pruning plants?

[laur3namb3r]

Hi all, I have two plants in my 5 gal tank...an onion plant, I think, and some type of lily? Excuse me if I'm wrong, I'm not a plant person. :p

Anyway, my lily has started growing like a weed sine I put it in the tank a week ago, and the size of the leaves are perfect for Copernicus, he LOVES swimming and hanging out on them...he even made started to make me s bubble nest yesterday! My only concern is the plant shot up two stems of floating leaves, and I don't want them to take over the tank. I love the plant, and I don't want to have to take it out, since Copernicus is loving it.

Is there a way I could trim those stems so they don't produce the floating leaves? I realize the plant will keep doing it, but I don't mind trimming them. I just don't want to kill the plant in doing so.

I have uploaded a picture so you can see what I'm dealing with. Thanks all!

[Kytkattin]

I personally just pinch off any leaves I don't want as close to the roots/base of the plant as I feel like getting. Not sure if that is the right way, but it is easiest and quickest for me.

[babystarz]

Originally Posted by Kytkattin

I personally just pinch off any leaves I don't want as close to the roots/base of the plant as I feel like getting. Not sure if that is the right way, but it is easiest and quickest for me.

Yep this is the way to do it with the lily, I remove the leaves and their stems as soon as a leaf gets to the water surface... I made the mistake of leaving mine to its own devices and ended up with 20+ leaves blocking out the light to the rest of the tank and learned my lesson! The lily will continue to produce new leaves as you pinch the older ones off.

[tekkguy]

If you can get some small scissors in there, the clean cut will keep the plant a little healthier, without having to worry about crushed or smashed stems.

[laur3namb3r]

Thanks guys! When changing the water yesterday, I removed the two, plus another one that was sprouting. Tekk, wish I saw your post earlier! Crushing the stem won't potentially kill the plant, will it? Next time I will use scissors or something else to make a clean cut. Thanks!

[tekkguy]

Originally Posted by laur3namb3r

Thanks guys! When changing the water yesterday, I removed the two, plus another one that was sprouting. Tekk, wish I saw your post earlier! Crushing the stem won't potentially kill the plant, will it? Next time I will use scissors or something else to make a clean cut. Thanks!

No, that's unlikely. Either way, the plant has to repair the damage. The cleaner cut with scissors just means the plant has to expend less resources to heal the damage.