New Plants

[james morrisontoxic2]

just bought some new plants for my tank ,the woman in the shop says leave them in the pots when you come to planting them in your tank,the thing is ive took all my other plants out the pots and they have done well,what should i do ,sorry dont know the name of the plants ive just bought any help please

 

[Truck]

take the plants out the pots and take some pics so we can ID them

 

[Colin_T]

You can leave them in the pots or take them out and plant them in the gravel. I usually recommend leaving them in the pot until you know exactly where they are going to live. Then take them out and plant them in the gravel. If you know where you want them, just put them straight in the gravel.

 

[james morrisontoxic2]

thanks for advice chaps ,as for pics i wouldnt know how to start to upload them

 

[grasshopper_green]

usually potted plants are in some sort of fluffy substrate material. (what is that stuff?)
My advice is wash the plants thoroughly under the sink to get the messy substrate stuff off of them before you put them in the tank. This might also help reduce any parasites or snails that might be on the plants.

 

[Truck]

its called rock wool

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, agree, its rock wool and I believe its an attempt to protect the delicate roots during shipping and from you, the new owner. Ideally you remove it very gently without breaking roots and then snip the outer root tips off with scissors. Try to spread the roots out under the substrate and then raise the plant so that the crown (base of leaf stems where roots meet) just barely above the substrate so that only the roots are in the substrate.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Colin_T]

Rock wool is an artificial substrate used in hydroponics (gardening without soil). It is used by aquatic plant farms as a cheap clean source of substrate/ growing medium that can be stored easily and used when needed. It is also light and large blocks can be moved around easily by one person. It can be cut to shape with a pr of scissors and even bought in pre-cut sizes. It is used by many plant farms because the farms grow their plants in hydroponic or marsh set ups. Basically the plant roots are in water and the rest of the plant is above water. They grow faster this way and faster growing plants means you can sell them sooner and make more money.