Compact Sword Advice

[bman]

I recently bought a compact sword (Echinodorus parviflorus 'Tropica') that had this shoot that comes out and is reaching for the surface. It has three sections split by little bundles of leaves and what looks like buds?

Is this thing called a runner? Is this something I can turn into a new plant, and if so How (I would prefer this because I have room for more of these after this weekends tank thinning)? If it reaches the surface there is no room for it to emerge, what can be done?

 

[BillD]

New plantlets will form from those budding leaves. When there is enough root to plant, carefully remove them and plant.

 

[Jchillin]

From what I can see in the pic, you already have two new plantlets. Cut and replant like BillD suggests. The runner can be removed from the bottom.

 

[malkore]

I like to wait until the plantlets have an inch of roots before cutting and planting it. swords are such heavy root feeders, along with the anchoring aspect, that I find it's basically foolproof to propagate them if you've got some roots first.

 

[bman]

No roots yet. I would fing it hard to plant them without something to help anchor them down. The main plant was hard enough to keep down.

I guess I can wait until roots form. Wonder how long that will take.

Thanks Guys.

 

[Zezmo]

It may take 2-4 months, or longer before you have plantlets that are ready to thrive as soon as you replant them. A lot depends on light, ferts, substrate, etc. Of course, you could replant these runners at a very early age and still have a reasonable chance of success. With 6-10 leaves most plants have what it takes to survive under good conditions. Another option to clipping plantlets, is to just bend the runner down. Plant each plant and bury the runner in between. Do this without cutting the runner.

E. parviflorus "Tropica" with a couple runners and multiple plantlets. A perfect resting place for this Otocinclus.

Here is the entire grouping. Several plants have runners.

Here are a couple more shots:
http://webpages.charter.net/zezmo/E_Parva_Tropica-1.JPG
http://webpages.charter.net/zezmo/E_Parva_Tropica-2.JPG