Stemphobia

[Myrtle]

My name is Jo and I'm stemphobic. Well, not in the true sense of the word but I have avoided growing stems almost entirely since my first attempt with them 15 years ago.
I've tried and tried, but no matter what I do, I can't seem to keep the damed things in the substrate. If there's a decent root system they're OK, but any cuttings that I put in flatly refuse to stay put. I got so frustrated with them constantly popping up whenever I so much as looked at them that I've hardly grown a single stem since then!
I'd really like to try again so I bought some basic easy stems and once again I can't get them to stay in the bloody substrate! Please tell me the secret to keeping them where I put them and end my stem frustration!

 

[KirstyF]

What kind of substrate are you using. How deep is it, how tall are the stems and what critters do you have?

Some substrates are particularly tricky. I found stems easily popped out of monado substrate that I used a few years back, so wouldn’t use it again, however, a few tricks:

Don’t be too scared of trimming a little off the bottom if the stems are tall. If you have shorter stems there is less that wants to float and less to get tugged at by flow.

Good tweezers always helps, some of the cheaper clunkier ones have more of a tendency to pull, whatever you just tried to plant, straight back out again.

When placing the base into the soil, do so at a diagonal angle. This helps them to cling on better.

Make sure you plant them deep enough. I try to do at least a good 1 1/2 inches on bigger stems, maybe less if you need to, for dinky ones.

If you are getting them in but they are floating later then also consider inhabitants. My plec can do a pretty good job of pulling even established stems up. In this case I’ve been known to put some small stones at the bases until they start to root. It helps to weigh down the part that is planted and put the plec off rooting around quite so much.

Also, are the bottom of the stems melting? This could be a result of leaving leaf matter on the stem and causing it to rot off and release the top of the plant.

If you feel like you’ve tried all of this already then describe what you are planting and how and into what type of substrate and maybe folks can come up with some other ideas. 😊

 

[Witcher]

@Myrtle apart from very helpful instructions from @KirstyF it's worth to add that Phosphorus in many forms is one of the main ferts/additives you'll need for good root system. Others are auxins, but usage of the synthetic ones can be a little bit tricky as they are toxic to plants in larger quantities (and can be used as herbicides).
It's always worth to increase P dosage with newly cut and re-planted stems, which can be later lowered to your usual Phosphorus amounts.

Also, are the bottom of the stems melting? This could be a result of leaving leaf matter on the stem and causing it to rot off and release the top of the plant.

My preferred method of cutting stems is to cut them just above the node, then cut off the bottom internode just below the node of newly acquired stem and place it in the substrate like that (with the bottom leaves removed) - bottom node will become some form of protection from melting, also roots grow directly from it.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

then cut off the bottom internode just below the node of newly acquired stem and place it in the substrate like that (with the bottom leaves removed) - bottom node will become some form of protection from melting, also roots grow directly from it.

<"Good advice">.

This is a Fuchsia cutting, but it illustrates @Witcher's post. It could just as easily be a Staurogyne or Hygrophila spp.

I'd actually trim the bottom cut a little <"nearer to the node"> and you don't need to cut down the leaves, this reduces transpiration, which isn't a problem under water, but is more likely to let in fungi etc.

cheers Darrel

 

[Myrtle]

Thanks for the detailed reply @KirstyF, my cheap PAH tweezers may well be partly to blame by the sound of it. I'm using tropica soil with a sand cap in this one and I can't remember what else I've used in the past with stems, but probably only that. There aren't any inhabitants so I've got nothing but my own inadequacy to blame! There has been some melting of the stems but no leaves left attached so probably more to do with me mashing them with my ham-fisted attempts at planting... I'll definitely try to angle them more and go a bit deeper, though they're not huge.

@Witcher , good to know about the phosphorus. I'm only using 2hr aquarist stuff at the moment but will eventually move back to EI once I've got my head around it all again. A 10 year hiatus means I've forgotten it all from when I was a member here in 2008! I've got a horticultural background so have been preparing them the way @dw1305 illustrates.

I've set up a little 12l practice tank to see if I can get to grips with them so hopefully with these tips I can get more confident with stems

 

[KirstyF]

I have a pair of ADA tweezers which I will be the first to say were ridiculously expensive and over-priced when I bought them and are even more ridiculously expensive and over-priced now so absolutely not suggesting them as an essential bit of kit (it was an impulse spoiling myself moment)…..but they are ……amazing🤩 (and Christmas is coming!!)

Just night and day compared to the previous non-brand I had.

