# Planting stem plants?



## HUNTER (Dec 22, 2005)

Is it okay to plant stem plants with couple of the leaves burried in the gravel and not cause water problems?, just to keep them stay down.


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

The dead leaves in the ground might look unsightly but it's not going to hurt the plant or tank. It's just extra work to clean it up some of the leaves after they rot. That is, if you don't have a good filter to blow it up the decaying detritus. 

-John N.


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

That's how I plant all my stem plants. I find it helps to keep them anchored in the substrate. I used to strip off the bottom section before planting, then I would find them floating up out of the substrate. That got old real quick.


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## HUNTER (Dec 22, 2005)

It works really well burrying couple of leaves.


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## freydo (Jan 7, 2006)

one other thing to try, what my friend suggested, is insert the stem plants in at a slight angle. once the plants start growing, they'll straighten out... at least mine have.


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## acbaldwin (Nov 3, 2005)

IMO the stems look best in a forest type of look... But replanting that many stems every week is getting to be a pain in the ass.... I think they're gonna end up floating around in my breeding tanks.


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## iris600 (Feb 12, 2004)

I prefer to trim the tops and leave the bottoms planted. I get nice bushy lateral growth. In fact, in non-aquatic plant crops, it is quite common to "pinch" (remove the apical meristem) so that the plants produce lateral shoots and grow bushier.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Iris, you can only top plants so many times before their growth becomes extremely slow and of increasingly poor quality. The older plant cells get, the less they are capable of producing new stem growth. 5-6 toppings is the max IME before these symptoms start to appear. Its best to replant the tops ever 2-3 trimmings for good growth.


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