Planting in or out of the pot?

[mouseturd13]

I was just watching some coop videos and heard Cory say he plants the plant with the pot in the substrate after adding a root tab into the wool. I don’t know if that’s just until it acclimates or long term. I was curious if you guys plant in or out of the pot the plant comes in. 

[Theplatymaster]

for me it depends on the plant. For things like crypts and swords, i leave it in the pot with root tabs, but with epiphytes or stem plants i always take them out of the pot.

[FLFishChik]

You can leave plants that reproduce by runners in the pot with some root tabs. Once they start sending off runners with good root systems, you can nestle the “babies” into your substrate. Let their roots get established, then cut them from the mother plant. You can then move the mother plant to a different tank and do the same. Takes some time but it’s a way to get more plants for multiple tanks without the extra expense!

[ccurtis]

What if you pulled the plastic pot off, and planted the plant inside the rockwool? Would that cause problems later down the line? I feel if you just open up the rock wool, stuck a couple root tabs in it, then buried the rock wool under substrate, the roots would eventually grow out of the rock wool and spread. The rockwool would hold the plant in place until that happened. 

[mouseturd13]

On 12/15/2022 at 12:14 AM, ccurtis said:

What if you pulled the plastic pot off, and planted the plant inside the rockwool? Would that cause problems later down the line? I feel if you just open up the rock wool, stuck a couple root tabs in it, then buried the rock wool under substrate, the roots would eventually grow out of the rock wool and spread. The rockwool would hold the plant in place until that happened. 

This is what I was thinking of doing with my next plant order. I don’t think the wool causes issues but I don’t know that for a fact.

[tolstoy21]

I keep my plants in pots in rock wool in a lot of tanks (bare-bottom tanks, so the rock wool isn't in the substrate) and this has never caused me issues with any fish I've kept. My typical setup is a plant in a terracotta pot in rock wool. I doubt it will matter if the rock wool is buried in the substrate vs kept in a pot.

Edited December 15, 2022 by tolstoy21