So I Figured I Can't Plant

[JL94x4]

Never realised how hard it actually was to plant live plants, ALOT went in the bin as they was falling to pieces and i just couldnt be arsed with them, i finally finiahed and it ended like this.......

Although they don't seem to be staying in place, theyre rising up out of the sand quite considerably.

On a better note my sand looks ALOT lighter now its got some green in there.

Anyone got any tips on dealing with live plants?!

(the background is just wet, hoping it will dry up soon.)

 

[mattyeatsmatts]

I actually like it when I open the pot and it falls apart. Would prefer to have a lot of little pieces than a few big bits.

 

[fluttermoth]

It can be difficult to get plants to stay put in sand, until they've rooted in. You might have to weight them down with pebbles until then.

 

[OldMan47]

I always use my hand to sort of push the whole plant root system below the top of the substrate and then tug gently to return the plant to a proper level. It ends up with the plant at the right depth with the root system being held down to an extent. There is no perfect answer, as Fluttermoth indicated, but this gets me closer than most other techniques that I have tried.

 

[CezzaXV]

I always make sure I've got a supply of small bits of slate from my LFS to hand. Great for tying plants to, much better than the lead plant weights.

 

[Livewire88]

Lead weights always work for me.

 

[DanPosti]

Elegant tank I like it.

 

[FishFanatic04]

Just gently push the stems down like oldman said and pull them back up a bit, i like to flick a tiny bit of sand at the stem. Expect some to float up until the roots grow. I have to trim my cabomba in half every week since it grows 6 inches or more a week, so it never has much time to root. I used to have floating plants everyday, but now I have the hang of it.

You'll get the hang of it too! Great start though.