Roots on stems - What does it mean?

[Ger]

My foray into the planted tank is off to a good start so far, with pearling plants and new growth being the order of the day (and no green water, much to my delight).

My green hygro and Alternanthera reineckii is sending roots out from the middle of the stems, as well as into the Fluorite. Does this indicate an excess or a deficiency of something ( I had put some Kent PlantPro in last week, but had changed at least 50% of the water since then a couple of days ago ).

TIA

[Tim Bo]

IME it indicates a lack of nutrients

[Tim Bo]

The 50% water change will deplete the added nutrients, but in any case, it will most likely take atleast a couple weeks before you notice a change.

[tyler]

i though many stem plants sent roots out during healthy growth.

[plantbrain]

Both of these plants normally do this. It does not indicate a deficiency of any sort. My water column is very rich and my plants did/do this. Many creeping herbacous plants exhibit this behavior.
Low lighting can increase the stem length before a root might appear on a given node.
But good regular pruning takes care of root issues.
Water changes are good as long as you add nutrients back to the water(Eg KNO3, KH2PO4, K2SO4, traces, GH, CO2, if/as needed). Clean/prune/trim/scrub/clean filter first, then do the water change, then add the nutrients back. The above nutrients are cheap and easy to add. You'll need to know what the tap water has in it(NO3 and/or PO4 namely). If it already has NO3 you will not need to add as much etc. Same for the PO4 etc.

Kent pro plant is okay but rather weak in concentration for getting enough NO3 etc to plants. KNO3 is more universal, about 100X cheaper, easier to find. Same can be said for KH2PO4, K2SO4 and dry mix traces.

Regards,
Tom Barr