Tiny new cuttings and rootlets are floating...how do you weigh them down?

i have some new plants -- my first -- and they are tiny. Just little cuttings with whispy rootlets. These are stem type, so I basically just poked them into the sand (I have just sand, about 3/4 - 1 inch deep). But they float up. I'm sure they will 'stick' better after their roots grow...but in the meantime....what do folks do?

I'm envisioning a piece of window screen, a square about 3x3, and the little plants laced on there with cotton thread. When I bury the screen the sand sitting on the screen will hold everything down. Does that sound like it might work? I'm imagining that the thread would disintegrate at about the same rate the roots would take over.

Open to all theories, tested or not.
Thanks in advance.

jones57742 said:

FishBliss I am by no means a plant guru and this theory may sound but it has worked for me with several species of rooted plants.

Keep the tank well fertilized and let the plants float. The leaves and root structure will grow.

When the plants are large enough to be appropriately planted then do so.

TR

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I'm glad you said that -- I was wondering if that would happen. Since they keep floating anyway, this might work nicely.

fishorama said:

Use a small rock to hold it after you plant each stem, much easier than sewing them to screen.

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found a couple of little rocks. I'll clean them up and try that on the ones that have enough root to go under a rock...