Dwarf hairgrass? Confusion.

Question

I bought a bunch today, because I wanted to try out live plants. How do i plant it?

Should I turn off my air pump? Or put it on low settings?

I've already read about it, but I'm not sure what to do at this moment.

Its in some wool and whatnot, in a ugly black pot like thing.. I put it in just like that, until i get an idea of how to plant it properly..

Should i separate it in smaller bunches? And plant it in the gravel? Can I leave it the way it is, but burry the pot part? Will it spread?

How do i plant it in the gravel?

I wanted a bottom covering plant. Can i have some advice please?

Sorry.. and thanks in advance.

I have gravel by the way..

Answer 1

Remove it from the pot, and carefully peel away the rock wool surrounding the roots.  Much as you would do with potted garden plants, try to loosen the root bunch, as this will encourage more growth.  If you must, you can separate it into several smaller sections, but it is unnecessary.  If left in the pot, it will spread, but much more slowly, and future growth will be restricted as the pot is devoid of nutrients for the roots.  Really, if this is a low tech tank you're working with, I'd recommend taking the Hairgrass back-- this is in no way an easy plant to grow, and if great care isn't taken to provide quality, intense lighting, a good balanace of CO2, and a fine substrate (like sand), it will do very poorly, clogging with algae and having very little new growth.