[Grah the great]

Well...any ideas how to do this without excessively stressing the plants? I imagine that liberal trimming of the emersed growth would be involved. Thanks

 

[nanomania]

Well...any ideas how to do this without excessively stressing the plants? I imagine that liberal trimming of the emersed growth would be involved. Thanks

Ferns and mosses are easy, but most of the stem plants and runners dont do that well without co2. Loads of dieoffs and the new growth is very slow.

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[ElleDee]

Yeah, with stem plants I'm just trying to replace the emersed parts with new growth ASAP. The old growth is just going to grow lots of algae or melt away, so the sooner you can get it out of the tank, the better.

With crypts specifically I have tried this method and was happy with the results:

It seems brutal, but it worked well for potted crypts. I have not had a problem with TC crypts adapting to submerged conditions if they looked good coming out of the cup.

 

[Grah the great]

Yeah, with stem plants I'm just trying to replace the emersed parts with new growth ASAP. The old growth is just going to grow lots of algae or melt away, so the sooner you can get it out of the tank, the better.

With crypts specifically I have tried this method and was happy with the results: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdcArMSlao8

It seems brutal, but it worked well for potted crypts. I have not had a problem with TC crypts adapting to submerged conditions if they looked good coming out of the cup.

Might this work with other emersed plants, or at the least other rosette plants? Seems like it would work with most rosette plants from how basic it is.

 

[davemonkey]

Might this work with other emersed plants, or at the least other rosette plants? Seems like it would work with most rosette plants from how basic it is.

Yes for Hairgrasses. Might work with swords, but I have always just left the emeresed leaves on them, and then remove as they begin to die off.
For stems, it just depends on what stem plants. Some do well, others need to be pampered. Hygrophila spp. adapt easier, as does "creeping jenny", rotala, and a couple of the Ludwigia spp. Anubias spp. also tend to make the transition without much fuss.

 

[ElleDee]

Might this work with other emersed plants, or at the least other rosette plants? Seems like it would work with most rosette plants from how basic it is.

Yeah, maybe. There are several variables you have to consider. The most important is the root system of the plant - is it going to be strong enough to push new growth without any photosynthates from the leaves? Crypts melt is annoying, but from what I've read it's an evolutionary adaptation, so it's made to come back from the roots. Other plants can probably pull this off, and hairgrass is a good example.

The other question to consider is if it's worth it. Even if a plant *can* come back, is it actually more efficient? Even though emersed growth is not adapted to submerged conditions, it still can photosynthesize and can have storage functions, so removing it all at planting could end up setting the plant back more than if was left alone.

 

[nicepoeci]

Try using trimmings of healthy new growth first and see how it does - every plant wants something different