[FroggerFrog]

Hey guys. After a day or two of a break, I came back and was wondering how often should I prune my plants. My guess is... when a few dead leaves show up. But anyways if you do, I’d like to know the answer.

By the way, what’s the best way to cut a Neo? I feel like both of these are noob questions but I would like the answer!

 

[jgragg]

As needed. When things start getting crowded, or shading each other more than you want. It'll vary by species, and also by location in the viv, and also by growing conditions. Rowdy species in conditions they like need haircuts a lot more often than we do. Other species, especially ones in stingier conditions, hardly ever need a little snip or two.

Cut a neo? Huh? Just what issue(s) are you envisioning? They require no pruning, unless you want to move a pup to another viv or a new spot within the same viv. I like my clumps, personally - they look as natural as can be.

I guess if you mount / plant one too near the ceiling they might get a little stuffed against the screen. But it isn't a routine pruning need, that's a "crap, I put it too high - gotta yank and remount it, a tad lower" need.

 

[FroggerFrog]

As needed. When things start getting crowded, or shading each other more than you want. It'll vary by species, and also by location in the viv, and also by growing conditions. Rowdy species in conditions they like need haircuts a lot more often than we do. Other species, especially ones in stingier conditions, hardly ever need a little snip or two.

Cut a neo? Huh? Just what issue(s) are you envisioning? They require no pruning, unless you want to move a pup to another viv or a new spot within the same viv. I like my clumps, personally - they look as natural as can be.

I guess if you mount / plant one too near the ceiling they might get a little stuffed against the screen. But it isn't a routine pruning need, that's a "crap, I put it too high - gotta yank and remount it, a tad lower" need.

Seems good. One of my plants in my cresties tank is towering and needs a cut. It just keeps growing.

The tips of my broms are a little brown. I know that they happen when they are exposed to direct sunlight. I remember reading a thread where some guy cut the tips with a type of clipper. I forget which kind. I’ll have to try to find it again.

 

[jgragg]

The tips of my broms are a little brown. I know that they happen when they are exposed to direct sunlight. I remember reading a thread where some guy cut the tips with a type of clipper. I forget which kind. I’ll have to try to find it again.

Uh. Hmm. Mmm.

Well there's probably no better way to start a snit among growers and wannabes, than to bring up yellow or brown or otherwise dead leaf tips.

That said, here goes. No good deed goes unpunished.

• Consumer-grade artificial light does not cause brown tips in Neos, unless they're almost touching old, hot lights. Now, real live direct sun for hours can burn them, sure, but I sort of doubt this is your issue. And I hope it is not. Give more info, maybe? Is your viv in a S-facing, curtain-free window or something? That, I cannot recommend. It's way too easy to get bio-hostile extremes in a window.
• Probably one way you could cause dead tips in Neos would be excessive dryness - too low RH, or too-long empty cups. Another might be excessive fertilization. Yet another might be too-salty water. But - hoping it's not a hot window - I'd put my money on "too dry".
• Removing dead tips is not really "pruning". Pruning is to manage size, shape, yield, etc. You're talking about...well I'm not sure what to call it. Personally, I'd leave it alone. In time, those leaves will wind up as part of the "skirt" of dead leaves at the brom base, that you can cut off, pull off, or leave in place. I like to leave a few, honestly - it looks more natural to me.
• Any well-dressed edge can cut leaves. I keep two tools in my herp roon for the job - a retired pair of kitchen shears (the sort you could employ to reduce a turkey carcass) and a little tiny pair of trimming snips. The first can get through the biggest gnarliest Pothos trunk (I have some that easily push 1") while the latter help corral e.g. rambunctious Selaginella. The shears get a lot of work, because I have one very large viv with a big Pothos. I probably have to trim that galloping bastard twice a month. The snake who lives in that cage loves the plant, else I'd have ripped it out ten years ago. I truly hate the plant, but love the snake so make accommodations for her.

 

[FroggerFrog]

Uh. Hmm. Mmm.

Well there's probably no better way to start a snit among growers and wannabes, than to bring up yellow or brown or otherwise dead leaf tips.

That said, here goes. No good deed goes unpunished.

• Consumer-grade artificial light does not cause brown tips in Neos, unless they're almost touching old, hot lights. Now, real live direct sun for hours can burn them, sure, but I sort of doubt this is your issue. And I hope it is not. Give more info, maybe? Is your viv in a S-facing, curtain-free window or something? That, I cannot recommend. It's way too easy to get bio-hostile extremes in a window.
• Probably one way you could cause dead tips in Neos would be excessive dryness - too low RH, or too-long empty cups. Another might be excessive fertilization. Yet another might be too-salty water. But - hoping it's not a hot window - I'd put my money on "too dry".
• Removing dead tips is not really "pruning". Pruning is to manage size, shape, yield, etc. You're talking about...well I'm not sure what to call it. Personally, I'd leave it alone. In time, those leaves will wind up as part of the "skirt" of dead leaves at the brom base, that you can cut off, pull off, or leave in place. I like to leave a few, honestly - it looks more natural to me.
• Any well-dressed edge can cut leaves. I keep two tools in my herp roon for the job - a retired pair of kitchen shears (the sort you could employ to reduce a turkey carcass) and a little tiny pair of trimming snips. The first can get through the biggest gnarliest Pothos trunk (I have some that easily push 1") while the latter help corral e.g. rambunctious Selaginella. The shears get a lot of work, because I have one very large viv with a big Pothos. I probably have to trim that galloping bastard twice a month. The snake who lives in that cage loves the plant, else I'd have ripped it out ten years ago. I truly hate the plant, but love the snake so make accommodations for her.

Ok to start.

My tank is not near a window (etc.) nor is my light old and hot.

It may be a little dry. I hand-mist three times a day for about 10-15 seconds. Ventilation wouldn’t be a problem. Usually an hour or two before a mist, the water starts drying and it honestly seems a little dry. Every other explanation would most likely not be the explanation.

I totally agree now that I think of it. I guess it would be called... I have no idea.

Thanks for the tips. I have a similar problem for 2 of my tanks. One has a plant which I’m not sure what it could be but it grew humongous. My gecko loves it even if a quarter of the plant dies. My other tank is... overgrown. I’m sort of embarrassed to even show a photo of it. Welp, my frogs love it so it seems it won’t go anytime soon.

 

[jgragg]

Hey no worries, on either count. I've never put a single photo here. And, in all honestly nearly all the plant species we can get hold of, naturally want to get bigger than our vivs allow. And, the vivs make them super happy. So they grow. It's a real Catch-22. Hence - frequent haircuts!

• An alternative is to have a range or variety of environmental situations in a pretty big viv, and keep various pickier plants happy only in those small areas. And have no rowdy generalists that can bridge the gaps and smother everything. For this example - I've got pretty hot pretty dry areas with trailing succulents, I've got damp areas with Selaginellas and true mosses. If the succulents get into the wet stuff they die right there. And the Selaginellas and mosses are confined to the areas that suit them. Broms and orchids go in this category - picker plants.
• Another alternative (or I guess, a complementary strategy) is to mainly keep slow-growing plants. Even if they could get big, it takes so long that the need for haircuts is reduced. So for this example, I like Hoya carnosa as a vining plant. Probably half my vivs have it. Vines are notorious for rapid growth. This one is not too bad though. It can tolerate a range of conditions, but slows down when kept on the dry side.

Anyway - I recommend having no fear of plant blood. Have a whack at em. And if there's something you decide you cannot live with - just yank that little shit outta there. I promise it won't hurt much.