What kind of glosso are these?

It may be Elantine hydropiper.

I've never had it but I was reading about a few weeks back. Not sure if this is the same, but it could be elatine hydropiper. It looks long and lanky in your picture because it has not been trained to grow out instead of up through trimmings.

Solcielo lawrencia said:

It may be Elantine hydropiper.

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Nope not it. The leaves are too big to be that.

lol that's right. I've only trimmed it once. Still unsure about it being Elantine hydropiper. The leaves on google pictures look so tiny and mines are a little big.

Krispyplants said:

lol that's right. I've only trimmed it once. Still unsure about it being Elantine hydropiper. The leaves on google pictures look so tiny and mines are a little big.

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It may not be. It's just a best guess. Hard to determine scale through pictures.

Normal glosso.

Looks like regular to me

Regular glosso have wider leaves on google pictures. Even the oldest leaves are still the same size and looks exactly like the picture shown. If I do have regular glosso then why are my leaves small and round? not long and wide.

Did you get it from aqua forest? I ask cause I was surprised at how small the leaves on mine were. Not elatine small, but definitely noticeable.

It definitely looks like regular glosso, they vary in size and shape depending on your conditions.
It depends on your parameter, lighting, and what not. I've had glossos change shapes and sizes from 2cm leaves down to 0.5cm leaves just from moving them around, I find they get much more lengthy when in lower light and in high light the leaves grow very round and small.
Also in my old shrimp tank, the glossos looked exactly like the ones in your picture due to lower light conditions.
If it was sold as mini glosso - it can be hydropiper.. Damn things look the same lol.

Glosso will change leaf shape and size depending on conditions. And judging by how yours is growing up. It looks like it's still getting used to the tank/looking for more light.

I doubt that its because of light. I have a 48" light strip with 4 t5 ho light bulb with 2 bulbs at 6500 and 2 at 6700. I let my light run 7 hours a day and my pogostemon helferi is very compact. Light is not the answer, maybe its because of the fact that I'm letting the stem grow tall. Probably the plant is using most of its potential to grow more at the top instead of putting its growth on the leaves and runners.

Looks exactly like my "regular" Glosso.

Trim, trim, trim, trim, trim. I'm just figuring it out myself. You need moderate light for Glosso to grow. Then to get it to carpet, you need to trim. Over and over and over again. It's a lot of work, requiring determination and stamina and a many six-packs of your favorite brew.

Actually, I'm beginning to wonder if the whole trick to making Glosso carpet is a kind of artificial selection. When we trim we get rid of those stems that are growing upwards and we allow the ones that are growing horizontally to remain. Eventually the horizontally growing stems predominate to the point where we can claim the plant has "carpeted."

you need to train your glosso. It's not as much artificial selection as it is altering the hormone balance of the plant to produce horizontal growth. Just like you would trim a hedge to get bushier you trim glosso to grow sideways.

Jeffww said:

you need to train your glosso. It's not as much artificial selection as it is altering the hormone balance of the plant to produce horizontal growth. Just like you would trim a hedge to get bushier you trim glosso to grow sideways.

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I'm interested in how this works. Can you explain in more detail what you mean by "altering the hormone balance" or suggest an article/website where I can read more about it?