Potted plants....

[cobaltblue]

This may be a very basic thing, but ive wondered about this over the years.
Im not very knowledgable about planted tanks so bare with me. When you buy plants that are in the little plastic pots ( like from tropica) and the roots are all covered with that material ( know idea what it is), do you just plant the whole thing as is, or do you pull apart the fibrous material to expose the roots and plant that. Or does it not matter at all?:confused:

[traco]

Some may just plant them. I tease apart the material and then plant. Some also use something like Eco-Complete, or fluorite for the substrate. I just use a mixture of gravel and sand for my plants and then add root fertilizer tablets.

[AmberC]

I would definitely take all that crap off (and I always do lol) I think that is just to protect the roots when the plants are shipped to an lfs. I think that stuff is nasty so I always VERY gently peel it off. (It can rip the roots)

Amber

[Harriett]

it's a cotton wool fiber and you should, as said, gently peel it all off. If you plant it under the gravel, it will get real ugly and roots won't do well. It is just a planting media for the nursery to raise plants in and not intended for long haul planting in the hobbyist tank.
Harriett

[Polar_Bear]

it's a cotton wool fiber and you should, as said, gently peel it all off. If you plant it under the gravel, it will get real ugly and roots won't do well. It is just a planting media for the nursery to raise plants in and not intended for long haul planting in the hobbyist tank.
Harriett

Really? I always leave mine on there. Hmmmmm

Ok before you smack me let me say this, Harriett is correct it is glass wool and is saturated with hydroponic fertilizer, it is NOT good to keep it on with fish. Besides those pots are far too small in any case. Gently remove the plant from the pot and then gently remove the wool from the plant.

[ed8t]

I've bought some potted Tropica specimans over the years and I ususally find little hitchhikers in the wool ie. pond snails, malaysian trumpet snails. I pull them off, especially Anubias because they stick out like a sore thumb.

[Apistomaster]

Although the potted plants continue to grow if the rock wool is left in place, the aquatic nurseries and plant expert Christine Kasselman advise teasing away all the rock wool you can and trimming about one third the length of the roots before planting; rock wool is the growing media of choice for large scale hydroponic methods used in the commercial plant nurseries.
I always follow that advice whether I am planting the new plants in the aquarium substrate or as I do frequently into another larger pot for use in the bare bottomed tanks. I also prefer potting plants that are able to grow very large so I can relocate them without shocking them. I use NutriFin plant grow sticks because they are one year time release fertilizer and have allow me to grow huge sword plants in relatively small clear plastic pots. These can be partly or wholly buried and the clear pots are nearly invisible. Also I often use only about 2-1/2 inch deep substrate which isn't always enough for the largest plants but fine for med. Crypts or stemmed plants.
I use Florabase and or a substrate locally sieved from a local steam that is very similar to EcoComlete's Freshwater Substrate-black. The collected substrate used alone results in very good plant growth and is very good for Corydoras noses or dwarf Cichlid sand sifters. It is black basalt with a touch of red rhyolite and has a gradation from rounded coarse sand to fine gravel.
Larry Waybright

[ed8t]

I like the idea of clear plastic pots, where do you pick up yours from? Do you dose other ferts other than the Nutrafin plant grow sticks?