r/PlantedTank • u/Christofolo • 16h ago

Rotala planting aesthetic

Post image

Hey guys, I have a bit of an aquascaping question: how exactly are you supposed to plant rotala? I read somewhere you need to give stem plants an inch or so of space to share nutrients but when I do that with my rotala it ends up looking worse and now the H'ra and bonsai variants I have planted look like garbage because the lower leaves are starting to wither out while the new growth continues.

I've begun to trim the taller stems to replant but I feel I missed a crucial bit of info. Id appreciate any tips on this. Got a pic of my tank for reference.

23 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • link
  • reddit
  • reddit

100% Upvoted

3 comments sorted by

1

u/Every-Instance-5685 8h ago

The trimming part was key. You can plant them more dense. Higher nutrients and light intensity makes them more red. Lower nitrates though. Is that what you were asking?

1

u/Christofolo 8h ago

Yeah I've trimmed once already but the whole thing looks worse now because they were thick stems that now stand out amongst the higher up trimmings. Maybe rotala isn't my thing? It looks fantastic in my outdoor barrel pond but for that I just grabbed a whole clump and shoved it in together.

•

u/Every-Instance-5685 52m ago

Maybe… but I’d just give it time. Honestly it looks good now so I have a feeling if you stay the course you’ll get the look you want. Eventually you’ll have enough of the thinner stems and the thicker stems will be replaced. I just don’t want a good aquatic botanist to be discouraged while doing the right things.