Plants sold in Pet shops - are they even grown submersed ?

[cichlidman2010]

The basic aquarium plants you find in pet shops, eg, Animates never seem to last more than a few months.

The leaves become brittle and glassy, the roots die off, and the leaves fall off.

I realise plants need proper lighting, fertilisation and co2 to do extremley well, but are the plants sold in these shops even grown in water ? or is it only the roots and bottom of plant grown submersed ?

I have heard stories of it and want to know if it has any truth in it.

I have a research project through college i'd like to start on the subject,so some background information would be helpful.

Cheers !

[phoenix44]

Most of them are grown emersed.

Some animates stores will have a mix of submersed and emersed plants. Most will have the emersed types though.

It costs a fair bit more to purchase submersed plants wholesale.

Plants will convert from emersed to submersed quite easily as long as you have the right light to sustain growth.

Then there are some plants that are sold that are not even real aquatic plants. Good examples are 'borneo swords' that are peace lillies (aureum family I think) and the black / green mondo grass.

You have to choose your plants based on your lights and tank requirements; not all plants were created equal and not all plants will work in just any tank.

HTH

[cichlidman2010]

good answer, thanks for your input.

how easily should plants convert into growing submersed (with the right reqirements) ?

[phoenix44]

Depends from tank to tank. Takes a day for new leaves to pop up in my tank.

In other tanks it might take 3 days to week at most. Again, depends on the plant.

Crypts could take from days to weeks!

[supasi]

As P44 said, It is a cost thing. How much does the average punter want to spend on their plants?

Growing submersed has increased costs for several reasons. Requires more time, More light, More space and more labour.

Growing emersed is by far more cost effective. Thus meaning the retail costs are kept lower.

Converting the plants to submersed is affected by several factors.

Firstly the type of plant. Stem plants will convert much faster. Rosette plants rely on their roots for nutrients and they are slower growers. They need to establish their roots before they are able to grow new foliage.

Light is another. The more light the more the plant can grow. Many underestimate the light requirements for growing plants.

Another common factor is how the plants are planted. A lot of people take a bunch of nice plants and just ram it into the gravel and expect it to grow.

Damage occurs, the plant has no nutrients and the plant is restricted from light as it is in a clump.

These are just a few things.

[cichlidman2010]

cheers for the input, im liking this discussion.

[the-obstacle]

When I bought some hairgrass from animates I had heard that the quality was crap and it'd be hard to get it to last for all the reasons mentioned above. I left them in the pot on the substrate for 2-3 weeks for them to get used to the tank and to not run the risk of damaging the roots before they had adjusted. This seemed to work.

I was told to separate the hairgrass into tiny little bunches but I couldn't be bothered so i split the 2 pots into 6 bunches and planted them like that. 6 months later and every spare inch of substrate is covered in hairgrass. I'd do that again if I bought potted plants.

[cichlidman2010]

wow, good to know. very cool(:

[alanmin4304]

If you can buy the plants as soon as they arrive in the shop and put them in a glass of water on the window sill until they grow roots, or float them till they get roots, you will have less chance of them rotting off at the base. Generally, red plants need a lot of light.

[cichlidman2010]

Cheers alan