Wisteria growing broader leaves? Why?

[fastfly48]

Hi all

Of late my Wisteria has been growing broader leaves.
Just wondering why this might be.
Do you know of any reasons wisteria might start growing broader leaves?...like normally the leaves are stringy and pretty, but now they arn't =(
I'd post water stats,...but I'm really tired...I'll post em later...
Just wondering if any of you could help
Thanks.
Ry.

 

[Purrbox]

From my understanding of Wisteria, it tends to have broader leaves under lower light conditions and the more pinate frilly leaves under higher light conditions. If you just put the plants into your tank and the new leaves are all broader, then you probably don't have enough light for the fancier leaves. On the other hand, if you've had it awhile and it's only recently started getting the broader leaves I would check to make sure that it isn't being shadowed by another plant. Another possibility is that the growth has gotten too thick so that it can't get enough light.

 

[7Enigma]

2 things I can guess (I'm having the same problem as you right now):

1. The light level is not high enough anymore to support the finer leaflets

2. The plant ages to a point at which it begins to produce the broader leaves instead

I honestly don't know which or if both play a role, but like you I am seeing much larger (less attractive IMO) leaves and have honestly thought about completely removing the wisteria from my tank (due to its massive growth).

I've had the wisteria now for over a month and a half, and its probably doubled in size well over 4 times (most likely much more but I've lost count). At least once a week I'm clipping and throwing out huge handfuls in my 20gallon tank.

I think the clippings you cut off and more importantly where or how you replant probably also plays a large role in how the plant grows.

About another month or so and I'm going to seriously trim back the wisteria to only 4 or 5 branches using only new leaves and see if it maintains the fine structure or if it goes back to the less attractive leaves.

What I've done now with the wiseteria which I find to be very useful (both in looks and hiding equipment) is to cut the plants so that they are flat in a plane (i.e. like a piece of paper), and then using them side by side along the back of the tank as a background. These remain completely flat and hide the heater and filter intake for over a week before I start to see growth coming towards the lights (forward that is), at which point I clip them off and try to maintain the flat backdrop.

I'll see if I can find a pic that shows this and post one.

justin

EDIT:

This isn't a great pic since its after the wisteria started to grow towards the middle of the tank (and probably right after I cut it 50% down since it normally is right near the surface hiding the entire back of the tank) but you can get the idea: