How do you plant stem plants without loosing your temper?

Nells250 said:

Hmmmm, that "anchor" idea makes sense! I think I was way too stressed to even remotely think of that at the time!

Click to expand...

I have crazy glued some plants to a rock and shove it into the substrate

MattW said:

For planting in thinner substrate I use either plant weights or cut the leaves in half at the bottom of the stem

Cut the leaves in half (vertical lines) then when planting it creates a temporary anchor. I've managed to keep plants in a 1.5inch thick substrate without them floating.
View attachment 353222

also takes a lot of patience

Click to expand...

That’s the ticket

I like that fish meme... my tiny shrimp seem to like that activity as well!!!

As for wrapping stems with foam, just like some come from sellers, I thought that was a no-no! Figured it would cause the stems to rot.

Some of my plant clubbers are planting demons with chopsticks or long tweezers. I was embarrassed when we made wabi kusas at a meet & was told I had the bent tweezers the wrong way around, lol. I'm always learning new things & not afraid to admit it.

Nells250 said:

I like that fish meme... my tiny shrimp seem to like that activity as well!!!

As for wrapping stems with foam, just like some come from sellers, I thought that was a no-no! Figured it would cause the stems to rot.

Click to expand...

They can if they're bunched wrong. You need to still space them and wrap gently only. If they're spaced right and aren't being crushed, they generally will have enough breathing space. If it's being wrapped tight enough that it's damaging the stems, its too right.

fishorama said:

Some of my plant clubbers are planting demons with chopsticks or long tweezers. I was embarrassed when we made wabi kusas at a meet & was told I had the bent tweezers the wrong way around, lol. I'm always learning new things & not afraid to admit it.

Click to expand...

I'll tell you a secret.

Sometimes using them backwards is useful as well, sometimes that angle allows me to drag the plant down deeper into the sand and be able to remove my tweezers by backing away from the plant through the sand. Prevents the substrate from being lifted off when I pull the tweezers out. But that's just me. There's no right or wrong way to use the tweezers if it's what works for you

Cass, I've always just used my fingers. But I may have to work on tweezer technique in my 24 inch tall tank. I can reach most of the substrate but can't see what I'm doing.

fishorama said:

Cass, I've always just used my fingers. But I may have to work on tweezer technique in my 24 inch tall tank. I can reach most of the substrate but can't see what I'm doing.

Click to expand...

I can't go without my trusty tweezers. They're a game changer with my short t rex arms and large tanks. I can't reach the bottom of my 135g, I need a step stool and tweezers

My tweezers have "soft" tips. Sometimes I think that feature makes it harder to "let go" of the plant, and "grip" happens instead. But higher quality ones cost so darn much...

CassCats said:

I can't go without my trusty tweezers. They're a game changer with my short t rex arms and large tanks. I can't reach the bottom of my 135g, I need a step stool and tweezers

Click to expand...

I have twi pairs of long tweezers. One has broad flat tips and the other has a finer curved tip. I generally use the atter one for planting stems. But I have a trick I use. If we just push the plant straight down into the substrate letting go and pulling out the tweezers often results in the plant being only loosely anchored and it can come up easily. This is especially easy when there are fish rooting abount the substrate.

Si what I do It to push the stem into the gravel at an angle. Thuis resilt in more of the stem being under the sibstrate, But that anfle also means there is mor stem coverd by more substrtae, This tends to nmake them harder to uproot. The plant doesn't care I have done this and will root just fine. Moreover, the stem rises srtaight up even though it is planted at an angle.

This methology is even more helpful if one has a shallower substrate. In such a substrate when I have plantes with a bigger mass of roots, I want to make sure I make a hole and can spread out the riits before I cover them up. If we insert such a plant with the roots massed between the ends of the tweezer, they will not get as good an anchoring is they likely need. Also, it means spreading the roots out encourages the new roots grow in all directions making for very solid anchoring.

Nells250 said:

My tweezers have "soft" tips. Sometimes I think that feature makes it harder to "let go" of the plant, and "grip" happens instead. But higher quality ones cost so darn much...

View attachment 354038

Click to expand...

I got a decent quality pair for less than £7 last week. I always wipe them dry after use with towels so no moisture can cause future problems, my last pair lasted 3 years. I need 15-inch ones as both my aquariums are 40cm+ tall.

My beloved tweezers, I can't be without lol



Unfortunately the shop I get mine from don't have them in stock anymore, so I'll be sad if I ever have to replace them.


@Nells250 that trex comic is accurate I'm a short person, I've got short arms and legs too so I need every bit of help I can get short of swimming in my own tanks to manage anything in them lol

Nells250 said:

My tweezers have "soft" tips. Sometimes I think that feature makes it harder to "let go" of the plant, and "grip" happens instead. But higher quality ones cost so darn much...

View attachment 354038

Click to expand...

I used to be super concerned about bruising/damaging the tissue with narrow ones, but now I use the most narrow ones I have -- basically just a fine offset point. If you think about it, the human hand has an amazing ability to be gentle at squeezing when it needs to. The plants don't seem to suffer and the less drag out the better. I have found that pushing straight down and then tilting about 30 degrees seems to keep the plants more secure on the pull-out maneuver.

Finally, real dirt (actual sandy loam or similar) is much better at securing stems, but that's a whole other can of worms (aquatic worms in this case).

Funny, the other day I was watching an aquascape video on BucePlant's YT page, and I had an epiphany... In many instances, people do planting BEFORE ADDING WATER!!!! Granted, this particular video didn't have any stem plants.