Can HM be trimmed to a carpeting plant?

[cody6766]

I have some in my 10gal and it's looking kind clumpy and stringy. i want it to carpet like HC if it's possible. I have 40w over my 10gal and can add an extra 27 if need be. I'll be adding DIY CO2 as soon as I can get to wal-mart for more yeast and dose with excel for the time being.

Do I just trim it short and let it do its thing?

[unirdna]

HM will carpet, but you need to hit it with a lot of light to make it grow horizontally. If it's growing upward, you'll need more power, Scotty. But with great power comes great responsibilities - HM under high light grows like a weed. You'll have to keep at it with the scissors on a weekly basis.

[spypet]

initially you don't trim HM, instead you weight it down a bit to
encourage horizontal growth, but as unir said, more light is key.

[cody6766]

sounds good. Would 40w do the trick (2x 20w cf screw lights) or should I use my other 27w with it for a grand total of 67w? I assume that'll make me wide open for algae issues?

[Cydric]

I had HM growing in my 2.5g nano and it grew vertically and horizontally. It grew...everywhere. It made a carpet on top of my HC which I didn't like so I ripped it out. I was only using 18w 6500k desk top light from Home Depot.

[eklikewhoa]

If you plant them sideways they will grow in that direction with the help of high light. In my 30g I have it growing really low and bushy with 192w of PC.

[Digsy]

I have 48W over my 12 gallon, which I suppose is quite high and it grows like crazy. I keep it trimmed to about 1/2" to 1/4" and it grows vertically and horizontally but doesn't take much time at all to keep it in shape. It's my favorite carpet plant!

[fishscale]

Is there a way to keep it as a carpet without having to trim all the time? Engineering at Michigan takes way too much time, but of course, I would neglect school instead of fish because fish are more fun.

[Digsy]

Is there a way to keep it as a carpet without having to trim all the time?

I don't think there is If I let mine go beyond 2 weeks or so, it's growing pretty tall and looking kind of scraggly.

[LS6 Tommy]

Light colored substrate seems like it might be a key to horizontal growth with HM. I had it for years with 217 w/gal. It grew straight up with FLuorite. I gave some to another guy who has a LOT less light, but is running a really light colored substrate almost like the old standard tank gravel and it grows out in runners all over.

Tommy <9))>>{

[cody6766]

I looked closely at it and i'm seekg some horizontal growth. I'm going to keep stuffing it in the substrate (it's sending root runners down) and keep the high light on it. I just started up my yeast co2 today and added the last 27w to the timer.

Hopefully a lot of light and some TLC will keep it where I want it. I'll have a grand total of 67w over this 10gal until I see algae issues. I also have an otto working in the tank.

[CampCreekTexas]

Originally Posted by LS6 Tommy

I had it for years with 217 w/gal.

217wpg?! Dang, Tommy! You could hold nighttime football games in your tank!

[cody6766]

just an update/answer to my question...

Yes, it can. Of course, you guys already said that, but I'm confirming it. I kept stuffing the vertical shoots into the substrate and let the horizontal ones take off. It's covered the area in which it was planted and has branched out about 2-3" in 2 directions.

I trimmed it down to about 1.5" deep and will cut it down more in a few days or a week. I'm taking the 'green lawn' aproach and not cutting my tall grass too short at once, but slowly bringing it down. Hell, it works on the front yard, so why not here?

I have some algae issues with my 40w over 10gal. Today I brought it down to a single 27w bulb until I can get 2 smaller (probably 15w) screw in c/f bulbs to replace the 2x 20w I have now.