# How to treat new Plants



## Saturation (Mar 24, 2010)

So I remember reading somewhere that when you get plants from somewhere other than your own aquarium you shouldn't plant them directly into the stubstrate because the part of the stem that is burried will die. I have seen this occur on most, if not all of my plant orders and wanted to know:

a. why does this occur?
b. what to do with the plant instead of planting them into the substrate.

On a side note, I use Ecocomplete, but i think this rule applies to all substrates.


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## neilshieh (Jun 24, 2010)

i use flourite and this only happens sometimes... when it does happen its because flourite is fractured clay and it's like shoving your face through a layer of broken glass for plants. however my other plant substrate (baylees BBB is good stuff) is like natural looking sand and i have no problems transplanting cuttings from tank to tank. a suggestion would to gloat them first until they develop roots or sink them and they'll grow roots into the gravel. for me i just stick the bottoms in and they form roots within 2-3 days and anchor down.


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

Unless conditions are not to their liking, I see no reason why a stem plant would die when you plant it. On the other hand, if you're dealing with a crown type plants like the swords, vals, etc, then if you plant it and bury the crown, the plant will indeed die.

I've planted stems in clown puke gravel, river gravel, flourite, and eco-complete without problems. If your conditions are right for a healthy planted tank, this should not be a problem.


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## Saturation (Mar 24, 2010)

Thanks for the info,

but I am not talking about the whole stem dying only the part that is in contact with the substrate. I recall someone saying that the bacteria in the substrate eats away at the plant. I can't seem to find the thread that was discussing this (so frustrating). But they did recommend floating the plants until the plant got accustomed to the water and would therefore be more resistant to the bacteria in the substrate.

Make any sense? Its very possible I am pulling this out of my *ss : )


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

Saturation said:


> Thanks for the info,
> 
> but I am not talking about the whole stem dying only the part that is in contact with the substrate. I recall someone saying that the bacteria in the substrate eats away at the plant. I can't seem to find the thread that was discussing this (so frustrating). But they did recommend floating the plants until the plant got accustomed to the water and would therefore be more resistant to the bacteria in the substrate.
> 
> Make any sense? Its very possible I am pulling this out of my *ss : )


I'm not sure about that.  Personally, I haven't encountered that problem, except when I tried to grow, and miserably failed, R. macrandra. But I just attributed it to the fact that my water conditions (hardness and lighting in particular) were just not going to work for that plant.

Hopefully others will chime in here.


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

If rot starts to move up from the cut end of the stem towards the growing tip, it is hard to stop. Usually, this kind of rotting can be prevented by keeping the cut stem in good growing conditions in which case the cut will heal. I have tried twice to get Ludwigia inclinata var verticillata 'Pantanal' started from cuttings I received, but both times the cuttings all died from stem rot progressing all the way to the tip. Perhaps if the sender had floated his cuttings for a week or so before mailing they might have healed and not developed the stem rot.


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## ghostmonk (Jul 6, 2009)

If your plant is healthy, it should root fast. It is not uncommon for part of the burried stem to rot but once rooted the plant should have no problem growing. However if the plant came in a bad condition or tank growth conditions are not favorable then the rot will extend above the substrate and you might see the plant throwing roots from nodes above ground and trying to anchor. That is not a good sign and unless corrected (light, co2, fertilizer whatever ) it might die or not thrive.

Adding growth hormones for the first couple of days after planting gives me a good result in establishing the plant. I have been able to establish 90% melted away r. macrandra that way...took sometime but worked.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk


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## Saturation (Mar 24, 2010)

Great thanks for all the input.

Now heres another question. If I want to ship some of my trimmings to another planted tank fanatic. Should I cut them a week prior to shipping? or should I increase ferts the week prior to, and then trim the day of shipping? And how exactly should the receiver of the trimmings treat the new arrivals?

Thanks again guys


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## ddavila06 (Jan 31, 2009)

i float my new plants just because i don't know where to put the usually (collectoritis) and by the time i am planting them they usually have some roots...


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