| Take the sword out of the pot. If the roots are wrapped remove as much of the material as possible. When you go to plant bury the roots in the substrate but leave the Rhyzome uncovered. Mine kept wanting to float so be patient and gentle!
I would also recommend doing a bleach soak on it. 1 part bleach to 20 parts water for 30 seconds. A little scrubbing of leaves and roots will help (but not guarantee!) the removal of snail eggs. Rinse well in bucket of dechlorinated water....then rinse again to be safe! The bleach and scrubbing isn't necessary but I had a snail outbreak after adding my swords.
They are a very hardy plant! I broke the Rhyzome off of mine when planting and I tucked into the substrate 1/2 way and a week later have a nice little sword started!
Also trim any leaves that are browning, yellowing or turning clear as once they are going there isn't really any saving them. THey are just taking more of the plants energy to repair and will hurt the rest of the plant.
PS They get pretty tall...up to 2' if I remember right. They will also have a stem coming up from the middle of the plant that will have babies start to grow off of it. Once they develope small roots you can "pinch" (again gently) the babies off the plant and put them in the substrate to grow as well. They are root feeders so it is a good idea to buy fertilizer tabs (I use Flourish Tabs) as well as a liquid trace fertilizer to help keep them looking good.
Good luck!
Last edited by Nate McFin; February 8th, 2009 at 02:23 PM.
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