Do I have to de-pot this plant?

[Demobanana]

Can’t add the photo since it’s more than the uploaded allows(?), but it’s a decently sized water sprite I got last week, and since I’ve been dosing easy green, it’s growing pretty well. Think I remember a video by Bentley Pascoe saying he lets the plant in the  pot grow out, and then when it develops air roots he snips it. But the water spite I have has roots in the bottom and coming from the bottom of the stalks. Ok- point is- this is my first potted plant, and I’m afraid to take it out of the rock wool damage the roots.  Can I just bury the whole thing like half an inch deep or do I have to take it out?

oh and I can upload it, just not for the thumbnail!

[KBOzzie59]

Nope I have a couple that have been in pots for a while.

[Demobanana]

6 minutes ago, KBOzzie59 said:

Nope I have a couple that have been in pots for a while.

Great, I’ll just leave it in there indefinitely 

[Ragnarok12]

You certainly don't need leave it in the pot, but I guess you could? Local fish stores leave their plants in pots for long periods of time, so it isn't going to hurt anything. You may just see better growth if you get the plant out and settled in your tank, though. I immediately unpot all of my plants and get them where they need to go. The plant will grow air roots regardless of whether you have it in the pot  or plop it in the substrate. Water sprite is very hardy, so it should be able to handle some abuse. Honestly though, if you just pop your plant out of the pot and carefully unwrap it from the wool, you shouldn't have any issue with damaging the roots. If you do leave it in the pot indefinitely, you are likely to not see the plant reach its full potential. It will eventually exhaust the nutrients in the pot.

[darkG]

The roots (ime) really stick to the rock wool. But they can handle a fair bit of damage. 

Edited April 14, 2021 by darkG

[Demobanana]

11 minutes ago, Ragnarok1200 said:

You certainly don't need leave it in the pot, but I guess you could? Local fish stores leave their plants in pots for long periods of time, so it isn't going to hurt anything. You may just see better growth if you get the plant out and settled in your tank, though. I immediately unpot all of my plants and get them where they need to go. The plant will grow air roots regardless of whether you have it in the pot  or plop it in the substrate. Water sprite is very hardy, so it should be able to handle some abuse. Honestly though, if you just pop your plant out of the pot and carefully unwrap it from the wool, you shouldn't have any issue with damaging the roots. If you do leave it in the pot indefinitely, you are likely to not see the plant reach its full potential. It will eventually exhaust the nutrients in the pot.

 

11 minutes ago, darkG said:

The roots (ime) really stick to the rock wool. But they can handle a fair bit of damage. 

Ok, I guess I can take it out. There's already air roots so Im sure if I damage the bottom ones it'll be fine. I didn't know the rockwool had nutrients, I just have some sand. Hoping that the roots won't rot and Easygreen will be enough.

[darkG]

It's probably alright either way, especially for a (long) time.

I think I just prefer replanting. I don't like the rock wool.

Edited April 14, 2021 by darkG

[Ragnarok12]

I agree with darkG about the rock wool. You will be fine with the water sprite, no worries. It can pull nutrients from the water column or the soil, so the easy green will be sufficient. The stuff can even grow just floating at the surface in your tank, and a lot of people choose to grow it like this to provide shade or cover for fish fry. I would be shocked if you manage to hurt it enough to do any lasting damage, a lot of people end up fighting it to not grow too fast rather than having the opposite problem. You picked a great starter plant.

[Demobanana]

15 minutes ago, darkG said:

It's probably alright either way, especially for a (long) time.

I think I just prefer replanting. I don't like the rock wool.

Hmm..ok. Maybe I'll just let it grow for like a week or 2. I don't really mind the rockwool.

14 minutes ago, Ragnarok1200 said:

I agree with darkG about the rock wool. You will be fine with the water sprite, no worries. It can pull nutrients from the water column or the soil, so the easy green will be sufficient. The stuff can even grow just floating at the surface in your tank, and a lot of people choose to grow it like this to provide shade or cover for fish fry. I would be shocked if you manage to hurt it enough to do any lasting damage, a lot of people end up fighting it to not grow too fast rather than having the opposite problem. You picked a great starter plant.

Yeah I heard about people floating it. Water Wisteria just doesn't grow for me. The bacopa, which is also growing really slowly, is faster than it. But everything kinda got wiped out in a weird, short form of staghorn algae so I don't really blame it. Just got some water sprite because I thought it was going to fill the role of the wisteria, hoping it does good as my val (which grows pretty fast with the runners. Not so much the actual mother plant)

[laritheloud]

The water sprite is a wicked fast grower. I'm a total beginner, can't grow plants outside in the ground to save my life, got myself a water sprite, got scared I killed it by being rough with removing it from the rock wool and transplanting it to my aquarium...

And in 3 weeks it's offrooted at least 4 times. It's out of control. It's enormous and beautiful.

My fish love it, though. I have some juvenile corydora elegans that will sit and rest on its tendrilly branches, and my tetras love playing with it/zooming in and out.

[Demobanana]

4 hours ago, laritheloud said:

The water sprite is a wicked fast grower. I'm a total beginner, can't grow plants outside in the ground to save my life, got myself a water sprite, got scared I killed it by being rough with removing it from the rock wool and transplanting it to my aquarium...

And in 3 weeks it's offrooted at least 4 times. It's out of control. It's enormous and beautiful.

My fish love it, though. I have some juvenile corydora elegans that will sit and rest on its tendrilly branches, and my tetras love playing with it/zooming in and out.

😁Good to hear! I have the lace leaf variety, but Im sure that won't affect it.