Elodea etc

Hi

When I plant bunches of Elodea & Cabomba with lead strips around the bottom
of the stalks the bottom 10cm start to rot.

What am I doing wrong?

Info:
established tank
nitates kept @ around 20ppm
bag of plant food in the filter box
other plants do well

Thx in advance

R4

"Arthur Suggitt" wrote in
:

When I plant bunches of Elodea & Cabomba with lead strips around the
bottom of the stalks the bottom 10cm start to rot.


Elodea densa and cabomba are both stem plants. The stems should be
separated from the bundle and planted individually. You can plant Elodea
(not cabomba) in small groups of two or three stems, but it will do best if
each stems is planted 7 - 8 cm apart. If you don't separate the stems from
the bundles the bottom leaves will not be able to photosynthesize properly
and will die and drop off.

Cabomba especially should only be planted as individual stems. I've found
cabomba will take forever to root properly in the substrate if the bottom
portion of the stem is not receiving enough light. If it gets enough light
once rooted, cabomba will branch like mad just under the substrate, and if
you've planted other stems too close together the new growth will quickly
starve everything of light. It is best to space the plant out and allow it
to fill out naturally.

BTW... if you're having problems getting cabomba to stay in the substrate
as widely spaced stems (they used to do a lot of floating and frustrate the
heck out of me until they finally rooted) you can actually plant cabomba
sideways to force it to stay put. Just plant a good portion of the plant
just under the soil in a horizontal fashion (weigh part of it down with
rocks if you like) the exposed part will quickly redirect itself towards
the light, and the buried part will drop loads of roots and sprout new
growth all along its length--provided it isn't buried too deeply.

Elodea doesn't seem to branch at the root like cabomba does, but it will
divide and fill out naturally as it grows--regular pruning of the growth
node(s) will encourage it to branch and fill out even more.

Both of these plants are very fast growers. I've seen cabomba grow 1" a
day quickly reaching more than 1 m in length. Make sure to prune regularly
to maintain uniform growth and to ensure one or two stems don't strangle
all the rest out.

excellent.
I will take on board your comments and see how I go.

thank you
R4



"dc" wrote in message
...
"Arthur Suggitt" wrote in
:

When I plant bunches of Elodea & Cabomba with lead strips around the
bottom of the stalks the bottom 10cm start to rot.


Elodea densa and cabomba are both stem plants. The stems should be
separated from the bundle and planted individually. You can plant Elodea
(not cabomba) in small groups of two or three stems, but it will do best
if
each stems is planted 7 - 8 cm apart. If you don't separate the stems from
the bundles the bottom leaves will not be able to photosynthesize properly
and will die and drop off.

Cabomba especially should only be planted as individual stems. I've found
cabomba will take forever to root properly in the substrate if the bottom
portion of the stem is not receiving enough light. If it gets enough
light
once rooted, cabomba will branch like mad just under the substrate, and if
you've planted other stems too close together the new growth will quickly
starve everything of light. It is best to space the plant out and allow it
to fill out naturally.

BTW... if you're having problems getting cabomba to stay in the substrate
as widely spaced stems (they used to do a lot of floating and frustrate
the
heck out of me until they finally rooted) you can actually plant cabomba
sideways to force it to stay put. Just plant a good portion of the plant
just under the soil in a horizontal fashion (weigh part of it down with
rocks if you like) the exposed part will quickly redirect itself towards
the light, and the buried part will drop loads of roots and sprout new
growth all along its length--provided it isn't buried too deeply.

Elodea doesn't seem to branch at the root like cabomba does, but it will
divide and fill out naturally as it grows--regular pruning of the growth
node(s) will encourage it to branch and fill out even more.

Both of these plants are very fast growers. I've seen cabomba grow 1" a
day quickly reaching more than 1 m in length. Make sure to prune
regularly
to maintain uniform growth and to ensure one or two stems don't strangle
all the rest out.

Do you keep the lead strips on the stems when you plant them?

Bttom posted.


"KStringer" wrote in message
oups.com...
Do you keep the lead strips on the stems when you plant them?


You can keep the lead strips on if you make sure they're loose, if you don't
make sure they're loose at all times the plant seems to become strangled in
my experience. Good luck and later!

"Daniel Morrow" wrote in
:


You can keep the lead strips on if you make sure they're loose,

Also, most of the time the plant is protected from the lead weight by a
soft foam strip. If lead weights cause any damage it is generally because
the person attaching them has accidentally crushed the stem. Either way,
stem plants like cabomba and elodea should be separated from the bundle and
planted individually.

Well did as Kevin said. put some Cabomba horizontally under a small piece of
bogwood in direct light and it has grown an inch already!! No lead used

R4
"KStringer" wrote in message
oups.com...
Do you keep the lead strips on the stems when you plant them?