# Pruning and propagating plants



## Fuzz (Jan 27, 2012)

So some of the leaves on my amazon sword get holes in them for whatever reason. Should I prune these leaves off? When pruning the leaves, I'm assuming that I should cut/rip them off at close to the base/roots as possible. With my fairly small amount knowledge about plants(above and below water), I'm going to assume that all plants are the same as far as pruning goes. If it looks like crap, it's probably better to chop it off than to leave it on.

As far as propagating goes, how would I propagate amazon swords? I know that anubias has a rhizome that you cut and other plants like vallisneria pretty much propagate themselves via runners. Some of those taller growing plants get roots as they grow upwards and you cut their stems just below the roots to create more plants....So I know about those other plants, but I'm not sure if I should just cut the root ball in half or wait for some kind of runner or something...???


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## grogan (Jan 23, 2011)

Yup, cut the decaying leaf off at the base. you are correct about the plant being healthier after. They will usually grow back thicker after a good trim. You need to wait for the plant to shoot up runners. Cut them where the new plant starts. and trim the remaining runner stem.


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