Sword Roots above substrate?

[blacksnow]

New to plants so forgive me if this seems 'stupid'

Are the roots suppose to be above the substrate?

I planted 2 amazon swords in my 46G last week, and both plants seem to have roots growing above the substrate.

Is this ok?

[smaug]

How deep is your substrate?Did you have all the roots totally buried?Also,for future reference,trim sword roots to about 1.5"-2.00" before planting,this stimulates new root growth for faster establishment.

[CAF]

While it is "ok" it is not ideal. Sword plants are heavy root feeders, as Smaug stated trim the roots to 2" and place a root tab beneath them. Make sure to have 3 to 4" of grave below them. Only plants with rhizomes should be kept above the substrate (at least partially...)

[PostalPenguin]

I have an amazon sword with roots above the surface and the plant has exploded. A few stragglers of roots remained above the substrate when I first planted it and as the plant grew, it grew a web of roots above the surface that occaisonally dipped back into the surface only to pop back up. I believe it is now feeding directly from the water and not the substrate. It is growing a new leaf about every 3 days so its quite healthy. The web of roots continues to expand so I dont think you need to worry about it.

[CAF]

I have an amazon sword with roots above the surface and the plant has exploded. A few stragglers of roots remained above the substrate when I first planted it and as the plant grew, it grew a web of roots above the surface that occaisonally dipped back into the surface only to pop back up. I believe it is now feeding directly from the water and not the substrate. It is growing a new leaf about every 3 days so its quite healthy. The web of roots continues to expand so I dont think you need to worry about it.

Visual appeal my friend, visual appeal. I'd rather have more plants than more what fiberous ropes winding through my tank, tying up my fish and robbing the shrimp...

[PostalPenguin]

Visual appeal my friend, visual appeal. I'd rather have more plants than more what fiberous ropes winding through my tank, tying up my fish and robbing the shrimp...

True. Mine are all hidden in the back and my fish seem to still poke around in them but if it was in the front the roots would be getting buried.

[DrNic]

If most of the roots are below the substrate, some lose roots above the substrate can be alright, although I usually trim mine off. Some plants can be placed on the substrate and the roots will dig down themselves but it's not always visually appealing.