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can anyone help me. just got some new plants and alot of them are stems, how can i weight these down and what is that white stuff you wrap around the stems

and what is that white stuff you wrap around the stems

I'm not quite sure what you mean. Rockwool, maybe? If so, I've only used it as a temporary rooting media for cuttings of house plants. I'm not sure how it works with fish. Although, the Brazilian pennywort I bought came in rockwool. I took it off immediately. Has anybody here had experience with rockwool in a tank?

But, I just got some new plants last night and had some difficulties, too. Some bunched plants are actually cuttings taken from a "mother" plant so they have no roots at the time of purchase. I had trouble last night with Telenthera and Green Stricta. They came in bunches with the weights wrapped around the bottom. I was getting quite frustrated.

What finally worked was this: Plant at a slight angle. I also had to turn off some internal pumps for a short time.

Do you have any fish that may uproot plants?

I have a nice set of Long tweezers that I use for planting stem plants. I usually group in 2 or 3 stems per planting. The tweezers really let you put the stem in the substrate deep. Rock wool should be completely removed! Sometimes the only way to get the stems deep enough might be with your fingers... while holding them in place with your thumb and one finger, brush substrate around the stems with your other fingers. kind of like playing a guitar.

Cheers, Whitepine

If you can't find them where you bought the aquarium plants, places that sell bonsai equipment and the like would have them.

Get the rockwoll out
I builed may tank last year and today it was still on my Cryptocon-roots

use fingers to plant
cut the roots in a distance of 3cm (but not Cryrtocon-roots)
so they will faster be great