[Doc7]

Hello

Apologize for my ignorance but I’m approximately 12 hours from my first tank being “plant ready” (Substrate goes in tonight and it’s ready to rock, CO2, filtration etc already all set up)

My LFS has a lot of the “initial plants” I want to get like Bacopa, Cabomba, HC etc.

Their Bacopa supply only has 2-4 stems per bunch meaning it would cost about twice as much on a per-stem basis ($4-5 per bunch) as what I found online. On the other hand, theirs is 12-16 inches tall as opposed to the smaller lengths I see listed on some web sites.

The plant looks like several stems coming out of one spot on the substrate – am I correct that each individual stem is its own plant and they don’t share a root mass at the bottom?

Does this mean that I can cut the stems in half and thus the price is about equal because I'll be able to turn each stem into 2-3 new, smaller stems?

If so they have enough that I can get quite a lot of plant mass into my 40 breeder via the LFS and not have to ship online. I keep looking in swap n shops but people seldom sell a large enough quantity of “initial fast growing stem plants” to initially plant a 40 breeder, which I estimate will require on the order of hundreds of stems total.

Thank you!!

 

[Jericho199]

Only plant you mentioned that I have experience with is the Bacopa (monnieri in my case).

Yes, propagation is simple. Just cut at any leaf node, strip the lower leaves, and replant.

 

[tao]

I don't think you'll need as many as you think you do. After not keeping tanks for a while I planted maybe 10 stems of rotala sp. green, in a month and a half with high CO2 etc I ended up trimming over 200 stems. DONT cut them in half! Now, one thing I did do was to plant them horizontally along the substrate, put a rock on one end of the stem and another over the top end with them laying flat in rows. New plants sprout off the sides.

 

[Wasserpest]

Yep, you can hack most stem plants pretty much into half or thirds and plant them that way. Some of the more sensitive ones might do better with top cuttings, but the ones you get at your LFS (common Ludwigias, Rotalas, Bacopa...) should work fine.

I just threw out a large quantity of stems yesterday. Mostly Hygros and stuff.

 

[shrimpNewbie]

I don't think you'll need as many as you think you do. After not keeping tanks for a while I planted maybe 10 stems of rotala sp. green, in a month and a half with high CO2 etc I ended up trimming over 200 stems. DONT cut them in half! Now, one thing I did do was to plant them horizontally along the substrate, put a rock on one end of the stem and another over the top end with them laying flat in rows. New plants sprout off the sides.

+1 on this I can actually show a picture with just this. works better than planting several plants imo, though slower


also you'd besurprised how many plants you get in "plant packages" there are some very generous people on here that end up selling loads of stems for under .50 a stem and sometimes include full plants i'd stick with SNS but thats just because lfs around me tend to rob you when it comes to livestock/plants

 

[Doc7]

I don't think you'll need as many as you think you do. After not keeping tanks for a while I planted maybe 10 stems of rotala sp. green, in a month and a half with high CO2 etc I ended up trimming over 200 stems. DONT cut them in half! Now, one thing I did do was to plant them horizontally along the substrate, put a rock on one end of the stem and another over the top end with them laying flat in rows. New plants sprout off the sides.

Thank you!

Regarding rapid growth over the first month - a lot of resources say to pack it as full as you can from the get-go to prevent initial algae issues. I know my mass will grow quickly under the right conditions but don't I want it to start off big?

Sent from my BlackBerry 9650 using Tapatalk

 

[DvanK]

FYI... Join NJAGC we will most likely hook you up with plants for free.

 

[Doc7]

I will be joining the local clubs : )

My issue is that my tank is "ready to go!" and I've been trying to get it that way for months now lol. Finally came to a fruition now that last night I got the Eco-Complete in, and mounted the power strips and timers and the like into my stand so now the only thing the tank is missing is plants!