissue more than a quick snip.



I have the "aqua-thingy", but find the blade too weak, so tend to use
scissors and fingernails.

Oh, and stepladders.
It's 24" deep with 3" of graveland I'm only 5' 9" :-)

Peter



I use a dining room chair - I undersold myself earlier - I'm 5'7" but
24" plus the hood makes it an interesting and soggy experience - lol....

Interesting though to learn that even if I took the growth hormones to
gain another two inches I would still have issues - nice to know -
(mental note - throw out the pills) :-)

Gill



Gill

On Tue, 18 Apr 2006 20:30:15 +0100, "2pods" wrote:

I see leaves dying on the plant in my 10-gallon aquarium and I'd like to
cut them off and take them out without disturbing
the roots (and possibly pulling the plant up). What should I
use? Would a normal pair of scissors do the job?

Thanks,

Sharp scissors. I keep them next to the tank. Don't pinch plants - it
tends to damage tissue more than a quick snip.


I have the "aqua-thingy", but find the blade too weak, so tend to use
scissors and fingernails.

Oh, and stepladders.
It's 24" deep with 3" of graveland I'm only 5' 9" :-)

Peter

I was wondering how sturdy the scissors attachment is - are they well
built, cut crisp and sharp without bending the stem, strong enough to
cut a woody stem - more info please.

-- Mister Gardener

On Mon, 17 Apr 2006 17:31:14 GMT, Altum
wrote:

Suzie-Q wrote:
Do you folks have special tools to prune your aquarium plants,
or do you use things you picked up at a non-lfs?

I see leaves dying on the plant in my 10-gallon aquarium and
I'd like to cut them off and take them out without disturbing
the roots (and possibly pulling the plant up). What should I
use? Would a normal pair of scissors do the job?

Thanks,

Sharp scissors. I keep them next to the tank. Don't pinch plants - it
tends to damage tissue more than a quick snip.

Actually, some plants call for pinching and others for cutting.
Pinching seals the end of the stem, preventing fluids from leaking out
and infection to enter. Cutting a stem leaves an open end. This is
from my terrestrial gardening experience, I haven't gotten to know my
aqua plants that well yet. But when an article tells you to pinch,
they really mean pinch, with your fingernail and thumb. That is, of
course, if the instructions were written by someone who knows
something about plant care.

-- Mister Gardener

Mister Gardener wrote:
On Mon, 17 Apr 2006 17:31:14 GMT, Altum
wrote:


Suzie-Q wrote:

Do you folks have special tools to prune your aquarium plants,
or do you use things you picked up at a non-lfs?

I see leaves dying on the plant in my 10-gallon aquarium and
I'd like to cut them off and take them out without disturbing
the roots (and possibly pulling the plant up). What should I
use? Would a normal pair of scissors do the job?

Thanks,

Sharp scissors. I keep them next to the tank. Don't pinch plants - it
tends to damage tissue more than a quick snip.


Actually, some plants call for pinching and others for cutting.
Pinching seals the end of the stem, preventing fluids from leaking out
and infection to enter. Cutting a stem leaves an open end. This is
from my terrestrial gardening experience, I haven't gotten to know my
aqua plants that well yet. But when an article tells you to pinch,
they really mean pinch, with your fingernail and thumb. That is, of
course, if the instructions were written by someone who knows
something about plant care.

-- Mister Gardener

Which is absolutely the same reason that I follow the pinch
principle....I think it depends on the type of stem...soft versus
hard...I cut roses/shrubs that are woody but pinch pretty much
everything else (and even roses when removing old flowers etc when the
wood is green). I very much doubt that aquatic plants are too much
different to our terrestrial ones...one word of caution would be to make
sure that the sap is not poisonous but that would apply to pinching as
well as cutting....

Gill (another gardener)

Mister Gardener wrote:
On Mon, 17 Apr 2006 17:31:14 GMT, Altum

Sharp scissors. I keep them next to the tank. Don't pinch plants - it
tends to damage tissue more than a quick snip.

Actually, some plants call for pinching and others for cutting.
Pinching seals the end of the stem, preventing fluids from leaking out
and infection to enter. Cutting a stem leaves an open end. This is
from my terrestrial gardening experience, I haven't gotten to know my
aqua plants that well yet. But when an article tells you to pinch,
they really mean pinch, with your fingernail and thumb. That is, of
course, if the instructions were written by someone who knows
something about plant care.

Interesting. The only terrestrial plants I really fuss over are hybrid
tea roses. Sort of the discus of the plant world. They're too woody to
pinch and I dust the cut ends with sulfur.

I've tried both pinching and cutting on aquatics and get better results
on most plants by cutting. It seems like bruised tissue is more prone
to rotting.

Swords do best with a clean cut at the base of the dying leaf. Crypts
can be pinched or cut - the petiole will rot either way. ;-) Stem
plants tend to do better if they're not bruised too much, either by a
pinch with sharp nails or a clean cut. It's best to cut about a cm
above the leaf axil where you want the plant to sprout. Grasses and
Crinum that have grown too tall and need "mowing" are too tough to
pinch. I find the cut end is least likely to rot if it's done with very
sharp scissors.

--
Put the word aquaria in the subject to reply.
Did you read the FAQ? http://faq.thekrib.com

On Tue, 18 Apr 2006 22:02:43 GMT, Altum
wrote:

Mister Gardener wrote:
On Mon, 17 Apr 2006 17:31:14 GMT, Altum

Sharp scissors. I keep them next to the tank. Don't pinch plants - it
tends to damage tissue more than a quick snip.

Actually, some plants call for pinching and others for cutting.
Pinching seals the end of the stem, preventing fluids from leaking out
and infection to enter. Cutting a stem leaves an open end. This is
from my terrestrial gardening experience, I haven't gotten to know my
aqua plants that well yet. But when an article tells you to pinch,
they really mean pinch, with your fingernail and thumb. That is, of
course, if the instructions were written by someone who knows
something about plant care.

Interesting. The only terrestrial plants I really fuss over are hybrid
tea roses. Sort of the discus of the plant world. They're too woody to
pinch and I dust the cut ends with sulfur.

I've tried both pinching and cutting on aquatics and get better results
on most plants by cutting. It seems like bruised tissue is more prone
to rotting.

Swords do best with a clean cut at the base of the dying leaf. Crypts
can be pinched or cut - the petiole will rot either way. ;-) Stem
plants tend to do better if they're not bruised too much, either by a
pinch with sharp nails or a clean cut. It's best to cut about a cm
above the leaf axil where you want the plant to sprout. Grasses and
Crinum that have grown too tall and need "mowing" are too tough to
pinch. I find the cut end is least likely to rot if it's done with very
sharp scissors.

And scissors are a whole lot easier to work with in the center of a
dense plant a couple of feet under water. I use scissors on my
aquatics almost exclusively.

-- Mister Gardener

I was wondering how sturdy the scissors attachment is - are they well
built, cut crisp and sharp without bending the stem, strong enough to
cut a woody stem - more info please.

-- Mister Gardener

I find the scissor attatchment to be far to flimsy.
Best off with real scissors
YMMV of course :-)

Peter