Ordering plants

[ChadM]

I am about to start cycling a new tank and will be ordering some plants. I'm worried about the timing. How long can I keep the plants out of water after they arrive? 

[Hobbit]

Are you worried about adding plants to a cycling tank? Or are you concerned that you won’t have time to put them in the tank right away?

I don’t think there’s any downside to putting plants in a cycling tank. As far as I know they’ll only help, and the plants themselves aren’t harmed by high ammonia/nitrite/nitrate. Well, I’m sure there’s a level that would harm live plants, but I don’t think we get even close to that in the aquarium hobby. 😉

if you don’t have time to plant them right away, you can just stick them in a bucket of water.

[Lemon]

i don't have much experience keeping plants out of water but i think you could spray with aquarium/dechlorinated water and have paper towels over them

[Andy's Fish Den]

If you have the tank set up and cycling, you can.put the plants in while cycling. If you don't have the tank up yet, the plants can go in a bucket of water or anything with water for a few days to a week. Or even if the tank is up and you can't get them planted right away just put them in the tank. I do it all the time, will get plants in and not able to plants them for several days. I'll have a couple of the plastic shoebox storage containers I'll throw the plants in with some water until I can look over the plants for hitchhikers and get them planted.

[ChadM]

I was concerned about having the plants shipped too early. I will be cycling the tank with the plants in it from the beginning. I plan on doing this the day after Christmas so I was going to order the plants now. 

If I put them in a bucket of water should I treat the water first or is tap water ok?

[lefty o]

well with the way usps is working right now, you more than likely wont get plants by xmas anyhow. if by some off chance xmas miracle happened , and they showed up early, drop them into a bucket of water for a few days until you are ready. tap water is fine for the plants.

[ChadM]

Alright, thanks everyone. 

[Maggie]

I hope your plants arrive healthy! The biggest problem is time in transit. The Coop prepares their plants very well for shipment (mine took 8 days and were all fine), but a prior order with another vendor died because of a similar delay. When I trimmed my water sprite, I left it in a bucket of dechlorinated water for over a week by an east-facing patio door and it was fine, even on a cold floor and in cool water. Unfortunately,  the USPS has a delay warning on their website. 

[Tom__in_Maryland]

whatever you have throw it in the tank and see what happens!  sometimes it works sometimes it doesnt.