Growing 'Monte Carlo' (Micranthemum tweediei) on Hardscapes

Micranthemum tweediei also known as 'Monte Carlo' is one of the easiest carpeting plants to grow in aquarium as a carpet in the foreground. Recently, it is very popular to grow this plant on the hardscape (stones and wood) as an epyphite plant with amazing downward creeping manner.

How this can be done? There are couple of ways such as planting Monte Carlo directly in the cracks of the wood or stones or glueing it to keep it in place but this is not good in the long run - in the maintenance routine (trimming) it could be easily detached from its place. 

Here is one way that works great if you want to grow it permanently on the stones, even on those that have a flat surface. You will need: Coarse filter sponge (10 PPI is the best), Gel type super glue and pointed tip tweezers. 

First, cut a piece of sponge, the size depends on the size of the surface you want to cover. The thickness should be 5-7 mm:

Then cut the plant to small pieces (having 2 pairs of leaves is just enough) :

Take pointed tip tweezers and plant each piece into the sponge - make sure the plant gets stuck in the sponge. I'm using a styrofoam board below, it's easier to work with:

You don't need to plant many plants in the foam, 1 plant per square cm is fine as it will spread out quickly:

Turn it upside down and apply the gel type super glue:

Glue it on desired place:

It is best to glue it when aquarium is empty, but it can be glued underwater too just make sure the surface is clean. 

After 4 weeks: