# My emmersed setup



## tsunami (Jan 24, 2004)

Hi everyone,

Over the summer, I decided to find a way how to keep all the extra plant species I had collected by setting up an emmersed tray outside. With the help of fellow hobbyist Jim Lockhart, I set one up for about 30$. At one point, I was growing two dozen species in this setup. 
I was so fascinated by tending my emmersed setup that I have decided to get a second tray for this upcoming summer to house even more plants. However, this time, I will be concentring almost entirely on Cryptocorynes!




























Ingredients:

1 black, plastic propagation tray
1 black, plastic pot pack with 48 slots (going with 32 next time)
1 extra high top propagation dome 
1 bag of Schultz Aquatic Plant Soil (my medium)
1 Hydroponic liquid fertilizer kit, including three separate bottles (Florabloom, Floragro, and Floramicro in my case)
water
Florida sunshine

Plants that did very well in this kind of setup:

Cryptocoryne undulata
Cryptocoryne wendtii 'red,' 'green,' 'rose,' and 'Tropica'
Cryptocoryne walkeri
Eleocharis montevidensis
Saururus cernuus
Lobelia cardinalis 'small form' (dwarf lobelia)
Ludwigia repens
Ludwigia brevipes
Bacopa caroliniana
Hydrocotyle verticellata
Lindernia rotundifolia
Hemianthus micranthemoides (baby tears)
Micranthemum umbrosum
Hygrophila difformis (wisteria)
Lysimachia nummuleria

Carlos


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

Carlos,

Direct Florida sunshine? Wouldn't that cook everything in the summer?

Nice pictures!


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## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

That looks like a great idea! Lets hear more details


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## tsunami (Jan 24, 2004)

Indirect Florida sunshine.  

Actually, next time, I am going to try and place it in a more well lit spot. I think it was one of the limiting factor my first time around.

That's basically all the details there is to know. It's really simple/easy to setup. I just used cuttings from my tank to stock it up.

Water changes once every two weeks, readding the fertilizer every time, seemed to work best.

Carlos


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## MiamiAG (Jan 13, 2004)

Carlos,

This is where my interest currently lies. It is extremely rewarding.

I made a makeshift greenhouse and use Florida sunlight to grow mine. I used a larger raft system but the concept is the same.










The image is of an E. rangeri that grew out of control in the system. You can see the Crypts in the background.


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## Phil Edwards (Jan 22, 2004)

Art, 

Do you have the pots in any sort of separator or are they just surrounded in weed infested water? 

That's a beautiful sight, for sure.


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## MiamiAG (Jan 13, 2004)

Phil,

Thanks. No weed infested water. The plants are in rockwool. Rockwool is in 2" plastic pots. Plastic pots are in styrofoam rafts with exact holes cut out. The rafts float on the nutrient enriched water. As sunlight doesn't make it to the water, you don't have algae.


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## Jim Lockhart (Jan 27, 2004)

Carlos, it is good to see the setup works well for you, it's a great cheap way to get started (being Scottish that's always important to me :wink: ). I have 4 of these domes now, and this year I managed to keep everything going through the winter with heating pads, that work very well.

I have two types of Crypts that grow well in this environment, but never flower. I have moved some of them outside the Domes under a mister, but so far no flowers (I think I have red and green dwarf Wendti). 

Anyone any tricks to get the flowering going ?


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## plantbrain (Jan 23, 2004)

Peat and PO4 and patience.
The 3 P's.

They will flower if you use a general liquid house plant fert and mist once a week or so.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## Jim Lockhart (Jan 27, 2004)

The three P's. That's good Tom, I mean Plantbrain  . I use the Gen. Hydroponics nutrients, and they do recommend a specific mix of their products that favors P (the one in NPK) for blooming.

I'm sure there are some other tricks, photo period etc, wow that would be 5-p's !

Any other tips ?


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## MiamiAG (Jan 13, 2004)

I've used various techniques to induce flowering in Crypts.

You must first be sure the plant is mature enough and healthy. With just that you can get flowers out of the easier crypts.

For the harder ones, I've used gradual changes in the photoperiod in combination with increased ratio of P to N:K. Follow the hydroponic nutrient instructions at half dose or less. Also, spraying a good B12 supplement gave me good results.

The Aquatic Gardener Vol. 8 No. 5 has an article on the use of gibberellic acid to induce flowering. Dr. Kane at UF studied this some time ago I believe. I had some success with this on tissue cultured crypts, but the flowering could have been the result of my other techniques. Need to experiment on this some time.


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## Steve Pituch (Jan 25, 2004)

*Where did you get the equipment?*

Hey Carlos and Jim,

I am very interested in starting a few trays. It will be my excuse to get some Crypts. But I have not seen anything on the Internet like the trays, dome, and pot pack you show in the pictures. It looks like such an ideal setup. Where can I get some of these?

The two hydrophonics stores listed in the Yellow pages here in Corpus Christi seemed to have gone out of business.

Regards,
Steve Pituch


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## tsunami (Jan 24, 2004)

Steve,

I ordered my dome, tray, and pots from:

www.charleysgreenhouse.com

On the left hand column, click on "Pots, Trays, and Flats."

Then, "Flats and Domes."

Carlos


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## Jim Lockhart (Jan 27, 2004)

Steve,

Carlos suggestion of Charleys is a good way to go. The tray's are standard 10"x20" propagation trays, and you can usually find those at places like Home Depot or garden centres, however they usually only have 2" high domes to go with them, and the cuttings hit the top pretty quickly. So the high domes are worth gettting, and I've only saw those at hydroponcs stores or online. The little 9-packs that you can get for them will let you do 72 cuttings per tray.

