Most Agressive Roots

[seanski21]

+1 on the tiger lotus. Their roots almost form a net across half of my 55 gallon

[JoeD323]

Another +1 on the tiger lotus, I pulled one out after 3 months to move it to the other side of the tank and I literally pulled up a third of the bottom of a 30long, and thats 3 months after being nothing but a leafless bulb. It took not only a third of my substrate with it but also a piece of driftwood that I had partially buried and my entire stand of Rotala. Definitely beats all three of my sword plants that had been planted for a way longer time.


Joe

[plantbrain]

Any large swords beats all these plants as far as massive root systems go.

Feeding versus simply anchoring in fast flowing streams and rivers, which swords and crypts are typical found in.....is a not a logical conclusion that many hobbyists seem to make, there are numerous other possible reasons a plant has a large Rhizome/tubers etc, are potatoes any more a root feeding than say corn is? No, they lack any choice.

But one has a lot more roots and storage.
The same is true with aquatic plants, such as bulb/rhizome species, these are storage organs and the roots facilitate that and get modified. This has little to do with preference.

Amphibious intermittent nature of aquatic streams dictates transition from submersed to emergent growth to dry land growth where large root systems will be required for ample water supply. This also has little to do with preference, but rather, the changes in habitat over a season.

These are but 3 obvious attributes that illustrate that large root systems does not confer anything about preference of root vs water column ferts.
I've grown many massive crypt and sword plants in plain old sand and it's never failed to produce whoppers.

You can also cut off the root sand the plant them to see.
Tanks with long well established root systems have a nice network of pipes under the sediment, and these pipes actively pump O2 into the sediment.
Bacteria and roots both respire and forms an active colony.

Removing large amount of roots can have detrimental effects, I typically refrain and do only 10-25% of the area at any one time. Uprooting also pulls up reduced organic matter, this lowers O2, so it's always a good idea to do a water change after, it's a mess after you uproot anyway

[Complexity]

Tom, which would be better for the substrate when removing a plant with a large root system? (1) Pull out the roots, leaving as few as possible to decompose or (2) cut the roots, leaving the substrate intact and allowing the cut roots to decompose in place.

[plantbrain]

Originally Posted by Complexity

Tom, which would be better for the substrate when removing a plant with a large root system? (1) Pull out the roots, leaving as few as possible to decompose or (2) cut the roots, leaving the substrate intact and allowing the cut roots to decompose in place.

My guess would be to snip as many of the roots as you can eg a giant sword.
Crypts are rhizome runners so they will sprout up anew so try and get all of them. I just leave the roots in there if I can, but I do not make a huge deal about it.

If there is a lot of organic matter down there, I'll deep vacuum the region with the gravel vac.

When you remove the organic matter, then it's not so reductive and opens up the space, fluffs the sediment and allows new plants to be added easily.

This is still a shock to the sediment and the tank overall, so a few more water changes is very WISE for the next 2-3 weeks or so.

Once the new plants grow back, then you are fairly safe and the system is easier to care for, it's the transitions that get folks or if something breaks down.

Yanking a 2ft sword that's been in the tank for 6-12 months is no easy task without significant tank destruction. Spread is 2ft at least for most with the roots.

[Complexity]

Okay, thanks. I wanted to double check because I have red tiger lotuses and will sometimes root prune them to keep them in check. I don't want to pull out all their roots. Instead, I just want to cut them off, pull up the plant, trim the roots to about 1", and then replant. It can help control the growth in that it forces the plant to spend its energy growing new roots instead of feeding off of its original highly developed roots.

[sewingalot]

I've had swords with massive root systems, but by far Nymphoides sp. Taiwan took the cake. When I uprooted it out of a 20 gallon tub, it was latched on to nearly all the substrate. Literally the size of a basketball of dirt and turface came with it. I was surprised that for such a delicate looking plant that it's roots are that brutal.



My ocelot red sword was pretty cool to yank out of the tank without regard to the mess (check out the water in the tank.) By the way, don't uproot a sword in a dirt tank haphazardly. Pull slowly, snip after a few inches and let the rest rot away. You can't siphon in a dirt tank, so you have to be wise about it (unlike yours truly, lol).

[AirstoND]

squeeze the last living breathe of that there thing

[Complexity]

Originally Posted by sewingalot

I've had swords with massive root systems, but by far Nymphoides sp. Taiwan took the cake. When I uprooted it out of a 20 gallon tub, it was latched on to nearly all the substrate. Literally the size of a basketball of dirt and turface came with it. I was surprised that for such a delicate looking plant that it's roots are that brutal.

OMG, I have a giant Nymphoides taiwan taking over my 90g tank as I type. I had no idea it would develop a root system like that!

[CorallineAlgae]

I just rescaped my 20h and pulled out a ton of bronze crypts and the roots were everywhere. It turned my tank to mud (pure Flourite substrate 4 years old). The roots were as massive as the plants. What a nightmare. Must've turned in more than 40 crypts to the LFS and I still kept a bunch (they were my first plant bought about 10 years back).