Do I leave my plants in the little pots they come in??

[Malakaiea]

Hello! So I just bought A java Fern and Anubias Barteri  so they come in that little black plastic pot do I take them out of those when I put them in my substrate and for the root tabs I assume they just go directly under the substrate in the roots of the plants?? Thank you!!!

[KBOzzie59]

You can if that fits your décor.  Just be careful if you put them in the substrate, you do not want to bury the rhizome.

Maybe take a look at this for some ideas.

 

[Brandy]

Neither of those plants really want to be buried. I would take them out. I would also not bother with root tabs, as they will do better with easy green in the water and feed from their leaves more than their roots. Their roots are more for holding on to things than gathering nutrients.

[Malakaiea]

@Brandy So if I took them out of the pots and then just put them in just enough substrate to keep that down that would be fine???

[weese]

i use lead weights with mine. or in the case of the anubias i tied it to a wood feature.

[lefty o]

if you just stuck some of the roots in the substrate, and didnt bury the rhizome, you should be fine.

[Malakaiea]

@lefty o I am sorry I feel dumb but whats the rhizome??

 Edit: Just rewatched the vid and saw it hahah thank you!!

 

Edited December 29, 2020 by Malakaiea

[H.K.Luterman]

The rhizome of an anubias or java fern looks like a thick stem growing sideways, and then all the stems grow up from it and their thinner roots grow down from it. 

[lefty o]

33 minutes ago, Malakaiea said:

@lefty o I am sorry I feel dumb but whats the rhizome??

 Edit: Just rewatched the vid and saw it hahah thank you!!

 

no need to feel dumb, it is a learning experience, and we all go through it with every new thing in this hobby.

[Brandy]

4 hours ago, Malakaiea said:

@Brandy So if I took them out of the pots and then just put them in just enough substrate to keep that down that would be fine???

as lefty o says, yep you should be fine. One way to do it that works well is to bury the whole thing, sideways part and all, and then GENTLY pull up on the leaves until the sideways part is just out of the substrate. It can be a tough thing to get them to stay down, gluing or tying them to a small rock can also help if you are having trouble. They will eventually hang on by themselves.