Planting Tips
Placing plants or planting plants requires some specific instructions if your plants are to have the best chance to grow and thrive in your tank. There are three main "categories" of plants whereby the techniques of "planting" remain about the same. We'll detail each main category and then offer some specific and unique plant species as well.
However, before we begin detailing how to plant your new plants let's first consider where and how to buy new plants. Ideally you can purchase plants from local hobbyist at a club meeting and auction. This is the best chance to buy really healthy plants and usually the selection is far better than your local fish store. Most all online retailers offer a wide selection of healthy plants but shipping during times of extremely heat or cold can really cause major problems, as can delays in shipping, still I've found online purchasing to be superior to buying from a LFS (Local Fish Store). If circumstance require that you can only make plant purchases from your LFS then you need to be very selective about the health and quality of the plant(s) you buy. Most LFS don't keep plants in conditions that add to their health, in most cases the plants are in a slow downward spiral of death. Inspect the plants carefully and avoid any plants with mushy roots or stems. Avoid plants that the leaves are easily dropping off. Basically if the plants look brown, ill, and/or mushy don't buy them. Many beginners make the mistake of believing that they can buy these "sick" plants and nurse them back into good healthy. While it's possible for experienced hobbyist to "save" plants, it's best for the less experienced aquatic gardener to avoid the problems associated with adding dieing nutrient leaking decaying plants to their tanks. The bottom line point to be made here is to start with the healthiest plants possible.
Planting Instructions:
I remove all leaves, roots, and stems that are mushy, or severely covered with algae, before I plant them. HOWEVER, the plants you buy should have very little of these problems. If they do, consider a new source. Mail order plants should arrive in very good condition. No algae to speak of, and little dead material. Again I'll stress, choosing healthy plants is very important for beginners. Until you develop your "green thumb" it is better to not have to try to "nurse" plants back into good health. As far as planting, a lot depends on the type and species of plants your using. Whether you remove the potted plants from their pots depends on several factors. Do you use UGF/RUGF? What type of substrate do you have. Depth of substrate. But, here is a very generalized description of how to plant different types of plants, realizing there are exceptions in each category depending on species.
Stem Plants:
Bacopa, Cabomba, Water Sprite, Water Wisteria, Ludwigia, Rotala, Hygrophila;
Broken stems do not grow so cut back to any breaks, then remove the leaves from the bottom 3~4 inches and simply push into the substrate. They look better in groupings of five or more stems placed about 0.5 to 1 inch apart.
Rhizome and tuber/bulb Plants:
Great beginner plants, Java Fern, Anubias, Aponogeton;
Java Fern and Anubias can be tied to rocks and/or driftwood where their roots will eventually grab and hold onto these surfaces. They can be planted in the substrate, just make sure the rhizome remains visible above the substrate. With bulbs make sure you plant with the end that will sprout pointed up.
Rooted Plants:
This category has the most variation. I don't use UGF/RUGF so I remove the pots and remove any fiber material (rockwool) from their roots, then I trim the roots back by about a third. Then, make a hole in the substrate large enough to contain the root ball and place the plant as deep as possible, fill in the hole and then carefully pull the plant up until the crown of the root is barely visible. If you are using UGF/RUGF my suggestion is to leave them in their pots. This helps avoid the roots getting tangled in the UGF/RUGF's plates.
Resist the temptation to add any fertilizer! Wait until the plants begin to grow and their roots settle in. This can take from one to four weeks and even then it's best to wait until the plants show signs of needing nutrients.
Parts of a plant:
Node: The point on a plant stem where a leaf or leaves are attached; the point on a stem from which new leaves or stems will grow.
Internode: The part of a stem or branch between nodes.
Stem: The main stalk of a plant to which branches and leaves attach.
Crown: The part of the plant where the roots and stem join.
Root: Usually underground organ that lacks leaves or nodes, absorbs mineral salts, and usually it anchors the plant to the substrate.
Water roots: Root hairs sprouting from the plant nodes.
Species Specific Instructions:
Riccia fluitans: This details a method that I use to take a floating plant and force it's growth submersed. I have a sort of love hate affair with Riccia fluitans. I love the "feel" it gives to a tank, I especially like soft mounds of Riccia fluitans in the foreground. The "hate" part comes from the mess that Riccia fluitans causes. All it takes is a few small pieces to "escape" and you end up with Riccia fluitans growing in your other plants and tons of it floating on the surface and blocking filter inlet strainers.
I've started using a method that seems to help cut down on the mess part and still allows my cherished mounds. Here's a step by step of how I do it.
I purchase these little needlepoint plastic grids at a craft store. A bag with several shapes and sizes was about $2.00.
Thankfully the shapes come in pairs. I take a portion of Riccia and spread it thinly across the top of one of the grid pieces.
Then I take the other same size grid and place on top of the Riccia and staple the two grids together making a Riccia sandwich.
These are then placed in the tank and weighed down with rocks.
Given plenty of light and CO2 you will have and incrediblely beautiful pearling mound of Riccia in a few short weeks.
The great thing about the grided Riccia is you can remove them from the tank for trimming so that you don't make a huge mess in the tank. And the grided mounds of Riccia can be easily moved if you want to change the look of your aquascape. Note that Glossostigma is a great companion plant that works really well with Riccia and can be used to "hold" it down....maintenance does increase significantly when doing this though.
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