Adrienne Posted February 9, 2007 Report Share Posted February 9, 2007 I received quite a few plants of varying types this morning. They don't have roots yet but are bunched together with the lead weights. To get the roots to grow do I leave them floating in my tank or plant them. I have Daltons Aquatic Mix under gravel in my tanks and also use Flourish once a week. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faran Posted February 9, 2007 Report Share Posted February 9, 2007 Well, that all depends on what you have in the tank. If you have catfish or plecs they'll probably be uprooted and never get a chance to properly root if you remove the weights. I'd leave them bundled and carefully push the weighted ends into the desired spots. Once rooted you can go back and remove the lead. Oh, last note - if the plants look like they're dying, give them some time. Many plants in pet shops (and some from a new seller on trademe) are grown hydroponically and will need some time to adjust to submerged life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted February 10, 2007 Report Share Posted February 10, 2007 It depends a lot on the plants that you have. The lead can restrict the plants ability to form roots, others do better just sitting in the water until they grow roots, then remove the lead and plant them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted February 10, 2007 Report Share Posted February 10, 2007 I always just chuck new stems straight into the substrate. they will eventually grow roots Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted February 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2007 Thanks, I haven't got any fish in the tank at the moment but will be putting in a few bristlenose catfish in about a week. I think I've probably got the plants grown hydrophonically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carla Posted February 10, 2007 Report Share Posted February 10, 2007 Many plants in pet shops (and some from a new seller on trademe) are grown hydroponically and will need some time to adjust to submerged life. Who is he? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimTam22 Posted February 10, 2007 Report Share Posted February 10, 2007 Who is he? Yea i was wondering if all this guys plants are grown hydroponically?? http://www.trademe.co.nz/Members/Listin ... er=1263883 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted February 10, 2007 Report Share Posted February 10, 2007 yep thats the one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faran Posted February 10, 2007 Report Share Posted February 10, 2007 Yup, for a definite example here's hygro difformis. Completely different emersed and sumbersed leaves, these are the emersed ones - http://www.trademe.co.nz/Home-living/Pe ... 035772.htm Submersed leaves look like this - http://www.akvariumas.net/duomenu_baze/ ... ormis1.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jn Posted February 10, 2007 Report Share Posted February 10, 2007 I read somewhere that one advantage of buying aquatic plants that have been grown emersed/hydroponically is that they won't be contaminated with stuff like snails, algae or parasites. What do you folks think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted February 10, 2007 Report Share Posted February 10, 2007 thats a good point, but is it worth the hassle? just dip all new arrivals into a potassium permanganate dip, or bleach if necessary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insect Direct Posted February 10, 2007 Report Share Posted February 10, 2007 I must say tht guy on tradme has some of the nicest most healthy looking plants ive seen, hes obviously done his research, I used to tooto around with hydroponics abit when living at home and tried many plants in my plastic houses and was fully blown away at the growth rates that could be achieved! Im sure they will adjust to been fully submersed but cant say ive tried even growing aquarium plants as of yet or tried adjusting them, what are ppls thoughts on this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted February 10, 2007 Report Share Posted February 10, 2007 Most plants sold are grown emersed but not necesarily hydroponically. Some are easy to convert to submersed growth and some are not. Difformis means two forms and that and rotala are both quite different when emersed and both can be difficult to convert. Most of the red plants are also not easy and some of the plants sold never will grow submersed and will rot after a few weeks. They grow more quickly and can therefore be sold more cheaply but also have a greater risk of dying. You pays your money and you takes your pick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jn Posted February 11, 2007 Report Share Posted February 11, 2007 I guess that makes sense Alanmin, you know exactly what you're getting when you buy plants grown under the right conditions. I suppose too that the time they spend in your tank trying to adapt/convert they become algae magnets anyway with the emersed form of the growth dies off? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted February 11, 2007 Report Share Posted February 11, 2007 Many people selling plants make the cuttings up into bunches and put them in water for a while before selling (not to the point of conversion to submersed growth).They will tell you that it makes it easier to convert to submersed growth. This is probably true but by a sheer coincidence it also makes it difficult to grow emersed. Once again--- you pays your money and you takes your pick. I have offered plants grown submersed to a number of shops (at added cost of course) and they are not interested usually because other shops would be cheaper and some are even honest enough to admit that if they die the customer will come back and buy more. 30 years ago I used to supply plants to a lot of shops in the South Island and they were all submersed. Now it is hard to find a plant that is (other than ambuli or cabomba) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted February 11, 2007 Report Share Posted February 11, 2007 jn-- Most of the stem plants sold are bog plants and will be grown hydroponically or in pots in a glasshouse but because of what they are they require wet roots and this is likely to support snails. The slow growing ones will become magnets for algae sometimes. They will usually grow better if they have developed a root system but being in a pot does not mean they have roots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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