I'm intrigued by the discussion in this forum, and have found myself more 'homework' to do after looking at those links!

If I may, I'd like to bring up the question that prompted me to look at this thread: Is pearling a continuous process?

That is, given that the water column contains all the nutrients and CO2 that plants need to achieve their maximum uptake rate, would we expect the tank to begin pearling about 2 or 3 hours into the photoperiod and continue on until the lights turn off?

If some plants grow faster and therefore pearl more than others, such as riccia, then lets assume the majority of the plants in the tank are fast growing plants such as Ludwigia repens, Heteranthera zosterifolia, Hemianthus micranthemoides, Hygrophila difformis, and Hygrophila corymbosa.

The reason I ask this is because I only see pearling in the last 3 or 4 hours of my 10 hour photoperiod.

Thanks-
DM