Plantings question

[jens]

I added a “clump of grassy stuff. I’m wondering if I should have loosened to bundle a bit and spread it out? I’ve been using the shells to kinda help hold them down in the sand and not float off! And ordering some tabs for them….

 

[Aiken Drum]

Do you know what type of plant the clump is? It's not something I'm immediately familiar with.

I see an anubias on the right that shouldn't be planted in the substrate. I think bottom left is a kind of java fern, which again shouldn't be planted. They are both rhyzome plants, and you tie the rhyzomes to something like a rock or piece or piece of driftwood. The other plant on the left is water hyssop and that's the only plant that is obviously a root plant that can be planted in the substrate.

 

[jens]

That’s a start for me. Remember one is Java fern. Helpful tips on rhizomes. The grassy stuff just had number type codes on tag but quite a clump of roots on it.

 

[Aiken Drum]

Are they roots or rhyzomes?

A rhyzome is a kind of long thick root that all the leafs sprout from. If you plant the rhyzome into the substrate it can rot and kill the plant. So you tie the rhyzome to something weighty like a rock or sunk piece of driftwood.


The thin roots that also grow out of the rhyzome will attach to the rock/ driftwood after a few months and you can then cut away the ties if you like. The anubias and java fern you have are examples of rhyzome plants that shouldn't be planted into the substrate.

 

[jens]

Thx. I will fix that