Roots look messy

[Meredith]

can I cut them off, or willl this hurt the plants?

 

[sherry]

I trim mine all of the time.

 

[An t-iasg]

Stem plants often get roots growing up and down the length of the stems. You can trim them off for a neater look. I do this frequently too, at every water change. If you want to grow new plants, pick a nice long root and cut the main stem below it. Now you have a new stem, with its own root. The main stem that you cut from will also send up a new growth where it was cut.

 

[travis simonson]

IME, plants will put out these "air roots" until they get a well established root system in the substrate. They can be trimmed without harming the plants.