Plants Ordered Online

[Athena]

I ordered plants online for the first time - they arrived today, a mixture of various types of plants (it was a special offer of 50 mixed plants) but the majority of them don't appear to have roots.

In the past, whenever I've bought live plants from my LFS they've always come in bunches that have roots.

Will these plants without roots grow roots once planted?

Thanks - Athena

 

[ZoddyZod]

will depend on the plant and if they adapt well to your tank, but most should grow roots back. Bit of a shame they didn't come with good root growth though.

 

[RadaR]

Give the plants suitable conditions and they will be fine. There's no reason why they should die as long as you give them the right care. Although in saying that, some plants are actually semi-grown (emersed)out of the water in the nurserys. So when you plant them underwater they may go under a change so that they can adapt to becomnig submerged again.
Stem plants typically dont have any roots.
I'd be very suprised if you had amazon swords/crypts without any roots.

 

[Athena]

Yes, I was a bit disappointed...I expected to get 50 rooted plants, not cuttings. There are only a few with roots. I wondered why they were so cheap (under a tenner with postage). Oh well, I won't be ordering from there again LOL

I'm not sure what they all are yet as I shall need to do a bit of research - I'm not really up on aquarium plants. The only one I recognise is Hornwort LOL.

Athena

 

[mtv8dmarine]

Are you in the UK or US? I'm in the US and order through aquariumplants.com and have always been surprised by the growth and root structure of the plants I receive. If you are dissatisfied with the product perhaps there is a review section somewhere on the forum where you can post a review of your experience so others may be aware of what they are dealing with.

 

[Athena]

Give the plants suitable conditions and they will be fine. There's no reason why they should die as long as you give them the right care. Although in saying that, some plants are actually semi-grown (emersed)out of the water in the nurserys. So when you plant them underwater they may go under a change so that they can adapt to becomnig submerged again.
Stem plants typically dont have any roots.
I'd be very suprised if you had amazon swords/crypts without any roots.

Thanks, Radar. I haven't unpacked the bag yet as it arrived at work and I wanted to keep the moisture in the bag, but I doubt there are any really expensive plants amongst this lot. Just spotted some Egeria (I think that's it's name!) and there is another tall stemmed plant that has heart-shaped leaves. There are also some horrible brownish, wiry-looking plants that I don't think I will even bother planting!

Anyway, after reading your post I will take the chance and plant the others and see if they grow. The tank is a 70 litre Brillux which is designed with lighting specific for growing plants (or so it said) - have had it set up for a couple of years but just haven't got many plant types in there - in fact there is only that tall grass-like plant (Vallisneria) that has flourished and has sprung up all over the substrate.

I gave up planting live plants in my two cichlid tanks because they just demolished them and it was costing me a fortune every couple of weeks buying new plants!

Regards - Athena

 

[Ben M]

if you put up pics of all of the plants we'll probably be able to ID them. and i wouldn't throw away the wiry looking plant until we've ID'd it, you never know, it might look good in the end.

 

[ian]

give us a pic and we'll ID them for you, sometimes they send non aquatic plants.

 

[Athena]

Are you in the UK or US? I'm in the US and order through aquariumplants.com and have always been surprised by the growth and root structure of the plants I receive. If you are dissatisfied with the product perhaps there is a review section somewhere on the forum where you can post a review of your experience so others may be aware of what they are dealing with.

Hi - I'm in the UK. On this particular company's website I did check their feedback section and most of the entries were positive, saying they were really pleased with their selection of plants (you don't get to choose which plants they send, it is just whatever plants they have surplus each week). So I took a chance - maybe I was just an unlucky one eh?

Still - even if I manage to grow just a few of them, at least it won't completely be money down the drain LOL

I should have remembered that "if something seems too good to be true - it probably is!"

But we all like the chance of a bargain sometimes, don't we?

Athena

 

[RadaR]

Ahh, I've heard of the Brillux 60. But not the 70.
Remember lights are only one element of the equation. There's nutrients and CO2 as well.

 

[Athena]

if you put up pics of all of the plants we'll probably be able to ID them. and i wouldn't throw away the wiry looking plant until we've ID'd it, you never know, it might look good in the end.

Aw, thanks! I won't be able to sort out pics tonight as I'm going out but I'll have a go tomorrow.

Ok - I won't discard any plants just yet. I'll plant them all and then if it turns out some are not suitable then I can always remove them.

Many thanks - Athena

 

[Athena]

Ahh, I've heard of the Brillux 60. But not the 70.
Remember lights are only one element of the equation. There's nutrients and CO2 as well.

LOL the Brillux 60 is a 72 litre aquarium. I know...bit daft naming going on.

Here's the spec:

"Brillux 60 Complete Aquarium 72l

This stunning Brillux 72 litre aquarium is the latest in Aquael's range.

It is designed specifically for those who want to create a stunning display using plants as well as fish.

It has two 18W flourescent lights integrated into the hood. It can also accomodate 2 x 24W T5's if you wanted an added boost. "

Sometimes I worry that it's actually TOO bright - but if you try to remove one of the bulbs then the other one won't come on!

Still with lots more plants going in I should think it needs to be quite bright from what I've been reading.

Athena

 

[RadaR]

A higher plant biomass doesnt necessarily mean you should have lots of light.
Aarons "Back to Basics" is a good resource.

 

[Athena]

Great - thanks for the link! I'll definitely have a read... yes, basics is what I need as some of the info I've been reading up on is sooo complicated it puts my head in a spin!

Thanks again - Athena