Bulbs- Just add water- yeah right

Ok- So I am trying those grow your own plants things that you get at petco. Ok, so far all I am growing is moldy bulbs! gross!! I don't know if it is my fault, because my tank hasn't arrived (I ordered one on ebay) So, I thought I would get these plants started before the tank got here, so that I could have something to work with. So-- I got these HUGE glass beer steins and put them in that. I saw a root on one bulb, but mostly just white fuzzy mold. I have changed the water once b/c of the mold-- Is that OK? I wanted to do the grow your own b/c I did it once and it worked, also I thought "less chance of snails" right! Any Advice[size=10pt] ??? ???

 

Those bulbs need to be put in a tank with the bottom 1/2 of the bulb planted in gravel. They also need food like fertilizer or fish waste . Water circulation is also important, this helps to keep them from rotting and having stagnant water.
Carol

 

well I guess I'll have to change the water everyday until the tank arrives. It should be here any day now. We had a big snow and the guy I bought it from couldn't deliver it right away-- so hopefully this week. Thanks!
By the way, I bought 2 different kinds, one is big bulbs, the others are kinda small-- should I plant those in the gravel anyway?? And I did buy some fertilizer made by Tetra, I haven't used it yet though b/c they are in the steins and not the tank.

 

I could almost never get mine to grow when half in gravel. I put mine in a little dish and covered with just enough water to barely cover the entire bulb until I saw roots growing. at that point, I transplanted into my tank where they are still growing well. hope your bulbs/tank work out for you

 

They need something to grow roots down into, so yes put them about half way down in the gravel.
Carol

 

i'm just telling what I did and that it worked well for me with nearly 100% rate (I lost one bulb out of two packets). i've got an entire tank populated by the bulbs. also, if you read the text on the bulb packet, it says not to put in the gravel until after there are roots. hopefully what you decide on works well for you. i'm just telling what my experiences are.

 

Thanks griffin- sharing our experiences is what it's all about Mine floated without the gravel
Carol

 

did your bulbs end up growing well? (because that's what matters ) I hope they did!

 

out of 12, 2 are showing roots. I hope the others catch up.

 

I hope so too! it took a while for some of mine to work, but I just left them in there unless they started to stink.

 

Yep mine did good Some of them got huge.
Carol

 

well I couldn't wait any longer so I bought some hornwort to spruce things up a bit until the bulbs grow. I hope they get with it or I will be buying lots of plants and with my luck they will grow after all of that.

 

never too many plants

 

I bought the same bulbs from Petco. So far I have the onion showing some growth. I've had them in my tank about a week. The others I don't expect to see for another week or so.
I have a great fertilizer and my fish help a lot. If you go to Petsmart they have these little black things. It comes in a pack of 8. They are supposed to be good for 6 months. They are great. My plants are growing like crazy.

 

So I got bored and decided to try my hand at live plant growing. Not wanting to invest too much into it, as a beginner, I found some bulbs at the local Wally World, and opted to start there. I bought 2 packages of bulbs: one containing Dwarf Lilly Ulvaceous, and the other, Aponogeton. I buried the aponogeton in gravel substrate, as per directions, and the ulvaceous I left on top of the gravel...Now we wait. Details to follow.

 

I'm seeing promising results from my bulbs thus far. The original 2 I "planted" have sprouted several shoots, and are showing signs of root growth. The second set, planted a few days after the first, has yet to break the substrate surface in either tank. However, I suspect my pleco is doing some lmidnight hedge trimming on the sprouted plant in his tank. I realize this isn't unusual, I'm just concerned the pleco will eat it faster than it will grow, or just enough to keep the plant from reaching full development.

 

Mine are growing like no other. I bought 2 packages of water lilies and 2 of the other stuff....I can't remember it's name. Basically, I just planted them, and keep doing the same when pop up (Plato, the pleco, like to rearrange once a day. ) I have several that have major growth...I'm most pleased. I'm using sand, so there isn't a whole lot for them to hold on to, but most of the plants are beginning to get enough roots to stay put now.

 

Bulbs can be rooted in nothing but water...Soil or gravel is not necessary as long as you are fertilizing the bulb. Make sure to follow the directions on the fertilizer as you can overfeed and 'burn' the roots.

Tried bulbs once...Were a pain in the neck...Went to immature plants instead....

 

Well I believe the plant eating culprits in my large tank have been identified...At first, I suspected my pleco was "trimming" the shoots coming out of my Aponogeton bulbs, so yesterday, I transplanted the ravaged plant into my small tank and brought over an untouched jeuvenile plant from the small tank. I haven't actually witnessed this, but my gut tells me the Tin foil barbs are nipping at the broad leaves. They never get far from the 8 inch tall leaves, circling it like the tank water cooler.

Ah-ha!!! Lo and behold, as I'm writing this, I withnessed both TFBs nipping pieces off the plant. Question now becomes, are they voracious enough to eat the plant faster than it grows? Now that their secret is out, they are shamelessly attacking it, so I think that they might. Looks like I may need to move the bulbs back into the small tank, where it can mature, unmolested by tiger barbs and panda corys. Would a mature plant, capable of sustaining itself, as well as these little nippers, or should I abandon all hope of keeping plants of the aponogeton species in the larger tank?