# Crypt ID? (C walkeri / C. lutea)



## dirtmonkey (Mar 12, 2007)

Hi All;

I recently got a couple Cryptocoryne that came unlabelled, and would like some help with ID... I've grown a few kinds over the years and done well, but never got into trying to find out exactly what they were. This time around I'm more interested in the crypts than in "stem plants", and already have planned an emerse setup for after an upcoming move. I'm re-starting the crypt. collection with the more common, easily available types. Blooming them is a priority goal, not just for pride value, but because it would be easier to narrow down their taxonomy I think. Maybe. Looking at "The Crypt Pages" I'll have a steep learning curve ahread, if even the experts have so many question points after their IDs, and admit openly to so much guesswork.

I got two in this shipment: "CRYPT PETCHII L042", and "CRYPT LUTEA L051"; source: aquadisestore. Neither one looks anything like the sales pictures, but I know how variable the forms can be over time & in different conditions.

Ordered 3 of each kind and got 9 crypts, so can't complain on that count. It looks like I got 6 of one kind, which is fully melted down to stubs and little sprouts, so no pictures. That one had soft, longer, submerse type leaves, with a little red/brown coloration, but was hard to tell since they were pretty much melted on arrival. I tend to think it's the one that was sold as C. petchii (C. beckettii). Hard to say, when there were no labels on the plants. I'm not even trying to label all the Anubias varieties that came without names yet. (I'm not saying it was a bad ordering experience, the plants are all alive and it didn't take forever to get them, but I do consider labeling plants one of the most important points in distributing them! I'll forgive some inaccuracy, but no labels at all???)

I got 3 of the other, which were stiff and hard-leaved, felt more like a terrestrial plant. They're short, the water column in the jar here is only about 5". Do they look like maybe emerse C. lutea (C. walkeri)? I see in the descriptions that it's supposed to be more rigid, but still haven't seen pictures that show leaves being this wide, or such light green without any red underside or veining (you can barely see that there is a tiny bit of red specking at the bases, but none at all anywhere on the blades). The new leaves are coming out the same, but maybe with a slight reddish cast at the tip of the newest one you can see here. There was no meltdown, just some yellowing here and there.



















Larger pics:

First Picture, 800x600

Second Picture, 800x600

And my only other Crypt. right now, probably brown form of C. wendtii ('Tropica'?). I had this one before and liked it, probably the same clone as this was found growing in a corner of an LFS fish tank. This one I had years ago was also a random plant in a local store, not one of the potted or mass ordered ones- looking more like a trade-in. It didn't melt despite a few good temp. & pH/hardness shocks in the ~2 weeks between getting uprooted and being potted. (left in bag in car 2 days, then floated in a high pH hard water tank for a while) Just older leaves fading and new growth coming in strong. It's now in softer neutral water buffered a little by the shell in the gravel. It's potted over coconut & peat moss based soil with a gravel topping (same with the ones above in jars). Tough plant.










Larger pic, but it really only details the cloudy water and dusty glass.

Third Picture, 800x600

Thanks for any help, and I look forward to talking crypt talk more later, when I've got more than 3-4 kinds in temporary jars and tanks!

Vincent


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## rs79 (Dec 7, 2004)

The top one looks like pontiderifolia to me. Or maybe even ciliata.

Did those leaves grow in there or were they that way from the store?

I have the same experence with WEN. It's not as happy with me as other Crypts are!


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## dirtmonkey (Mar 12, 2007)

Tanks, I'll look those two species up to compare to.

On both kinds in the pictures, there are a few new leaves grown where they are now, all looking pretty much the same as the old ones. The Wendtii new leaves are more solid and better colored though, it has better light here than at the fish store.

Actually both are doing pretty well.


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## philoserenus (Feb 12, 2007)

hey dirtmonkey!! that jar of crypts is sooo cool, haha!! how do u tend to it? just leave it at room temp under a light and then let it grow? i can see it has a soil base for sure. anything else?


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## dirtmonkey (Mar 12, 2007)

Hey philoserenus, I thought they were pretty hokey, but I guess they are cool in a way, kind of like an apothecary jar terrarium, but made of cheap plastic lol.

