Some personal experiences on hydroponics -- root treatment and submersion depth
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Many materials introduce that the roots of hydroponic plants should be half or 2/3 submerged in water, which is a good method. However, it also depends on the type of plant and different periods. For most Araceae plants in the early stage of hydroponics, the roots originally in the soil can be fully submerged in water. This can effectively reduce wilting and ensure that the new aerial roots can absorb water and grow rapidly, and these new roots are best adapted to the hydroponic environment and look the most beautiful.
For plants like万年青 (万年青) with non-branched, fragile, and tender roots, care should be taken to keep the roots intact when washing them, and avoid injury and breaking. Roots that have already been broken can be cut off from the base, so they are less likely to rot. For plants like 小天使龟背 (small angel turtleback) with distinct main and fibrous roots, more of the small roots can be cut off, and the long thick roots should be shortened, leaving fewer roots, which will promote faster growth of new roots.
There are some plants like吊兰 (hanging orchid) and 银边草 (silver edge grass) with thick and fleshy roots, which easily rot in water. After successful hydroponics, some fine roots grow. These fleshy roots should be cut off entirely at the beginning, leaving only some small and not yet swollen roots, and the remaining few roots should be fully submerged in water. Although there are few roots, new roots will grow quickly. A special case is 滴水观音 (dripping goddess), whose original roots easily rot after hydroponics and can be cut off entirely. Or, no treatment is also possible; without cutting the roots, larger plants are less likely to wilt, but the water should be changed and the rotten roots pruned frequently until the new roots completely replace the old roots.
The fleshy stem of 滴水观音 (dripping goddess) easily develops roots, and the water can be soaked to the position where you want it to root. Its fleshy stem will rot, and in such cases, it is necessary to cut it off promptly. In addition to cutting, another method is to break off the rotten part with your hand, force the yellow part to break at a naturally formed separation layer, after which it will not rot anymore.
For plants like 发财树 (money tree) and 榕树 (banyan), the depth of water submersion should be much shallower, just wetting the roots is fine. You can place pebbles in the container for support, allowing 1/3 of the roots to be submerged in water. There are also many plants, such as 常春藤 (ivy), 朱蕉 (red-edged dracaena), 芦荟 (aloe vera), and 君子兰 (kaffir lily), which are not suitable for having their roots fully submerged in water. Just keeping a part of the roots in water and keeping the entire root system moist is sufficient.
For some plants, having the roots fully submerged in water during the early stage of hydroponics is beneficial. When the new roots have grown, the water level can be lowered appropriately to expose a part of the roots, which makes management more convenient.
The aforementioned personal experiences on hydroponics -- root treatment and submersion depth, I hope this article can provide you with some help!