Attaching anubias to driftwood

[YuccaPatrol]

Recently, I divided a large anubias and tied the rhizomes to a few pieces of driftwood. How long will it take for them to attach themselves to the wood? This plant had been living with its roots in the substrate for about 2 years.

Should I have trimmed the rather long roots to encourage new root growth that would more easily attach itself?

I have 2 new types of anubias in those little pots with rockwool and would like to attach them to wood also, so I might as well do it right this time if I didn't do it right the first time.

 

[congealedmeat]

To attach my anubias to driftwood without ugly elastics or strings I make sure the anubias has a decent chunk of roots on it, and then find a spot on the driftwood where the roots can actually 'grab' onto(rough spots, cracks, etc..). First I stick the roots in the crack and then take gravel and basically just toss it in by the roots and on top so that it falls down and pins the plant in the crack. The gravel will fall out, but the anubias will also hold some of it with its roots and that will really help keep it where you want it, especially if you have cichlids or plant nippers.

I have just one big chunk of anubias on driftwood and I find that I've got to pick off leaves a lot, it really encourages it to spread as well and it is getting humungous.

Good luck, hope this helps. You can also use strings and such, but I hate that kind of stuff in my tanks. It also helps if you have natural gravel, not the epoxy coated stuff, the plants attach right to rocks more.

 

[YuccaPatrol]

Thanks for the tips. I ended up using very very fine fishing line to tie it to the driftwood. I used your tip to press some roots into cracks in the driftwood.

Not any room for gravel due to the nature of my wood though, but i will try that when I get a good piece that would work that way.