They Find Their Way Up
Hi,
[FONT="]Echinodorus spp.[/FONT] seem to be able to figure out root direction pretty well. I do not think you will need to poke them down, in fact until things dry out a bit you may be better off with them up a bit.
The main problems I have seen is
root rot from being wet and the plant drying out,
keeping the humidity up around here can be a difficult; it is dry (well
most of the time) here. Good drainage and keeping the temperature up seems to work for me.
I may over cull, but these are substantial plants, so I treat them like tomato plants and give them a good bit of space as they grow.
I have only been aggressively propagating Echinodorus spp., for five months so I am hardly an expert. Over the years, I have grown a few species from seed, but only a few at a time. Like most folks, I have grown many emerged or emergent.
A problem I had seen was similar to that a number of people have reported here, algae, cyanobacteria and so forth on the soil. I have read here and other places that K2HPO4 is an effective deterrent.
I sprinkle a light dusting, sort of trying to follow the ‘grid line’ between the plants. Once a week I spray a weak solution of K2HPO4 over the plants and soil. Thus far, it seems to help, along with fanning the plants every three or so days, good drainage and keeping them warm.
By the way thanks for hanging in there for me dear nephew,

as if the Loud-Creature-What-Shares-My-Space needs any encouragement to violence, domestic or otherwise.
Biollante