Plant propagation is one of the simple pleasures of keeping a planted aquarium. Multiplying your plant collection at no additional cost is always a good feeling and lucky for us, most all stem plants can be easily cloned. All one has to do is make a cut about half way down an active growing stem, remove a few of the bottom leaves and re-plant the freshly cut tissue. Over the next few days, the new plant will root and the mother plant will begin to send out two new vertical shoots. This is an excellent way of filling in the background of your tank without spending any extra cash and will generally promote a more bushy growth that is often desired.

 

     Plants such as Dwarf Sagittaria that are not stem plants can also propagate. They do so naturally through the substrate via “runners” One plant will soon become several as they take root in the aquarium. In just a matter of a few months, you can have the entire foreground of your tank covered in this plant due to this auto-propagation.