Plant Question?

[Cat]

When you buy plants in those little pots,is it best to keep them in the pots or to take them out?

I've just bought some thats why I'm asking,the guy that served me says he takes them out.

 

[George Farmer]

I always take mine out. I carefully remove the whole plant with sponge attached, hopefully all still in one piece. I then pick the sponge off the roots carefully, remove any dying or dead roots (brown and soft), then cut off half the healthy root length ways and plant into the substrate.

However, I believe this is only more appropiate if you have a fairly nutrient rich substrate. If your substrate is really "clean" then the plant will probably be better off in the sponge and pot as normally the sponge is impregnated with fertiliser.

It may also depend on the species of plant as to whether it makes any difference i.e a root feeder (Echinodorus sp., Crypt etc.) or water column feeder (Vallis, Hygrophila sp. etc.)

HTH

 

[konrad05]

I remove the plastic too. I also pull away some of the sponge at the top and sides cause there's so much. HTH.

Also cat, is that you in your info display picture? If so you are one pretty girl B)

 

[Lateral Line]

I also remove the pot/mineral wool. I cut the pot if necessary as often there is good root mass growing through the holes. I tease away the wool until I have a clean plant. Often with crown plants, you'll find there are several in there so you can spread them out a bit. Cut off anythng obviously dead or rotten.

If you have fish that habitually dig up plants, it can be worth keeping them in pots and anchoring the pots to stones.

 

[luxum]

Remove them from the pots and rockwool. The rockwool encourages hair algae and constricts the roots, preventing them from spreading through the substrate. If you need the plants to be potted, remove them from the plastic net pot and rockwool (you can carefully tear it away from the roots), and repot into a brand new terra cotta pot filled with substrate material, gravel on the top to anchor it, and then push the whole pot down into the substrate. The roots will grow into the substrate via the drainage hole in the bottom of the pot.