Growing Echinodorus oriental emmersed

[GaspingGurami]

Those plantlets from my E. oriental are getting too many in my tank, and since I don't have any more real estate in the tank, I thought I'd grow them emmersed.

Here is what I plan to do. Scrape off the mud from lotus root bought from the market, mix them with some lonestar gravel and add some remnant basefert powder from Taiwan manufacturer Vista.

Plonk mix into used food container, cover with a layer of lonestar gravel so it looks better. Plant the plantlets, fill with water till it cover gravel and leave on corridor, indirect sunlight in the shade of the parapet.

Since my plantlets are grown underwater, my questions are:

1) should I give it some transition time by covering the container with a plastic cover.

2) should there be some holes on this cover to allow air to circulate

3) when planting emmersed, should I trim the roots like I do when planting submersed.

4) Is it ever possible for this plant to grow on potting soil like a houseplant eventually? Do the leaves look the same as when it was submersed?

5) When it is grown up, how difficult is it to reintroduce back to submersed?

6) any other words of advise?

[budak]

Echinos are the easiest aquatic plants to grow emersed. If your plantlets already have roots, it's even better. Just use any watertight container and mix in 50:50 normal gravel and any soil or basefert (you can use gravel as the topmost layer for aesthetics). But initially, keep it in shade, until new, stronger leaves develop (then bright, indirect sunlight will do). Using the plastic cover (with a few small holes) for a while could help, but I don't think it's really necessary. Ya, trim the roots off the plantlets if they are getting long, before you plant them in the pot. Echinos can grow in most soils, but it must be kept wet all the time. For Orientals, I think the leaves will be more egg-shaped when emmersed. And to resubmerge it, just plunge it back in.

[xxdivinityxx]

Hey sorry guys, abit off topic here, but still relevant.
I know when echinodorus is planted emersed, initially the stem is still pretty hard enough to support its weight silightly out of water.

But what about weaker stemmed plants for example rotala macarandra, etc. How would we go about growing them emersed?

Is there a link / Url you could direct me to for learning more about this?

Thanks again budak