Plants - how much to buy?

[jcrabbit]

I am building out a 40 gallon Petco tank. The bottom has an area of approximately 600 square inches. I am trying to get a sense of how many carpeting plants to buy, but I'm having trouble finding a guide on it.

For example, let's say I want to use dwarf hairgrass or pearl weed as the carpeting plant. Let's say the rule of thumb is to break a pot into 8 pieces and plant each piece one inch apart. That'd require 12.5 pots per 100 square inches. But is that the right approach?

Of course one can always buy less plants and wait for them to grow in. So I know the answer is more or less "it depends on your budget." But I'm curious to hear how people estimate the amount of plants to buy.

I'll also be getting plants to put on rocks and wood as well so I'm also curious on how to guesstimate how much to buy when it comes that scenario. Though I'm still trying to educate myself on what kind of plants are appropriate there.

Thanks,

John

[JJenna]

I wrote down a formula I saw for that in case I ever wanted to carpet something. Planting area(square inches/Spacing (how far apart)^2(squared)=Number of Plants. 

Edited December 1, 2022 by JJenna
clarification of ^2

[nabokovfan87]

On 12/1/2022 at 9:20 AM, jcrabbit said:

I am trying to get a sense of how many carpeting plants to buy, but I'm having trouble finding a guide on it.

On one of green aquas videos they said a single pot should be able to cover an area the size of your hand. Probably slightly bigger but that gives you an idea. For carpeting I would recommend trying to start from one side or one section and then use root tabs to lead it across the spots that you want it to spread to. Depending what you're trying to use I would recommend ACO plants over Petco. Especially locally for me they usually cost more and are much worse condition.

 

On 12/1/2022 at 9:20 AM, jcrabbit said:

I'll also be getting plants to put on rocks and wood as well so I'm also curious on how to guesstimate how much to buy when it comes that scenario. Though I'm still trying to educate myself on what kind of plants are appropriate there.

  (Moss, epiphytes, etc.) Anubias, ferns, buce, hygro pinnatifida. If you have the scape for it I'd start with moss.

 

The part I was mentioning is about 6:30 in