hey there i have a large tank of about say 50 gallons or so im not quite sure im a metric person but anyway thats not the point. uptil now i have always used plastic plants as they were easier for me as a biggeiner to not have to worry about. well anyway i was wondering how you plant your plants casue my gravel is about half an inch to an inch thick so i usually just take the bundle they come in and stick that into the gravel without undoing that little ring they are held together by. they seem to live perfectly so far but i was wonderin how to plant them as sold plants? do they grow roots an everything? do i need soem sort of other layer under the gravel
please help me? thank you

yours is a good question, thats all i do with my plants.

i bury them in the gravel (tried still) they grow well, and get roots.

It depends on the type of plant. Some, like crypts, vals and swords actually have roots that need to be planted. Most stem plants like anacharis, hornwort, moneywort, cambomba, etc you can "plant" and they will grow sort of feelers that will hold them in the gravel. Though they do also grow well floating, expecially anacharis and hornwort. With stem plants, you should take them out of the rubber band or lead weight and spread them out, plant each stem individually so the light can reach better, or they sometimes will rot out at the base of the stems. Any kind of java fern, anubias generally does best attached to something (use fishing line, staples, cotton thread or just wedge it in a crack or between rocks). If you bury the "rhizome", the thick, root-looking green base, it will rot. So you want that expose, though the "feelers" it sends out may very well root themselves and grab on to whatever is near.

what i do is i put a 1/2 inch of sand for every 1 inch of gravel it helps them root better----especialy water bamboo it works very well just try not to disrupt the gravel-sand.