plant care: questions

[matti]

1. Got a monstera in my tank and its roots are now breaching the surface (we're talking 35cm+ long). The tank's got a dirted setup with a 2inch cap, so I'm curious - if I let it keep growing, will the roots burrow down into the dirt or just hang out in the water column?

2. Just scored a new plant for pennies, no label or anything. I'm pretty sure it's a Zosterella sword species, but I'm not entirely sold. Anyone got a clue what it might be?

[Bisco]

The plant you've got there doesn't look like a Zorchzon sword to me. I've seen it before, but I'm not sure what its actual name is. From what I know, it's a terrestrial plant, not aquatic. It might be able to tolerate some flooding, like in riparian areas near streams, but it's not meant to be fully submerged. It's a pretty hardy plant, but if you keep it underwater all the time, it'll likely die off eventually.

[bettaMagenta]

Likely the Monstera will keep going down into the dirt. My experience with terrestrial plants is they do better with air bars under them, which moves a lot of water and seems to slow the roots a bit. But once they start growing down into the substrate, you'll probably need to trim them to keep them under control.

[matti]

I trimmed the Monstera roots about 3 inches from the substrate, now it's a waiting game as it grows like crazy. Took the mystery plant out, put it in clips so the roots get water but the stem and leaves stay dry.

[Snout]

That plant you've got there, I'm pretty sure it's an aspidistra, commonly known as a cast iron plant, a popular houseplant.

[matti]

That plant you've got there, I'm pretty sure it's an aspidistra, commonly known as a cast iron plant, a popular houseplant.

Yeah, I can see why you'd think that, but this plant's stem seems way thicker than the ones I saw in pictures of aspidistra.

Here's some more pictures for comparison.