The Puffer Forum

This is not really a serious question but I am curious.

This Lilly is protruding from the sand. I never bury the bulbs. Would a bulb bury itself as the roots take hold? Also should I be pulling the bulb out of the sand?

I always buried my tiger lotus and aponogetons' bulbs. I think there's no trouble if you bury the bulbs but will have trouble if you bury rizomes (like java ferns, anubias etc).

If it is growing well, leave it alone. It does not matter a lot whether or not it is totally buried.

In ponds, the lily tubers are always panted almost fully, with sutface smooth gravel to protect the sprouts a bit from goldfish, koi, or tender-shoot nibblers. In tanks you should not have vegetarians with plants anyway, so it is non-critical.

Some rhizomes need to be buried. There is no general rule which can be applied across the board.

The normally emerse plants, such as Java fern and Anubias, will rot if the rhizomes are buried. But they are not true aquatics anyway. We just use them as such, and they do not mind much. Most are stream-bank or waterfall plants, constantly moist from spray/mist and periodically flooded, but mostly emerse.

HTH