Cabomba Trimming

[1 LARA]

So I woke up this morning, turned on lights and the Cabomba was leaning over.
I grew over 3 inces since I put it in last week.
Just added co2 a couple days ago.
How should I trim them to keep them looking cool?
How much sould I trim?
It grew an inch within 24 hours

 

[Luananeko]

Haha, welcome to the world of Cabomba... I don't use injected CO2 yet, just liquid carbon, and my cabomba needs to constantly be trimmed to avoid taking over the tank. I generally wait until a stem is 4-5 inches taller than I want it to be, then cut it just above a leaf node at the height I want it. Seems to work pretty well, and I take the trimmings to my LFS for store credit My LFS takes groups of 4 stems that are 4-5 inches or taller, hence why I wait for them to get a little extra tall. The cabomba just sprouts more stems from the base and the remaining portion of the cut stems are just fine afterwards.

 

[1 LARA]

I heard people cut the tops and remove the base and replant the tops.

Does your plats roumd off at the top after trimming?
I like the round tops and dont want to lose them.

 

[Luananeko]

Yes, you do lose the round tops temporarily until the new sprouts grow if you trim and trade the top. You can do the top replanting and tossing the bottoms if you prefer, but you'll need to let the stems grow pretty long unless you're ok with having the plants alternate going from too long of stems to too short of stems. Another downside of replanting the tops and trading the bases is that you lose the root system, which means you may have to fight with constantly re-planting the stems. Both methods are equally valid though!

 

[1 LARA]

Az long az there is a sprout if I trim tops and a round regroath comes in ill go that way.

 

[Luananeko]

Yep, no worries, new sprouts will keep coming in. You'll get more sprouts and thicker growth by leaving the bases since they wont have to keep regrowing their roots

 

[1 LARA]

curious
how much you get for the tops you sell?

 

[Luananeko]

My LFS gives me 80 cents per bunch of 4 stems, but I could probably get 2-4 dollars per bunch if I wanted to sell them on Aquabid or to other hobbyists. I don't have the patience for trying to sell them there though, my LFS is far more convenient No need to store trimmings while waiting for them to sell, and no need to mess with shipping. I get about $8-$9 each week from the various trimmings I take to my LFS from all the plants in my 75 gallon (several hygro, cabomba, ludwigia, and lidernia varieties, along with lawn pennywort when it goes too crazy).

 

[ZJGMoparman]

I am interested in getting some cabomba for my 20 gallon. Would you consider selling some decent sized cuttings or plants?

 

[Smcoyle87]

I am always fighting with the plants uprooting! Hate it so much! In my experience when I cut the tops, the base dies... any advice for that?

 

[Luananeko]

Are you making sure that there's still a lot of healthy leaf nodes below where you cut? There needs to be about 4"+ worth of healthy base for it to thrive and sprout new nodes.

I've learned to accept that I'll constantly be replanting stems whenever my loaches, pleco, or frogs go digging through the plants Cabomba is usually pretty good at staying put once it's roots are there, but random stems from my lidernia are constantly found floating around on me...

@ZJGMoparman - I just recently trimmed my cabomba so I don't have any to spare right now. Aquabid.com is where I got mine. Look for auctions from Snail_chen or P_Volitan, both are excellent aquabidders that often have various types of cabomba for sale.

 

[Smcoyle87]

Actually I think I cut them too short. Thanks for the advice, maybe I won't constantly have plants floating all over the tank when I get home from work everyday haha. Will the base grow?

 

[Luananeko]

Yep, more stems will come up either from the roots as a fully new stem, or they'll branch off from a lower leaf node

 

[Smcoyle87]

Ugh Cabomba is beautiful but it's actually getting really annoying. You can see the Cabomba in the middle of my tank. If I do decide to replace them with something else, what do you guys think would look good in its place? Background and midground. Haha

 

[Luananeko]

It sort of depends on the look you want... Is your goal for something pretty that doesn't need trimming constantly? Here's a few options, but there are many more:

Hygro difformis
Amazon Sword
Ludwigia (just about any variety tends to grow slower than cabomba)

Those are the main mid/background plants I have experience with at least, but I know there are more. Cabomba and some hygro varieties are just notorious for growing like crazy, since they are basically weeds in their native waters.