contortion vallesneria question..

smit3183

I've got quite a bit in my 55g and when originally planting it I learned the crown (white part )shouldn't be buried. I'm getting plenty of runners but pretty much all the runners are sent over the sand resulting in the baby plants being grown basically in mid air. Is this normal. You would think that the roots would have to be in the substrate at least a little.

redchigh

The crown is the point where the green and white parts meet- it should not be buried. All of the white parts should be buried. You may have to plant the runners too.

Byron

My Corkscrew Vallisneria and both my chain sword and pygmy chain sword sometimes do this. Sticking the roots into the substrate will anchor the plant better, and does look neater, but in terms of nutrients this is rather immaterial if you have an inert substrate (sand or gravel) since the nutrients will come from the water via the roots [and some the leaves] whether the roots are above or below the substrate. I've never experimented to see if the plant actually grows better either way...