Live Plant requirements

Question
Hi Dave,
    just about to go "Live" with some plants in our aquarium and was just wondering can I plant the plants straight into the gravel, or do I need a substrate & if so what do you recommend?
Thanks in advance,
      Magoo

Answer
Hello Stu:  You can plant the plants directly into the gravel or you can add substrate if you'd like.  I suppose it would depend on how deep your gravel is currently. For plants a minimum of one inch is needed and I prefer at least 1.5 inches.  You can add in fluorite which is a presubstrate plant fertilizer that works really well.  keep me posted... dave