how do you keep new plants in the gravel?

[OrangeAugust]

When you buy plants, they usually don't have many roots... how does everyone get them to stay in the gravel? Sometimes I'll leave that weight thing wrapped around it, but then the stem of the plants starts rotting before enough roots grow to anchor it.
Should I be putting plants in a separate tank to grow roots before I plant them in my tank??
What do the rest of you do?

[shellieca]

I just bury them into the gravel & I keep doing that until they stay. It can be a bit of a pain. I have some that stay no problem & others that take longer to stay anchored. Plus it depends on the size of the gravel, smaller gravel seems to hold them better. There are plant anchors you can purchase which I've also used, they're like little rebar & are bendable. I mostly use them for weighting down the veggies I feed.

[eatmice2010]

ya i had the same problem so i got sand, and put it into my tank, let the sand settle, then i put gravel ontop of the sand, so now when i put my plants into the ground they never come out