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Natural Plant Anchors

3K views 6 replies 6 participants last post by  Austin 
#1 ·
Hi All,
I am very new to all this and just statred trying some plants in my tanks. I use gravel, and the plants seem to want to float up on me, especially when trying to plant 3 or 4 small ones in a row. By the time I get the fourth one done, one and two are clinging to my wrist and three is floating in the corner...

So I had an idea, it's probably dumb, but that's why I am coming to you all.

What if i too a small rock, covered it in a bit of peat moss, attached all teh roots I could, then covered that in a second layer of peat most, and wrapped the whole thing in a webbing, (not a mesh) with wholes large enough for the roots to grow out of. I could even take some light fishing line and loosely wrap the root/peat moss base in leau of teh webbing.
And dependign onthe size of the plant I might not even need the rock I suppose...

So would this work or are there reasons not to do this? I just picked peat moss randomly, would it work better with a different 'packing'?

I've seen the rubber/plastic discs, if my plan is a bust I might try that but i'd really like to try a more organic natural approach if possible. I even thought of trying to wrap it in some type of organic 'rope', I keep thinking kelp, but in a much smaller thinner version....

OK, so there is my idea, how far off base am I?
 
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#2 ·
hi Will
i don't see why you should have a problem with that.
you could use stones bigger than the gravel to also keep the roots down
and just layer the substrate over .
i like the sound of your idea though.:-D
 
#3 ·
i'm not a fan of those rubber/plastic disks either :(

the UK has "plant pegs"
JBL Plantis - Aquarium Plant Pegs Shop UK : Aquarama.co.uk Buy JBL Plantis - Aquarium Plant Pegs
great idea, ... except where i live shipping would be ... i could probably use gold and it would cost less :(

i have not seen anything else like this

i like this idea as it should be enough to hold the plants in place, and if you find they're an eye-sore, you could remove the pegs and not disturb them once the roots have established themselves
 
#4 ·
plant pegs will be ok i think if the gravel is deep,and then i think
you wouldn't need them anyway,as the gravel should go over the roots and
hold them inplace.
another option is make a small hole put the plant in,add sand on top
then cover with gravel. ?? maybe.
 
#5 ·
Well-placed and shaped pieces of shale from the LFS should keep things in place.
 
#7 ·
I can understand where you are coming from. Sometimes I got plants that hardly had any roots. Maybe one root that is one inch. I usually planted them anyways in the substrate and then press two rocks against it to hold it in place. I'd plant it in a low flow area and let it get some root development. If it comes up, just replant it.... eventually the roots will grow and hold...
 
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