Hc cuba in vitro nightmare

[Downhillmonkey]

Has anybody bought and successfully planted this stuff. I bought four pots, which came in the gel as expected. None of them had a root structure though. It was four pots of stems with leaves. I had no option but to break into small pieces and force into the substrate just to get it to stay in place. The mass of plant was so thick that you couldn't tell which was up or down. I'm worried now that I have a carpet of cuba, which is rotting in the substrate due to a lack of root.

Anybody had this? Is it a poor batch or normal? Will it root?

I've grown cuba before, but always had a root to plant. All have grown.

New to this in vitro gel, so maybe panicking for nothing.

 

[Julian]

I'm not convinced that these type of plants are better, not for the buyer at least.

Best thing you can do, up your CO2 as much as possible to ensure the plants survival. Don't go crazy with the lights, else they'll just get covered in algae.

 

[Pedro Rosa]

Just plant it like there was many roots. It'll grow very well once established (at least Tropica 1-2-grow).
They're better because they are grown in a "clean" environment.

Pedro.

 

[Downhillmonkey]

OK I guess I'll keep at it. I've spent the last hour replanting the floaters from today. Must say I'm impressed with the overall health of the plant, but boy do you need the patience of a saint to plant this stuff.

 

[fourmations]

bumping an oldie here but........

any further wisdom on this?
its my first try with in vitro and my cuba, monte carlo and eleo. mini and acicularis
are proving tricky to plant, any tips welcome?

100l tank, akadama capped with kitty litter,
(ran out of akadama so used the litter to cap off,
its finer than the akadama so its helped a bit to grip the plant "bits"!!)
i pinched off small bits of the plants with the tweezers,
too much and it hadnt a hope of staying put!

thanks

 

[zozo]

All above remarks are quite obvious that a drystart is the only easy way.. This way you can let it grow some roots for several weeks and it will stay down. But it still needs a lot of attention and maintenance after that.. HC is a bit more forgiving when drystarting it, if co2 and fert is sufficient it goes pretty fast through transition. MC will likely show some melt if the transition is done drasticaly.. So if you drystart with MC it can be benefitial for the plant to fill the tank slowly..

Elocharis is the least fussy off all just cut it back short enough once it is in the substrate. If you do not cut it back melt will likely kick in on the longer leaves.
Once it is planted in the substrate submersed and not trimmed back it is difficult to trim if not properly rooted, than you most likely will pull it out again. But also this is best to drystart and slowly go from moist to wet to submersed over a couple of weeks helps to reduce melt to a minimum and properly root...

 

[Tim Harrison]

I've found that in vitro plants can be a bit hit and miss. It's important to get good quality plants to start with, you won't go far wrong with Tropica.

Planting can be a problem since roots aren't usually well developed. I plant them so they are quarter to half buried in the substrate, that way you'll minimise floaters. Don't worry about them being buried too much, they will soon develop new shoots.

Handling them with care to avoid damaging them is also important if they are to get the best of starts. I split mine in to portions about 10mm in diameter at the base. Then I hold them carefully but firmly at the base with a good pair of pincettes and wriggle them in to the substrate.

As always it's easier to plant in a few cms of water and fill to the top once done. Use a spray to keep the parts above water wet.

Add fertz from the word go and optimise your CO2 ASAP to cover all your bases, this will encourage luxury consumption of nutrients, which will also help give them the best possible start.

 

[fourmations]

Thanks guys,

Yeah, I'm running the co2 hard ( no fish)
And getting the ei dosing going, low light for the moment, funnily it's the exact advice I got off Ceg years ago when starting out,
Im planting deep and hoping for the best,
Would plants floating on the top survive and maybe get some roots in a couple off weeks? they have the best of the co2 and light up there!