Jim.


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## Raul-7 (Feb 4, 2004)

How about using it to grow stem-plants...I want to setup one to grow the rare plants I get, but can't keep in my aquarium; would this be the ideal method?


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## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

I think I would like to try to grow some of the local aquatic plants we have down here. Do you think that would be possible using the supplies listed in the original post?


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## Gomer (Feb 2, 2004)

looks like I need to try something like this for my petite nana farm


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## Jim Lockhart (Jan 27, 2004)

Raul,

the setup works just as well for stem cuttings. Some can be a little difficult to transition from submersed growth, but once you get them started additional cuttings from the emersed growth usually go pretty easily. I have most of my stem plants growing emersed (but not all).

What stems do you have in mind ?


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## Phil Edwards (Jan 22, 2004)

Carlos,

Is that Charley aka Lowcoaster that sells that stuff?


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## Gomer (Feb 2, 2004)

I just realized...there is a "dog run" on the side of my parents house that never gets used...dog is an indoor dog 

..I think I'll claim that and do a little greenhousing! I don't think they will mind too much since it is not used and is hidden from view!


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## tsunami (Jan 24, 2004)

Nope. I don't know if the owner is named Charley but that's the company name.... Charley's Greenhouse. Jim knows a little bit more about the company than me, though. He referred me to it.

Carlos


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## Steve Pituch (Jan 25, 2004)

*Aquatic stem plants*

The local Ammannia latifolia, once it acclimates to submerged life, does not like to be put back in dry soil and grown emersed. Without the protective cuticle layer it shrivels up. What I do if I don't have any emersed cuttings popping out of the tank is to put the submerged cuttings in a little jar with their tips at the water surface. They will start pushing emersed growth up out of the water pretty quickly. This emersed growth can then be cut off and planted in dry soil. The stuff in the water will then produce more emersed growth. Don't forget to fertilize the water. I just refill the jar with water from my aquariums right after dosing the big tanks.

Steve P.


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## Jim Lockhart (Jan 27, 2004)

Steve's suggestion is a good one, especially with some of the tougher ones to get started. I suggest you start with any of the Hygro's, Alternanthera, and the Ludwigias, they are pretty easy to grow, and you will get the hang of it.

Another benefit is you will get to see many of these flower, and again some are more challenging than others. strangely enough some of the ones that are hard to get going flower pretty easily. I'd put the ammannia's and rotala macrandra in that category.

Sorry I dont know Charley of Charley's greenhouse fame, or Lowcoaster. Charley's have a pretty neat gardening catalog that I'm sure you will get if you order from them.


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## Steve Pituch (Jan 25, 2004)

*7 Inch Clear Domes*

I was all set to order from Charley's Greenhouse the 7 inch high domes that yu'all are using on the forum. I had tried to find two Hydroponic places here in Corpus Christi without success. I finally located a place in C.C. who had moved to the corner of Weber and Staples St. To my surprise he had the 7 inch domes for $4 each, $3 cheaper than Charley's!  I picked up 4 of them and 4 standard propagation trays ($2 each). So it came out to about $25 total for 4 setups.

He tried to sell me some fertilizer (for about $50.) but reading the labels they didn't seem too different from what I've used for the tanks (including an imitation Flourish type micro product). I was reading the label on my Miraclegrow, and dispite the bad things I've heard about it, it seems like pretty good stuff as far the macros and micros go. So I mixed up a gallon of it and put it in one of the trays.

Earlier in the week I picked up 96 2.5 inch square deep pots from the nursery for 7 cents each. 32 fit in a tray.

Regards,
Steve Pituch

It went down to about 40degF last nite, but should go up to about 64degF today.


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## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

Whats the name of this place Steve? I was thinking of getting a tray or two and starting something up.

Thanks


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## Steve Pituch (Jan 25, 2004)

*Corpus Christi Hydroponics Place*

South Texas Hydroponics at 3812 South Staples.

They have a web site at:

http://www.southtexashydro.com/

I also think they do mail order.

Steve P.


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## Steve Pituch (Jan 25, 2004)

*Emersed Lobelia cardinalis*

OK,

Petsmart had two mesh pots of Lobelia cardinalis hidden under a bunch of other rotting plants. They actually look to be in pretty good shape. It looks like they have their traditional submerged foliage, but not sure: a main stem with lots of roots and some side shoots, and all the leaves are rounded.








My question is that I want to propagate a bunch of this stuff as quickly as possible for a foregrund in my biotope. I was thinking of putting it in pots in a propagation tray with the humidity dome and putting a lot of water in the tray. This would resemble a humid bog effect. I am wondering if the submerged rounded leaves would multiply or would I begin to get the jagged terrestrial leaves. I don't want the terrestrial leaves because they will probably be shed when the plants go back in the aquarium submerged. Any suggestions? The other option is to put them straight into the tank.

I was thinking that the side shoots (without roots) could be cut off and put in a separate pot to become a separate plant.

Thanks,
Steve Pituch


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## Jim Lockhart (Jan 27, 2004)

Steve,

I believe you will see the emersed growth form in your dome. It is not that much different in size, but will take on a red color, and a bit more serration around the leaf edges. 

Cutting and replanting the side shoots from dwarf Lobelia is probably the best way to expand it quickly, sub. or em.

BTW good deal on the domes !


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