I got about 15 stems from my cup. I planted them on the back of my 40 gallon tank where the substrate is over 4 inches deep. I built my substrate with DTE 444 organic fertilizer, peat moss based top soil, and fine gravel cap. I did soak my soil mixture thoroughly before putting in the tank. I cycled my tank with fish, snails, and filter medium from existing tank. They took off within a week and grows about 1 inch per week. I run CO2 and Fluvial 3.0 on my tank. However their leaves are still green. I am thinking about adding iron fertilizer once I had my algae under control.