# Killies Import > Planted Tanks >  plants on driftwood - what do you do with them? (& other

## joteo

Hi,

When you get plants in pots or those that are not attached to anything, you take the wool out and plant them into the soil on driftwood.

But for plants on driftwood, do you do the same even if you want to grow them on driftwood? ie Do you take them out, cut them up, cut the roots out then re-tie them onto the same driftwood you got them on?

I'm noticing a trend in some of the plants on driftwood from shops that I got. After a few days of rinsing, soaking and so on, I put the whole thing in the tank.

But now, a year or two on, I'm finding that these are more likely to rot and give problems. It's almost as if the plant gets root bound and are unable to grow any longer and get diseased.

Do you find that's the case for you too?

For normal garden plants, when you cut the roots, you have to take care not to cut the main root. But with aquatic plants, can you just trim off all the roots regardless of which one looks like the main root? Or should you just confine yourself to the smaller roots? Is trimming roots before planting a practice for all plants or only some?

I find it hard to take out the wool or sponge around plants. Do you have to cut around them? Or just lose some roots in the process of taking it out?

Speaking of wool. Is there some other use for the wool?

Finally do you take a whiff of the plants that you buy? I didn't. One of them sure smells bad at the roots.

Thanks
joanne

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## wks

Hi Joanne, what aquatic plants are you having problem with? So far I have tied java fern, _Anubias berteri_ var. nana and some species of moss to driftwood and there is no problem at all. One thing to note though is that you don't tie the roots too tightly to the driftwood. That will hurt the roots and the plant will not survive. For myself, if the roots get too long, I will cut away two third length leaving the remainder to be tied to the driftwood or buried into the substrate.  :Smile:

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## Calamari

> Hi,
> do you take a whiff of the plants that you buy? I didn't. One of them sure smells bad at the roots.


Hi,

Well, I do. I noticed that there is always a lot of soil compressing the roots all onto the woods for java ferns but Nanas are clean though. The soil smell will be at the base. If you do not want to untie to clean and retie, maybe you can try using high pressure jet (those used to wash cars)
to gush there, but it won't be as effective though.

Hope others can shed some light to this issue too, as I am also looking for a solution.

Regards
Cal

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## joteo

> Hi Joanne, what aquatic plants are you having problem with? So far I have tied java fern, _Anubias berteri_ var. nana and some species of moss to driftwood and there is no problem at all. One thing to note though is that you don't tie the roots too tightly to the driftwood. That will hurt the roots and the plant will not survive. For myself, if the roots get too long, I will cut away two third length leaving the remainder to be tied to the driftwood or buried into the substrate.


Hi Jason,

The plants that I'm having problems with are Java Ferns. Lately I've noticed that those I did not do anything with are getting some sort of browning problem.

Whereas those that I planted on other pieces myself or in the gravel myself, those are okay.

Do you trim roots of ALL plants?

If the roots get too long and you trim them, do you mean that you also untie the plant from wherever they are, trim the roots and retie them? What about those in the gravel? Do you also trim roots?

Thanks
joanne

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## joteo

> Originally Posted by joteo
> 
> Hi,
> do you take a whiff of the plants that you buy? I didn't. One of them sure smells bad at the roots.
> 
> 
> Hi,
> 
> Well, I do. I noticed that there is always a lot of soil compressing the roots all onto the woods for java ferns but Nanas are clean though. The soil smell will be at the base. If you do not want to untie to clean and retie, maybe you can try using high pressure jet (those used to wash cars)
> ...


Hi,

Well, for this plant, I guess I should untie it, 'cause the smell is quite unbearable.

I'm starting to think that this is a good practice anyway, due to the fact that they seem to root after a while anyways.

Thanks
joanne

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## wks

Its ok to have some brown leaves because the plant farms normally cultivate java ferns under emersed condition. Once you transfer the java fern into your tank, the plant will adapt and eventually the emersed leaves will go. Just make sure there are new leaves sprouting, otherwise you have a problem on hand.

I don't trim my plants' roots all the time, it depends on the condition of that particular plant. For plants bought from LFS or farms, I normally don't trim the roots after rinsing under tap because the plant supplier has done the trimming. If the plant comes from my tank, its a definite yes because the roots would be too long for me to bury into the substrate.

For java ferns, I always adopt a hands off approach. As long as the plant is doing well, I leave it alone save clearing those plantlets. My belief is that plants are different from animals. If you shift/ handle them too frequently or change their growing environment drastically, no plant can survive. Even the tough java fern is no exception.

By the ways, hows your two litte bristle-nosed critters doing in their new home?  :Smile:

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## timebomb

Joanne,

Quite a number of plants sold tied to driftwoods are not suitable driftwood plants in the first place. I've often seen stem plants tied to driftwood. They look nice and are convenient to use but the plants will eventually die if they are not planted into substrate.

With ferns, there's no need to snip the roots. But there's no harm doing so either. With Crypts, I usually cut the roots close to the crown but not too close. With Anubias, it's okay to snip as close to the rhizomes as possible.

It's not essential that the roots are snipped before the plants are planted into substrate but by cutting off part of the roots, you will encourage new roots to grow. 

To remove wool, I first snip the roots and then remove as much of the wool as possible using a tweezer. I then shoot a jet of water at the roots to remove the remaining bits and pieces of wool. It's important to remove all the wool as even a little bit of it will cause the roots to rot later.

Loh K L

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