cocoa potted plants?

So two of my Tropica grown plants have arrived in coconut pots. Tropica website says they can be planted directly even with the pot, but I'm not super keen on leaving any plant potted, I feel like it restricts their growth. Anyone has any luck removing these? One of these in particular the roots have grown through and beneath the pot, so it'll probably have to stay in there. Unless I'm going to be sitting for a while removing these with tweezers hair by hair or something?

I'm not a huge expert, but I've planted a few crypts that had some sort of wool like material around the roots. It made a giant mess. Going forward I plan on cleaning everything off the roots first. So admittedly a bit apples and oranges, but I'd remove it unless there's a compelling reason not to.

Id remove it if theyre too closely spaced together, but honestly the coconut fibers are pretty aerated so they may not restrict the roots if you plant them just as is.

Realpedro said:

I'm not a huge expert, but I've planted a few crypts that had some sort of wool like material around the roots. It made a giant mess. Going forward I plan on cleaning everything off the roots first. So admittedly a bit apples and oranges, but I'd remove it unless there's a compelling reason not to.

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I got it now, thanks! I just needed to soak them in a water for a bit so I could pull the coco fibres apart

Ah, what you had is called rockwool. It's a good growing medium, but yeah, it's messy! I'm used to pulling that away from the roots and rinsing in water to swish that off, but even doing that, it feels horrible, I hate the gritty feeling it gives. Like nails on a chalkboard! Was it in your tank? I dread to think of the mess it would make in a tank, you poor thing!

NCaquatics said:

Id remove it if theyre too closely spaced together, but honestly the coconut fibers are pretty aerated so they may not restrict the roots if you plant them just as is.

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I got it now, thank you! I just needed to be a bit more patient, lol. They were in a blister pack so it was pretty dry and hard, but once it had soaked for a bit, it was easy enough to pull it out in tufts. I panicked too soon! lol

Oh I got that before but didn't know what it was..painfully picked it off

AilyNC said:

Oh I got that before but didn't know what it was..painfully picked it off

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First time I've had a plant arrive in one before, so they were new to me too! I thought it felt/looked like coconut fibres, but had to look them up on Tropica's website to be sure, and to see if they had any tips for removing it! (didn't find any tips, sadly). Leaving them to soak in water helped, but yes, they're spiky! I still prefer them to how horrible rockwool feels though, really developing an aversion to that stuff.