# More odd crypt behavior



## James0816 (Oct 9, 2008)

I don't have a picture of these plants just yet so I'll throw the description out first and we'll go from there. Wife took the camera with her to Bermuda so will be using my phone but should be good enough to see.

Crypt in question again is a Wendtii (bronze).

Mother plant shoots off several plantlets that have grown nicely (and recently trimmed I might add). With one exception (actually four).

I have four small Wendtii's that have been seperated from the mother plant for a few months now. They are growing as I find new leaves on them. But there's a catch to this (I know...there's always a catch right?). These four particular plants are only a couple inches long!

I'm guessing they just refuse to grow up. ;oP

Sound familiar to anyone? One particular plant has about 6 leaves on it. Just more odd behavior I'm finding. All the other crypts grow up to be nice and big with big leaves that go up to the surface. So these ones then should be considered "little crypts".


----------



## ferchu22 (Oct 27, 2007)

Hi James, how long have they been planted in this place? Are them in the same tank than the mothe plant?
Many times, crypts take a while to "become accustomed" to a new place and grow bushy...

Regards


----------



## James0816 (Oct 9, 2008)

They have been in the tank for a few months and are off shoots of the mother. And they are in the same tank as the mother plant.


----------



## ddavila06 (Jan 31, 2009)

James, could they be more shaded than most other crypts?


----------



## James0816 (Oct 9, 2008)

Nope...they are in full light.

Here's some pics:

First the mini's:








Now here's a comparision shot of one of the crypts I trimmed off yesterday. It is much younger than the mini's:








And here is the mama plant:


----------



## ddavila06 (Jan 31, 2009)

they are just probably having a though time getting settled in the new area where they were moved, my wendtii red took like 6+ months to finally start bushing and then suddently everything was reaching up the top of my 125.....


----------



## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

They look like normal, healthy, small plants. You have to give them a lot of time, about a year, to get to the size of the mother plant.


----------



## James0816 (Oct 9, 2008)

They weren't moved here...they are offshoots of the big mama plant in the third pic. At the same time, she has thrown several others (like the second pic..it trimmed off four that are that size) which are growing what I would call normally. It's just odd that these four have stayed this small while the others in the same tank have grown big to be like mom.

I'm sure eventually the growth spurt my kick in...but after several months staying like this...it would be kewl if they actually stayed this small.


----------



## illustrator (Jul 18, 2010)

Your aquarium looks tremenduously sterile/newly set up. My guess would be that the mother plant has access to some soil underneath the gravel??? Adding some fertilizer might help speed up growing. But the small plants look actually just like that: healthy small plants, not retarded or so. 

The mother plant is also taller because it grows between other plants and has to reach for the light.

But why did you separate them? They would have done fine when still attached to the mother plant and would not have to go through the replanting stress at all ...


----------



## James0816 (Oct 9, 2008)

The tank has been set up for a very long time. I'm actually working on giving the sand a good cleaning at the moment. It got pretty dark looking and lost it's natural beauty.

I always thin out the crypts when there are too many coming up. Besides the mother plant, there were 8 other plants coming up. And they aren't really shaded by the other plants.


----------



## James0816 (Oct 9, 2008)

Well my little "mini" crypts are still doing thier thing ... staying mini. Still growing and making a perfect place for the Otos to lay their eggs.

Couple new leaves have grown since the start of the thread as well.


----------



## James0816 (Oct 9, 2008)

Just thought I would update this a bit. Still no change in the size of these guys but throwing new leaves constantly. I'll snap an updated shot this evening to post up. I like the little mini leaves when they come out. Sooooooo small. lol


----------



## James0816 (Oct 9, 2008)

So here's my mini's as of today: 11/11/10


----------



## James0816 (Oct 9, 2008)

Just wanted to provide a little update on my 'mini's'. They are ... well ... still mini. ;o)

Hardly grown much at all over the past several weeks. New leaf growth, but no height. Which is just perfect actually.


----------

