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I was wondering if Swordplants can be propagated by cutting the mother plant vertically in half and plant the "new" ones separatly? I've heard other people doing it. But I'm not sure. Anyone else done that before?

Well you can't really cut it in half. What happens a lot of times with swords if you uproot them is that you find they have divided by themselves and you have multiple "crowns". You can divide these. But cutting not a single crown into 2 pieces.

A lot of swords will propagate by sending out a long shoot with baby swords on it. You can let these grow to a couple of inches then cut them off and replant.

Last edited by bensaf at 14-Apr-2005 20:43

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

actually bensaf, i hate to disagree, but there are some sword species where you CAN cut single plants in half, and one of two things will happen: the plant will either continue to grow as is, or it will send a shoot out within a week and start a new plant - sometimes both happen. i have a bunch of swords (probably in the uraguayensis species, but i'm not sure of the exact name) which i have propogated with this method for years now. if i need more plants, i get a scalpel, cut the mature plant into halves (and sometimes thirds) and just replant them.

actually bensaf, i hate to disagree,

That's quite alright

To be honest I've never tried it. But if you say it works I believe you. I would have thought it would damage the crown. But it could work for some.

Used to have Uraguayensis, I couldn't work with it. Never knew what size or shape leaf it was going to throw out next. It was a nice plant but I just never knew what to do with it

Last edited by bensaf at 14-Apr-2005 20:49

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

have about 25+ leaves right now on my sword
it's still sending out shoots
i get like 2 new leaves every week at least

I got two swords from my lfs a while ago. when I got them home I noticed they were actually about six plants twined together at the roots. Very car fully I seperated them and planted individually yet close to each other and now have a lot of plants doing really well. I also have another that sent out a shoot which budded out and now has roots and leaves,, so I laid the runner along the wall of the tank and weighted it down with gravel. It's doing very well also. never actually split one down the middle tho, I'd be afraid of damaging the roots. Good luck

My 'Triffid' Amazon Swordplant in the Panda Fun Palace™ recently became two. I ended up with two crowns and separated them.

One observation I have to make is this. When the two crowns were together as one plant, one crown was small and somewhat unhappy looking, while the other was growing vigorously, as though the vigorous grower was taking nutrients from the other crown. Once I separated the two crowns, both started to become vigorous. They still have some way to go to become fully settled after the uprooting and the dividing, but they're a nice lush bright green, and each crown is producing a healthy set of leaves. There's 15 leaves on the smaller crown, and 20 on the larger.

I suspect that putting both crowns in a larger aquarium would make them grow even more vigorously, but that will have to wait until the house is rewired from top to bottom. Which it needs (sigh).


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002