I see, my experience with plants is that some just grow and some don't, depending on the water and setup you have.
Vals die away in my tanks aswell, same with nymphoids, mosses and all rod like plants.
Cryptocoryne crispatula however grows like crazy and can be compared to vals, maybe you will have more luck with them aswell.
Anubias also flourish in my tanks, black beard algae just dies off in my water, so I can pick up overgrown ones cheaply.