using bulbs to plant aquarium

[wildone]

Has anyone planted bulbs in their aquariums? I just put 5 in mine, just wondering if anyone has had luck with this, or should I just buy partially grown plants for my new 55g,?

 

[Abiduwhabi]

I've had a little luck out of some bulbs, but I usually don't actually plant them. They just sit on top of the substrate and grow from there. I usually get about 1-2 bulbs that won't do anything.

 

[wildone]

Thanx for the advise, I will plant some established plants within the week and go from there.

 

[Piratechest]

3/5 with my bulb pack. All three were water Lilly's:/ but grew quick!
Edit: I planted mins 3/4 of the way in the gravel.

 

[wildone]

Good to know, I have 1 water Lily and the other 4 onion plants. Wish me luck haha

 

[Mcgolg76]

Bought a packet of bulbs. 2 of the five finally just started growing. For only 5 bucks I figured it would be fun to watch plants grow from scratch

 

[fijiwigi]

I just bought a pack of bulbs from walmart the other day for like 3 bucks. Stuffed them into the sand and curious if they will even grow at all.

 

[wildone]

Like you I'm hoping they grow, but I bought 3 live plants just in case.

 

[Jbrock]

You shouldn't stuff those bulbs into the sand at all. Let them rest on the bottom until they sprout.

 

[wildone]

I have gravel, and besides, they all float

 

[Jbrock]

All the ones I've used have sunk after a day or two of floating. Watch for mold growth on the bulb if they don't sink or sprout after around a week.

Mine have sunk after a couple days, sprouted leaves after around a week or two, and the begun to pop out roots after a few weeks. The roots find their own way into the gravel so the just need to rest where you want until the roots come out of the bulb. So don't bury it, just stuff it down into the gravel a bit where you want it...after it sinks.

 

[wildone]

I didn't float my bulbs, just planted them 3/4 of the way in gravel, only the onion plant it's growing after 4 weeks, should I remove the other 4, or wait and see?

 

[Jujubee]

I've used bulbs In my 10 and 20 gal. My 10 gal it took about 4 weeks before I saw them sprout, it seemed to be after I added fish is when they grew. I don't know if it was due to levels of nitrates rising or what but it did take a while the first go around. I did a fish in cycle with the 10.
My 20 gal I've had up for 2-4 weeks now and did a fishless cycle my cycle completed fairly quickly and my plants have been growing since the first week. The onion seems to always be the first to sprout then the bigger lotus/arrow leaf looking ones. (Again not sure if this has anything to do with It but once I saw nitrates is when they seemed to begin growing)
I was told to feel them, if they are squishy they're bad if they feel hard they're good! Also floating can be a sign of them being bad, as in if they don't go back down. I've planted 18-20 bulbs in both tanks combined and have only had 3 bad ones out of them all.
Patience is the key

I hope this helps

 

[wildone]

Yeah, finally the onion is growing, my other 4 not at all yet, been 4 weeks so I'll wait a couple more, or squeeze them for squishyness. Lol. I have to agree, since my nitrate came up is when it really started to grow. Thanx to all, live to learn as much as I can.