Maybe some lovely folks here could suggest some middle ground brands though, perhaps for a slightly less ambitious Xmas list! 😊 🎄

 

[PARAGUAY]

I find the filter noodles as used for your bio filtration useful. Put several,not too many stems in ,as they land on the substrate they stay in place and root. The terracotta rings from potted plants works well also

 

[The Miniaturist]

Plant stems vary a great deal, ones such as hygrophila are quite tough & you can hold them firmly whereas bacopa stems would crush if held in the same way. A case of being delicate without letting the cutting float away before it's even reached the sand!
I find when planting into sand, after you've inserted the cutting & before letting it go, give the tweezers a little wiggle to make the sand trickle down round the stem. Hopefully it should stay put then!

 

[tiger15]

Stems have delicate texture and can easily be damaged in the planting process resulting in floating. I use a tweezer and chopstick combo to plant stems directly into the substrate. I pre drill a hole with the chopstick first and then lightly hold the stems with the tweezer and insert into the hole. Finally, I shovel the substate with the chopstick to backfill the hole.

A better way is to avoid planting directly into substrate but to pot stems into net pots. Except for my low tech nano tanks where I planted directly into the substrate, all stems in my high tech tanks are rooted in net pots hidden behind other plants and objects. There will be no tweezer damage in the planting process as stems are bunched together into the pots by hand. I guess you can do the same thing by pre drilling a big hole and bunch the stems directly into the substrate, but it is much easier if you can do it outside the tank and choose a deep pot.

Regardless of your planting method, stems do not develop strong roots and the bottom will weaken over time requiring topping and replaning. Stems are high maintenance plants. Having them in net pots make periodic rejuvenation less a pain. It is also the reason why I keep majority rhizome and rosette plants, and keep only a few stems for the color.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Stems are high maintenance plants. Having them in net pots make periodic rejuvenation less a pain. It is also the reason why I keep majority rhizome and rosette plants,

That was partially why I went over to ferns, mosses, aroids etc. They are a lot slower growing and if they come detached it doesn't matter.

cheers Darrel

 

[Myrtle]

Plant stems vary a great deal, ones such as hygrophila are quite tough & you can hold them firmly whereas bacopa stems would crush if held in the same way. A case of being delicate without letting the cutting float away before it's even reached the sand!
I find when planting into sand, after you've inserted the cutting & before letting it go, give the tweezers a little wiggle to make the sand trickle down round the stem. Hopefully it should stay put then!

So far I've mashed Rotala, Bacopa and Pogostemon. Hoping that Ludwigia is more robust!

Stems have delicate texture and can easily be damaged in the planting process resulting in floating. I use a tweezer and chopstick combo to plant stems directly into the substrate. I pre drill a hole with the chopstick first and then lightly hold the stems with the tweezer and insert into the hole. Finally, I shovel the substate with the chopstick to backfill the hole.

A better way is to avoid planting directly into substrate but to pot stems into net pots. Except for my low tech nano tanks where I planted directly into the substrate, all stems in my high tech tanks are rooted in net pots hidden behind other plants and objects. There will be no tweezer damage in the planting process as stems are bunched together into the pots by hand. I guess you can do the same thing by pre drilling a big hole and bunch the stems directly into the substrate, but it is much easier if you can do it outside the tank and choose a deep pot.

Regardless of your planting method, stems do not develop strong roots and the bottom will weaken over time requiring topping and replaning. Stems are high maintenance plants. Having them in net pots make periodic rejuvenation less a pain. It is also the reason why I keep majority rhizome and rosette plants, and keep only a few stems for the color.

Good plan! I might have to try that if this fails. Stems are so frustrating, one nudge and they're off over the horizon but they do inject a nice bit of colour. Mind you, I struggle with some rosettes as well as I'm not very steady of hand which doesn't help.

Hi all,

That was partially why I went over to ferns, mosses, aroids etc. They are a lot slower growing and if they come detached it doesn't matter.

cheers Darrel

Me too, but I'm determined to succeed with at least one!

 

[zozo]

A very cheap and simple trick is to (super)glue the stem to a small pebble that is heavy enough to sink and keep the plant down. Even if you don't push it into the substrate it will eventually root into the substrate by itself before it detaches from the pebble again. And even if it doesn't separate from the pebble, plants and their roots can be pretty strong they can and will overgrow a pebble and pull it slowly down into the substrate and you'll never find it back till you start pulling plants from the substrate. Especially if you use a piece of porous lava rock instead of smooth pebbles. Roots grow into the lava rock.

Also handy to keep fat bulbs from bulb plants down, glue it on top of a flat pebble.

Anyway, pebbles rock... And you might go to become Stemophilia...

 

[Myrtle]

What a clever idea @zozo ! Definitely going to try that one out!