Aquarium Plants planting techniques.

Stem plants. These aquarium plants can have several leaves, pairs of leaves or single, alternate leaves growing along a stem. They grow fast and can need quite a regular trimming. Leaf nodes, where the leaf joins the stem, can produce leaves, roots or new shoots. Directions: Cut above the node, and then plant in the substrate with at least one node buried, making sure the stem end is as shallow as possible in the substrate by pushing it deep and then pulling up until it is shallow. This promotes root growth much faster! Plant each stem allowing enough light between stems to reach the lower leaves.

Rosette plants. These aquarium plants grow from a crown in or around the gravel bed. Each leaf grows directly from this crown. There are several types of rosette plants. These include Amazon swords, Cryptocoryne's, Aponogeton's, Vallisneria's and Nymphea's or lilies. Swords, crypts, and Val's spread by throwing off runners with young plants growing along them. When these plants grow in size they can be separated from the "mother plant". Val's and swords need to be planted with the crown above the gravel surface; crypts need to have the crown buried. Aponogeton's and Nymphea's grow from tubers. The plant can be removed from the tuber and a new plant will grow again. Usually I use these as solitary aquarium plants in an aquascape. Directions: Trim roots below all plants leaving around an inch of length. Plant swords and vals by making hole in substrate with your thumb, push the plant down as far as possible and then close substrate around it and pull it up so just the tip of the crown is showing. Do the same with cryptocorynes but leave the crown just buried.