Mineral wool on new plants

**quercus** · 30th Aug 2006, 05:28

hi, when you get some plants from the aq store, they are in mineral wool. is this supposed to be removed before planting in the aq? or just leave it on and plant the whole thing?

thanks.

**evolim83** · 30th Aug 2006, 06:04

You are suppose to remove the wool before inserting into the substrate.
This would allows the plants to take root faster.
Hope this helps!

**quercus** · 30th Aug 2006, 10:30

thanks very much!

thats kind of what i thought, but when i tried to remove the wool, it was too tangled with the roots. seemed the only way to get rid of the wool was to get rid of the roots too. kind of like throwing out the baby with the bathwater. and we can't do that.

is there some trick to getting the tangled roots out of the wool?

btw that is one cool beta!

**oblivion** · 30th Aug 2006, 11:57

Originally Posted by quercus

thanks very much!

thats kind of what i thought, but when i tried to remove the wool, it was too tangled with the roots. seemed the only way to get rid of the wool was to get rid of the roots too. kind of like throwing out the baby with the bathwater. and we can't do that.

is there some trick to getting the tangled roots out of the wool?

btw that is one cool beta!

.

I soaked it in water for a while to soften and loosen it.
Makes it easier for me to remove
Roots i'm not that concerned if they are tangled. I will jus snip off with scissors some of the tangled roots
Its okay for me as I practice trimming of roots before planting into substrate anyway

**celticfish** · 30th Aug 2006, 13:16

quecus,
i once bought some crypts potted with wool.
these pots were growing in the tank for a while and the root system was tangled.
took me some time but i removed it all.
since you should trim the root system before planting i trimmed then root at the same time.
you can work with a bowl of water as it helps you wash off the wool bits.
oh, having a small pincer helps too!

P.S. i dont think the wool is biodegradable so i was quite rigorous in its removal.

**quercus** · 31st Aug 2006, 00:02

ok, i think i'm beginning to get the picture...

sounds like what i need to do is trim back the roots pretty severely. is that right? so, for example, if the roots in the mineral wool are about 1.5 inches, trim back to 1/2 inch if that's what it takes to be able to get rid of the wool? do i have that right?

**ng2651** · 31st Aug 2006, 11:09

Sounds ok to me as the roots can grow back pretty fast.

**Suralle** · 1st Sep 2006, 20:59

I just cut the basket all at the ribs on the bottom and up opposite sides, remove the mass over the "aquarium" towel and use a toothpick and tweezers to remove the wool. Works fine plus I don't get any extra fertilizers in my water column. Takes a bit of work with the toothpick but there is minimal damage to the root system which seems important to my crypts.

**danny** · 1st Sep 2006, 22:28

For me I just remove the plastic basket and some of the wool and plant the plant straight into the substrate.

**|squee|** · 1st Sep 2006, 23:21

I direct a strong spray of water at the roots+wool. It helps in getting it off. Basically the more you get off, the better. The wool might contain pesticide anyway.