how should i plant my plants

[m-man]

i wanted to know if you could plant plants, in shallow gravel, or, how deep it should be, should i put them in little pots as to keep the depth of gravel shallow in the tank for better health? ive read alot about different substrates also is that totally necessary, i got a sword plant just to see if it would grow under my underpowered 25w norm. florescent, and it is in shallow gravel bout .5in, and to my surprise it is growing, not dieing, it has tripled in size in a few weeks, i assume it is just a forgiving easy plant, but it just made me think that all the massive info out there might be true, but perhaps unnessary?

 

[Purrbox]

While you can plant plants in less substrate it's going to make it harder to plant some of them and limit the amount of space that they have to grow in. Swords in particular can end up with some really massive root systems. Generally it's recommended that you aim for around 3". Most people find that this looks nice and provides ample space for the roots to grow. It's also perfectly legit to slope your substrate so that it's shallower in front and deeper in back. Since the plants in the foreground will need less room for their roots that the ones in the background.

Just for curiousity sake, what size tank are you dealing with? Also do you happen to know the specific type of sword you bought?

 

[m-man]

i have a 46 gallon, and its an amazon

 

[joannde]

On the question of pots - yes, you can plant in pots. All my plants are either potted or attached to various decorations.