# Rhizomes!



## colorxmexravyne (May 8, 2012)

About two or three weeks ago, I bought a java fern plant from petco, and last week I purchased an anubias. Both of them were in those little tubes but I didn't mind because I generally have pretty good success with them. I've done tons of reading and on the care of these plants and I'm aware that I'm not supposed to bury the rhizome, but...
















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which parts of these plants are the rhizomes? 

Both plants have just been floating in my tank since I got them because I don't know what to do with them, so any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!


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## Fishybitty (Dec 29, 2012)

2nd picture. Its the thick base. That the roots are growin from. I'm pretty sure.


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## Otterfun (Dec 31, 2012)

colorxmexravyne said:


> About two or three weeks ago, I bought a java fern plant from petco, and last week I purchased an anubias. Both of them were in those little tubes but I didn't mind because I generally have pretty good success with them. I've done tons of reading and on the care of these plants and I'm aware that I'm not supposed to bury the rhizome, but...
> 
> 
> ​
> ...


+1, am i supposed to bury the white color roots or stick the white hairy roots and the green stub into the substrate? I found it hard to anchor if I only bury the white hairy roots.


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## funkman262 (Jan 12, 2013)

Yes, only the roots can be buried (but they don't need to be). Most people glue the rhizomes to rocks or tie them to driftwood/ornaments to keep them in place.


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## Jexx (Feb 2, 2013)

only the hairy parts can be buried. the green stump is the rhizome and has to be above the substrate or else it will rot. the bizarre thing is i was just researching this!!!


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## colorxmexravyne (May 8, 2012)

Thanks everyone for the clarification on the anubias! Does anyone know about the java fern though?


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## funkman262 (Jan 12, 2013)

It's the same thing for the java fern.


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## colorxmexravyne (May 8, 2012)

But the thing is, I can't tell what's roots and what's not on the java fern. :/ That whole black mass at the bottom is STUCK like that; it doesn't come apart. Is that whole thing the rhizome then?


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## Kiara1125 (Feb 1, 2011)

Just stick half of the java fern in the gravel. Or, for a fern that small, plant just the enlongated black roots. It'll grow like crazy. The anubias should only have the roots planted, not the base. Good luck!


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

if in doubt.. leave them out of the substrate entirely XD


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## colorxmexravyne (May 8, 2012)

I guess I'll have to because I'm still at a loss for what to do with the java fern, haha. Those three-ish roots in the picture aren't really long enough to stick in the substrate. And like that whole black mass is kind of...hard and rough to the touch so I'm not really sure what's going on there. It seems just fine floating in the back of the tank though, so that's where it'll stay until I find a rock or something to tie it to.

The anubias is going in the "low light" corner of my tank though. I can't get anything else to grow there because the floaters block out too much light so why not?


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Have you got any small rocks around? If so you can use fishing line or cotton and tie the java fern to that and let the rock drop to the bottom of the tank. This means it won't be buried in the substrate but it also won't be floating around, and the roots will eventually grow over the rock and down into the substrate.


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## colorxmexravyne (May 8, 2012)

LittleBettaFish said:


> Have you got any small rocks around? If so you can use fishing line or cotton and tie the java fern to that and let the rock drop to the bottom of the tank. This means it won't be buried in the substrate but it also won't be floating around, and the roots will eventually grow over the rock and down into the substrate.


I don't as of right now, but tying the java fern to a rock was exactly what I had planned on doing!


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