What's the trick with cabomba?

I was told that it's because of too much blue in the spectrum, or something
similar... One color makes it grow tall, one color makes it bushy, not
tall.... IIRC, blue makes it go tall, red makes it bushy.... Anachris is the
same way, if the light has more reds, it'll be bushier leaves, thicker
between branches, and more blue will make it reach for the top of the
water....

I could be wrong, and I reserve the right to be wrong at anytime without
hesitation... haha....
"Dave M. Picklyk" wrote in message
. ca...
Why does my cabomba grow with big spaces between leafs and straggley? Is
the
trick lots of light? I only have 2wpg in a 15gal wide. I do PPMD, traces,
and have good values of C02 like 35ppm. All my other plants grow extremely
fast and lush (I have to prune 2-3 times a week) I used to have a bunch of
this stuff but got disgusted with the poor growth that I limited it now to
a
little part of the brightest spot in my aquarium. The stem seems to grow
rapidly but the leaf sections grow wide apart and not condensed and thick
like.

Thanx for any opinions!!!

--
Dave Picklyk
www.picklyk.com/aquascape

my Caboma always sucks, I always sucker in and buy it because it looks so
nice... at first. Is this a true aquarium plant, anyone know? I know many
"aquarium" plants sold are not really meant to be underwater, people just
sell them for the purpose and they often don't do well.

For me, the trick is to never top it. Start with a nice, thick, batch, and
never, ever top it. Instead, discard the bottoms and replant the tops

Of course, I don't always have the discipline to do that. :-)


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/

"Dave M. Picklyk" wrote in message .ca...
Why does my cabomba grow with big spaces between leafs and straggley? Is the
trick lots of light? I only have 2wpg in a 15gal wide. I do PPMD, traces,
and have good values of C02 like 35ppm. All my other plants grow extremely
fast and lush (I have to prune 2-3 times a week) I used to have a bunch of
this stuff but got disgusted with the poor growth that I limited it now to a
little part of the brightest spot in my aquarium. The stem seems to grow
rapidly but the leaf sections grow wide apart and not condensed and thick
like.

It's almost certainly that you don't have enough light. Cabomba really
requires a well-lit tank. For a small tank like a 15g, well-lit
probably means something like 80W. (The watts per gallon rules don't
really work for small or large tanks.)

You might do better with a less light-demanding plant such as
Limnophila, although frankly you might not have enough light for that
to do well either.

- Jim

Cabomba is a hassle. This cannot be stopped.

Low maintenance plants - Crypt (once over first dieback) Hygro and
Ludwiga. All root well and do not get straggley.

Dave M. Picklyk wrote:

Why does my cabomba grow with big spaces between leafs and straggley? Is the
trick lots of light? I only have 2wpg in a 15gal wide. I do PPMD, traces,
and have good values of C02 like 35ppm. All my other plants grow extremely
fast and lush (I have to prune 2-3 times a week) I used to have a bunch of
this stuff but got disgusted with the poor growth that I limited it now to a
little part of the brightest spot in my aquarium. The stem seems to grow
rapidly but the leaf sections grow wide apart and not condensed and thick
like.

Thanx for any opinions!!!

This is the limnophila sessiliflora or ambulia?

"Jim Seidman" wrote in message
om...
"Dave M. Picklyk" wrote in message
.ca...
Why does my cabomba grow with big spaces between leafs and straggley? Is
the
trick lots of light? I only have 2wpg in a 15gal wide. I do PPMD,
traces,
and have good values of C02 like 35ppm. All my other plants grow
extremely
fast and lush (I have to prune 2-3 times a week) I used to have a bunch
of
this stuff but got disgusted with the poor growth that I limited it now
to a
little part of the brightest spot in my aquarium. The stem seems to grow
rapidly but the leaf sections grow wide apart and not condensed and
thick
like.

It's almost certainly that you don't have enough light. Cabomba really
requires a well-lit tank. For a small tank like a 15g, well-lit
probably means something like 80W. (The watts per gallon rules don't
really work for small or large tanks.)

You might do better with a less light-demanding plant such as
Limnophila, although frankly you might not have enough light for that
to do well either.

- Jim

Actually Red, it's the opposite. The blue spectrum encourages short and
bushy growth while the red spectrum makes plants grow long and leggy.




"RedForeman ©®" wrote in message
...
I was told that it's because of too much blue in the spectrum, or
something
similar... One color makes it grow tall, one color makes it bushy, not
tall.... IIRC, blue makes it go tall, red makes it bushy.... Anachris is
the
same way, if the light has more reds, it'll be bushier leaves, thicker
between branches, and more blue will make it reach for the top of the
water....

I could be wrong, and I reserve the right to be wrong at anytime without
hesitation... haha....
"Dave M. Picklyk" wrote in message
. ca...
Why does my cabomba grow with big spaces between leafs and straggley? Is
the
trick lots of light? I only have 2wpg in a 15gal wide. I do PPMD,
traces,
and have good values of C02 like 35ppm. All my other plants grow
extremely
fast and lush (I have to prune 2-3 times a week) I used to have a bunch
of
this stuff but got disgusted with the poor growth that I limited it now
to
a
little part of the brightest spot in my aquarium. The stem seems to grow
rapidly but the leaf sections grow wide apart and not condensed and
thick
like.

Thanx for any opinions!!!

--
Dave Picklyk
www.picklyk.com/aquascape

It's almost certainly that you don't have enough light. Cabomba really
requires a well-lit tank.

That hasn't been my experience. My Cabomba actually grows bushier in my
moderate-light tank, probably because it grows slower.


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/

"Dave M. Picklyk" wrote in message .ca...
This is the limnophila sessiliflora or ambulia?

Yes, I was thinking Limnophila sessiliflora, a.k.a. ambulia. Although
Limnophila aquatica might do OK too. Limnophila aromatica would
definitely require more light, however.

Again, I don't know if 30W in a 15g will support L. sessiflora either.
Tbat's pretty low light. But it would be more likely to do well, and
has a similar look to cabomba.

- Jim

LeighMo ) writes:
It's almost certainly that you don't have enough light. Cabomba
really
requires a well-lit tank.

That hasn't been my experience. My Cabomba actually grows bushier in
my
moderate-light tank, probably because it grows slower.

The original poster has 30W on a 15g, which sounds like pretty low
light to me. I don't know what kind of lighting is on your
"moderate-light" tank, but I suspect that it's much better-lit than
that.

Unfortunately, I don't know of any measurement that's both easy and
accurate for describing the light level in a tank. So your
moderate-light might be something that I would call a high-light.
Someone needs to mass-produce cheap underwater light meters to resolve
the problem. :-)

- Jim