I posted this to this group in '98 and found it with Google today

A simple recipe for growing aquarium plants.
There is a lot of very detailed info on how to grow aquarium plants in
the plant FAQ that is posted to the rec.aquaria groups and in the KRIB
(http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~aquaria/krib/) These are just the basics.
For every piece of advice that is given here there are as many other
opinions as there are aquarists. If you are new to freshwater aquarium
plants I suggest that you follow these basic tips. Once you have the
basics you can alter your setup based on your experience and further
research.
Plants require three basic things: light, CO2 and nutrients.

Light
For lush growth you need more light than is present in an aquarium
that is set up for just fish. Most plant aquarists recommend 2 to 4
watts per gallon. The easiest way to achieve this is with multiple
fluorescent lights. Use a mixture of different types of bulbs to get a
good balance of colours. Put your lights on a timer to give the plants
a consistent 12 hour day.

CO2
Plants use photosynthesis to take CO2 and light to create the simple
sugars that feed their growth. A normal aquarium holds only 1 part per
million or less of this essential building block of plant life. You
can boost this to the recommended range of 15 to 20 PPM by bubbling
CO2 into your tank. The easiest way to do this is to make CO2 with a
do it yourself yeast bottle. Drill a small hole in the top of a 2
litre pop bottle cap. Feed an airline through the cap and seal with
silicone. Mix 1 cup of sugar with 1.5 litres of water and a pinch of
bakers yeast. This mixture will produce bubbles of CO2 for 2 to 3
weeks. Bubble the CO2 straight into your tank(easy) or into the intake
of a power filter(more efficient). CO2 will lower the pH of your water
by forming carbonic acid. Monitor your pH, you are looking for a
decrease without making a drastic change. If your pH starts between 7
and 8 you should try to lower it by about 1 degree.

Nutrients
With a lot of light and CO2 your plants will quickly absorb the other
essential nutrients that they require. Many of the most important
nutrients are available from tap water and fish poop. Some nutrients
will always be in short supply unless you add them in yourself. There
are many liquid fertilizers available at aquarium shops, pick one with
lots of iron as this seems to be the most important. Follow the
directions on the bottle until you have a feel for how much your
plants like.

Plants and fish
Beginners should pick fast growing plants like rotala or many of the
varieties of hygrophilia. These are easy to grow and will out-compete
most algae for the available resources. The algae that does grow can
usually be controlled by Siamese algae eaters, pl*cos or snails
(snails are controlled with clown loaches).