Question of the Day How to get those awesome plant group separation

[Art]

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Let's hear everyone's techniques on how to get plants to "behave" and stay in their places. How is this done?

 

[Joel Armstrong]

I think this is a great topic!

I'm guessing to get the plants to "behave" and stay in there places comes with practice and experience, something I have definitely not yet achieved. I'm also thinking that plant placement and trimming techniques are the two main points to focus on.

 

[Art]

Thanks, @Joel Armstrong!

While waiting for the experts to chime in, I will add my experience and techniques I use to "try" to get to something that looks nice. I will fully admit I'm not an expert and my knowledge is based on many trials and failures.

Some of my words of wisdom on creating plant groupings that look good:

• Do a planting plan before you even start buying plants. Focus on creating visual interest by placing plants together that have differing (but complementing) colors, textures, heights, growth forms, leaves, etc.
• Buy fewer plants than you think you need. A small grouping can, and will, grow into a bigger grouping with trimming and replanting. A large grouping will get unwieldy quickly.
• Leave 2 inches in between each grouping. Yes, in the beginning it will look like an outline. This will become a nice separation later and it allows you room to trim properly.
• Know what the plant likes best - topping/replanting, trimming or a combination of both on a cycle. This is an area where little information exists. My hope with the plant database we have is that people will provide this information for others to use.
• Learn how to trim each plant. They are all different and react differently.
• Stick to odd numbers. For whatever reason, our brains prefer to see odds versus evens. Use 3, 5, 7, 9, etc. groupings. Similar to iwagumi.
• Provide an even blanket of light. This is where T5s shine best. If you have LEDs, you will need to hang them higher for that even spread but you will be hard pressed to match the blanket created by the bigger T5s.
• Be meticulous with substrate cleaning especially in the gaps between groupings.
• Build triangles of groupings versus straight lines or circles.
• Lastly, don't be afraid to swap a plant out. Sometimes, they just don't work where you want them. The good news is that garden style aquascapes, that most use groupings, are easy to rescape. In fact, some of the pros pull out 100% of their plants from time to time for a deep cleaning.

What experiences have you all had?

 

[ayman.roshdy]

I kicked off my first real high tech tank a few days ago, and although there was different colors but now the reddish ones faded and started to become green, since I am still learning then my first step would be learning how to make the plants keep their original colors, so your question is more advanced than my current state

 

[Art]

So my 2 cents on that, @ayman.roshdy, is to first get the plants growing well and keep algae away. Once the tank stabilizes and you have good growth, then you can focus on bringing colors out. Change the light intensity, decrease nitrate, etc.

 

[ayman.roshdy]

So my 2 cents on that, @ayman.roshdy, is to first get the plants growing well and keep algae away. Once the tank stabilizes and you have good growth, then you can focus on bringing colors out. Change the light intensity, decrease nitrate, etc.

Yes this is exactly what I am planning, the tank has been up and running for almost 3 weeks now, I can see new roots coming and new leaves from all the plants, I believe I will leave it for like 2 more weeks before doing any changes, what do you think, this would be a total of 5 weeks or should I wait some more?

 

[Art]

Only your plants can tell you if it's enough. I like to do a trimming session or two before starting to tweak parameters.

 

[BigWave]

I think the bigger question here is, learn how to grow plants first. You can trim all you want but if your not giving the plants what they need, Light, Nutrients and CO2 then you will not see these end results. The plants will grow erratic and not how you want them too. Possibly not even grow at all. Once you've mastered this part of the hobby trimming comes natural. I believe its one of the big steps people have to take to advance in this hobby and not many do.

 

[Art]

I think with time, you see a space in the aquarium that you want to fill and you tend to know what plant would work there. Doesn't always happen but it does get easier choosing the right plant.

That being said, after all these years, I still find it extremely difficult to get good plant separation between groupings. It seems to come naturally to some people. I envy them.

 

[Freshflora]

One hundred percent agree with @BigWave. First you have to be able to grow plants. As @plantbrain once said, once you can grow the plants, why not mess around with scaping at that point?

A huge factor in getting good groups and plants to “behave” is to choose the right plants for each spot. Not all plants are even suitable for aquascaping period. Some produce crazy aerial roots, lots of less experienced folks buy the wrong variety of a plant hoping it’ll color up and it doesn’t, etc.

Another point I’ll add is you really have to be ready to put in the work and trim on the regular. I’ve come to love maintenance time in part because I always listen to an audiobook. In general, the more time you’re willing to devote to the trimming and arranging, the better results you’ll have. Often, only replanting the tops of a group will leave the group looking nicer more quickly vs mowing it down to save some time and having to wait for the group to recover. There’s a balance to be found there.

Last thing I’ll say is to study other examples of great scapes.

 

[BigWave]

In general, the more time you’re willing to devote to the trimming and arranging, the better results you’ll have.

If you look at the posts on social media from the greats like Maarian and others they do almost daily trimming. In essence walk by the tank, see something off and bust out the scissors real quick.

 

[Freshflora]

If you look at the posts on social media from the greats like Maarian and others they do almost daily trimming. In essence walk by the tank, see something off and bust out the scissors real quick.

Yeah exactly. Vin Kutty once said the commitment required to have a top notch Dutch tank is why most of the great Dutch masters are retired lol. It’s another reason why 2 times a week water changes go well with the style - easier IMO to break up the trimming into two 2 hour sessions rather than one 4.

 

[GreggZ]

I agree with above first you need to learn how to grow plants. That certainly makes scaping a LOT easier.

For me the first thing you need to is have a plan. And that's not as easy as it sounds. When I decide to change the scape around I spend a LOT of time just staring at the tank. Try to imagine different placements, try to figure out what plants might fit in well, try to determine what colors/leaf shapes I am missing, etc.

Part of that planning is knowing how different plants grow. Some grow straight up, some twist and turn, some easily create a nice bush, others need a lot of attention to get the right look. You also need to consider speed of growth. When you see a pic of a tank it is a moment in time. What you don't see is the careful planning during the trimming process. Getting an entire tank to peak heights for the scape takes forethought. Again it takes a lot of practice and trial and error.

Like Art said leaving some spacing between the groupings when trimming is important. Things will fill in and will look more natural over time.

I've said this many times but try to stick to the plants that like the soup you are serving. Keeping 20+ species happy at one time is tricky. Different plants have different optimal parameters. Some plants will be almost impossible to keep together in peak health. Better to let the ones go that don't behave than trying to chase parameters to please them.

It helps to be picky with plant selection. Try not to be a hoarder. I know that is easier said than done. When I look at my tank I try to think in terms of what I am missing. A certain color? Certain leaf shapes? Try not to buy something just because you see it if you have no plans on how to use it. This is why I don't dabble much in rares. Many of them really aren't that good for creating a layout. If it doesn't have a place or fill a void in my vision then I try to avoid the temptation to buy them.

And then once you get all those things figured it out you need to have the desire to practice good trimming/horticulture. This takes time and patience. When I perform a big trim it can take several hours. Many times I am trimming large groups of plants one by one. I find the process therapeutic and look forward to it. If you don't enjoy the process, then the hobby might not be for you.

You'll know you got it bad when you get done with trimming and then pull a few groups again just to move them over an inch. I've done that more times than I care to admit. I always seem to have this vision in my mind of what I want the tank to be and am constantly trying to get it there. And while I never feel I got it exactly right, I keep on trying! I think that's what has kept me in the hobby for so many years. I always feel there is room for improvement and have the hope that someday it will all come together exactly as I planned.