Can someone give me a general rule of thumb as to how much I can
trim the roots of plants to be replanted in the substrate?

I've got a bunch of plants that I've allowed the roots and leaves
to grow out while suspended in the water column. Everything is
growing well and it is time to put them in the Flourite.

--

Scott Lewis

LeighMo wrote:

Can someone give me a general rule of thumb as to how much I can
trim the roots of plants to be replanted in the substrate?

I always trim roots to about 2". It's easier to plant them that way, and it
doesn't hurt them.

Thanks for sharing. It seems the primary consideration for how much to trim is
based solely on how well the plants are anchored. There seems to be a few
exceptions to this rule such as swords and other heavy root feeders.

Since I have an abundance of vals, and they will be the first things planted,
I'm going to experiment with them. Will try trimming the first couple real
short and see how that goes and trim to longer lengths as I see the need for
additional anchoring.

--

Scott Lewis

Xref: 127.0.0.1 rec.aquaria.freshwater.plants:68477

redled wrote:

In article , Scott Lewis wrote:
LeighMo wrote:

Can someone give me a general rule of thumb as to how much I can
trim the roots of plants to be replanted in the substrate?

I always trim roots to about 2". It's easier to plant them that way, and it
doesn't hurt them.

Thanks for sharing. It seems the primary consideration for how much to trim is
based solely on how well the plants are anchored. There seems to be a few
exceptions to this rule such as swords and other heavy root feeders.

Since I have an abundance of vals, and they will be the first things planted,
I'm going to experiment with them. Will try trimming the first couple real
short and see how that goes and trim to longer lengths as I see the need for
additional anchoring.


IME you can have the roots quite long, it's just much harder to plant. The
important thing is not to bunch up or pinch off the roots so they don't die
and rot. Of course, the longer the roots, the more you have to dig in the
substrate.

Guess I wasn't clear about this. I'm going to go for making the roots very short for one
or two and see how well they stay in the substrate. Then, I'll cut the next one or two a
little longer if needed, and so on. When I'm happy with the results, I'll cut the rest
of them to the desired length and plant them. From my perspective, shorter is better as
far as actually planting them. Making them STAY in the substrate seems to be the trick.

My initial concern was 'can I cut the roots too short such that the plants die'.


_
"Insert witty comment here."

Fresh out at the moment.

--

Scott Lewis