Attaching water sprite to driftwood/rocks

[Trichopsis]

I love water sprite (Ceratopteris), as it grows very well even with minimal care. However, I've been quite frustrated while trying to attach it to pieces of driftwood and rocks. I've tried securing the stalks with cotton thread or rubber bands, while there was another time that I bought an entire piece of wood that had stalks of water sprite secured with fishing line.

Alas, in all cases, the roots didn't grow and attach themselves; instead, the stems simply disintegrated at the tip and resulted in bunches of water sprite floating around. It's still a lovely plant while floating, of course, but I wish it would grow on the rocks and wood as I had intended.

Does anyone have any advice as to how I can improve the chances of the roots growing and attaching to the rocks and wood? My clumsy attempts at tying the stalks down don't seem to work; too loose and they eventually float off, too tight and it simply crushes the stalk and breaks it into smaller bits.

At this rate, I'm on the verge of giving up and just planting it in the substrate, and let something else like Java moss grow on the rocks instead.

[barmby]

It doesn't work like that for stemmed plant. You've already mentioned:

too loose and they eventually float off, too tight and it simply crushes the stalk and breaks it into smaller bits.

I have seen people doing it for competition but it is only temporary and not a permanent basis..

[Trichopsis]

Hi barmby: Thank you for your advice! I suppose the sources that state that it can be attached to driftwood didn't mention that water sprite wasn't meant to grow that way! Plus the mistaken impression from seeing water sprite being sold tied to driftwood - I had assumed that it was just like Java fern! Sigh.

Some stalks broke away and floated up today, and I've just planted them in the substrate. I hope they grow well.

[barmby]

You are quite welcome. It is just my speculation.

Stemmed is filled with water. it will crush them if tieing them to a driftweood