# Growing crypts outdoors?



## TEXAS (Jun 5, 2013)

I always see people posting emergent grown crypts i was wondering how many people out there have any luck doing this and what kind of care is required?


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## TEXAS (Jun 5, 2013)

I just tried crypt wen. And failed anyone know how I can transition then outdoors?


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

I would try using a covered container and starting out in the shade. I often use the containers you get at the grocery store for cooked chickens or pastries to grow things outside. 

Are you trying to do this underwater? That might be easier. It is still going to take a few days to transition.


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## TEXAS (Jun 5, 2013)

Im trying to take crypts from the aquarium and put them outside directly into soil i think ill try to shade them i have done this method on a few other stems with success just not with crypts.


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

It is like 100 degrees and 5% humidity here these days. I can't even imagine putting them outdoors!


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## Cichlidiot (Jun 10, 2013)

You would need an emersed setup to transition them to outdoors. Then lower the humidity alittle each day from there.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

From what I understand of the emersed habitats where _Cryptocoryne_ grow in nature, I think your chances of growing them outside in Texas are nil. You might succeed with a sophisticated mist system in a greenhouse as is used to propagate cuttings of difficult terrestrial species, but what is the point?


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## TEXAS (Jun 5, 2013)

True maybe crypts won't happen outdoors in texas especially in the summer i might try when it cools down.


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## miremonster (Mar 26, 2006)

But as far as I've read, there's naturalized Cryptocoryne beckettii in the San Marcos River in -Texas!: 
http://www.wildflower.org/tpcc_speakers/Oxley.pdf


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

With regard to the beckettii in the San Marcos, I think there have been a few more recent reports that it's becoming harder to find in the places it was previously seen—at a guess, some opportunistic hobbyists went to town on it.  Personally, I thought it was the stupidest thing when they passed a law prohibiting the taking of the crypts (I think they were worried about collectors disturbing the wild rice habitats or something), because it seems to me that the deployment of a few clubs on collecting trips to remove as many crypts as they wanted could have more or less decimated the population. Heck, I'd head out on a road trip right now if it meant I could haul buckets of crypts home to fill my tanks (or, actually, I'd probably wait until it cooled down a bit, but you know what I mean!).

More relevant to this thread, however, is that both reports of crypts establishing themselves in the U.S. (C. beckettii in the San Marcos River in TX and unconfirmed reports of C. wendtii in Rainbow Springs, FL) did so in spring-fed waters—which tend to have fairly consistent water temperatures. They don't catch the brunt of the heat that you'd suffer in a small backyard pond or outdoor setup.


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## novianto.sutardi (Aug 10, 2010)

I've plant my cryptocoryne wendtii outdoor in Jakarta, it flowers and produce some seedlings.


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## Yo-han (Oct 15, 2010)

TEXAS said:


> Im trying to take crypts from the aquarium and put them outside directly into soil i think ill try to shade them i have done this method on a few other stems with success just not with crypts.


Most import is the transition. You either need to buy emersed crypts (99% in the store) or let it grow out of the water by itself. To do this, place the crypt in an bowl with substrate and fully submerse it just enough to cover it all. Now place it in the shade and wait till the water slowly evaporates and the crypt breaks the surface by itself. This way the leaves slowly get used to their emersed environment. If you live in a very dry environment, keeping the bowl humid might help. Just cover it with kitchen wrap and make some holes so air can diffuse through. When it is fully emersed you can make more and more holes to lower the humidity slowly but this depends on your air humidity.


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