Before you start
Fill the tank about a third with water so the plants stand up but your arm still reaches the bottom. Plant from the back to the front, tall plants first. Long aquarium tweezers push stems and small plugs into the substrate without disturbing the rest. Take off pots, rock wool, lead weights and rubber bands: anything left around the stems rots. Plants from cups
Stem plants
Ludwigia, water wisteria, anacharis and other stem plants: strip the leaves from the bottom inch or two and push each stem about 2 inches into the substrate, a finger width apart so light reaches the lower leaves. Cuttings root where they are planted. Trimming stem plants
Rosette plants
Amazon swords, crypts, vallisneria and dwarf sagittaria grow from a crown with leaves spreading from it. Spread the roots, bury them, and leave the crown, where the leaves meet the roots, just above the substrate. Vallisneria and sagittaria then spread by runners. Crypts often melt after planting; leave them in place and they regrow. Plant melt
Rhizome plants
Java fern, anubias and bucephalandra grow from a thick, creeping stem (the rhizome). Never bury it: tie it to wood or rock with cotton thread or fishing line, or glue it with gel superglue, and the roots grab on within weeks. You can wedge it between stones instead. Attaching plants
Bulbs and tubers
Tiger lotus, the dwarf aquarium lily and aponogetons grow from a bulb or tuber. Press it half into the substrate with the growing tip up. Some rest for a few weeks, dropping their leaves, then sprout again; do not throw a resting bulb away.
Carpets
Monte Carlo, dwarf hairgrass and other carpet plants: split them into small plugs and plant them about an inch apart, pushed in at an angle with tweezers so they stay down. They fill in faster in a dry start. Growing a carpet · Dry start
After planting
Fill the rest of the tank slowly over a plate or a plastic bag so the water does not dig the plants out. Floating stems that pop up can be replanted. Add root tabs near swords and crypts once they settle, and expect a few weeks of melting leaves before new growth. Fertilizer and root tabs