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OK. I have tried and tried but can't seem to get the old plant to keep growing anymore.

My question is where do you cut so that not to damage the original plant???

The cuttings are growing great.

The old plant usually grows a new shoot from the nearest bunch of leaves(I think they call it a node), and I always trim my stem plants just above the nodes to do as little damage as possible. This is only for stem plants, as I am assuming you are talking about.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

well for both.

I trimmed the dead leaves off of a sword that I have and it didn't do too well after that.

For swords they should do well if you trim the leaves close to the base. Try not to trim too much at once, the plant will respond well if you trim a little bit at a time. Another thing to think of is why the original plant is dying off. You may not have enough lights, nutrients etc. for the plant. I notice that plants ussually grow faster right after I trim them if the conditions are good for the plants.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

The light and neutrients aren't the problem as the cutting is still in the same tank.

I will keep trying tho.

Thanks for the help.

I think what Matty meant is that since conditions can and do change in tanks over time, you should check those conditions.

I tend to prune my plants pretty radically (far more severely than matty recommends). But, like she said they seem to bounce back very quickly.

Plant light bulbs loose their brightness in the UV spectrum in as little as six months. The visible spectrum takes a lot longer to degrade (because of the nature of the phosphors used - ask and I can probably go into far more detail than you would like. )

Substrate fertilization only lasts a few months, and needs to be replaced. Water column fertilization without water changes can allow certain chemicals to build over time....

You get the idea.

Good luck,

Carl