Details About Planting Seedlings
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We have been asked for more details about how we plant our Victoria seedlings. We plant when the second hastate emerges or roots are visible, whichever comes later. Those in the photos below are a day or two farther along than they need to be.

We wet the sand to the point of almost runny and put it in 3 ounce plastic cups (holes poked at the bases, 1 teaspoon of peat in the bottoms). It should hold its shape when a finger hole is poked in the center but ooze around the future planted seedling to eliminate air spaces. >

Some of the new little plants grow almost directly from the seed. Others, such as some in the dark or under other seeds, make a runner called an epicotyl and then the plant.
Even at this stage the plant has a "crown" and it is this that must wind up at the level of the soil. All roots, except for a single primary root at the seed on those with an epicotyl, and all new leaves grow from this crown.

With the seedling without an epicotyl, roots are poked down into the finger hole, the seed left just below the future surface and the sand pushed in around the seedling. Care should be given not to bury the crown. The seedling is then pinned with a small L-shaped wire to prevent float out (the seed itself acts as the anchor) and tagged with a plastic stake type label.

The seed of the seedling with the epicotyl has to be placed deeper in the sand so the base of the little crown finishes up at soil level. Roots are pushed into the hole and the sand pushed in. This one did not need a pin since the seed was so deep in the sand.

The seedlings are then returned to the aquarium or tank, still heated to 85F minimum, 92F ideal, at a depth of 4-12", 8" ideal. Because of Victoria's extreme sensitivity to hard water, changes of 25% weekly must be made. We give no nutrients of any kind until the seedling makes its first floating leaf and then begin careful injections of our "cocktail" weekly.