It's a half-gallon (2l.) plastic rubbermaid brand jar, I got several of those and one gal. size for temporary storage, grow out, and isolation of the new plants. It's just a little of the Black Gold "coco blend" brand potting soil in this one, other potting soils some others. The gravel in that jar is leftover from an old aquarium, the lighter stuff in the jar to the left (containing what was sold as "Isoetes vetata varsicula" which I assume meant _Isoetes velata var. sicula_, but I'm fairly sure it's not really that plant) is crushed granite. The potted crypt has a topping of local ocean beach coarse sand/fine gravel.

I had some things in glass bowls and jars, but after a couple messy accidents decided to go with the plastic... Especially with a move coming up. I think only some little pieces of a thin Riccia with a very small bunch of Lysimachia are in glass any more, in a 6" florist bubble bowl. That also has soil mix under gravel for a little nutriment. The Lysimachia will be grouwing over the top in days. Oh, and the Bolbitis is growing emerse in another glass florist vase type thing.

I already knew that the brown wendtii looking one enjoys a little buffering in our very soft water, so it got the gravel with the shell mixed in. The others will get a few pieces of shell pebble (basically same stuff as crushed coral, only rounded off by waves), if I find out they are not "blackwater" species. I expect that since they came from Texas, they probably all will do OK in harder water, but then some parts of Texas are granitic or sandstone with soft water too, so not sure. I just now thought of looking up the area they were grown out and checking on what the local water is like.

I leave the lids a little loose on the jars for some fresh air exchange and to avoid pressure or vacuum buildup in there. They're only tightened down when being moved around.

They're mostly on a bookshelf under a few spiral compacts right now, temporarily. A couple are near windows (Echinodorus, Gymnocoronis, and a couple others).

Vincent


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## dirtmonkey (Mar 12, 2007)

Sorry, I got carried away and missed your question... You got it how I tend to them, basically I don't. I'm even leaving the last dissolving leaves of the one not pictured in those jars. If I get algae in these things a few drops of peroxide and some water change after it's bleached off fixes it. I haven't even had to do that on these. That's all.

BTW some will probably stay in the jars later for growing emerse, making them into terrariums just by lowering the water.

Oh yeah, I guess I do a little more than that. Once in a while I'll add a few drops of Fluorish, or spritz in some fertilizer water for the bromeliads & orchids. I shouldn't need to for a while because this soil is fresh. I only do that (or a rabbit pellet or two in the past) if the plants are looking like they really need the boost. But mostly these are temporary so won't get anything.


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## philoserenus (Feb 12, 2007)

that is some really good info!! seems like i could be in for some summer plant experiments =) thanks


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## dirtmonkey (Mar 12, 2007)

There's something I forgot to mention about the plastic. These jars are food grade Polyethylene Terephthalate (PETE), which aren't supposed to leach out toxic chemicals into the water... but that only means that the US FDA set an allowable limit for people, not plant growing. I didn't intend for these to be permanent homes, and if I see signs of suffering, that plant will get put back in glass.

I haven't noticed any problems with them yet.

Vincent


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## philoserenus (Feb 12, 2007)

ya i've read a lot about the plastic leeching out toxins that could affect the growth of the plant so even when i get around to do it, i'm going to go glass anywayz, good ol'silicon dioxide. ok maybe the word 'experiment' wasnt the best word to use, more like 'project'. i'm gonna treat my plants well, they are living and breathing afterall too


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## dirtmonkey (Mar 12, 2007)

After looking around more I've seen that some people are doing OK growing in soda bottles, which are the same plastic, so I figure they'll be OK at least long enough to get through the move and all. I don't think any of my crypts are anything rare or unusual here in the US, they were not expensive anyway. But, I still wouldn't kill them intentionally.

Back to ID, I've now seen pictures of several plants sold or in collections as C. ciliata and also some pontederiifolia that look very similar to the first one up there- but then, I've also seen lots of completely different plants labeled that way too. So maybe I will have to wait for blooms after all.

Either way it doesn't look much like 'lutea' (walkeri) or 'petchii' (beckettii).

V


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## rs79 (Dec 7, 2004)

If it puts out 1 or maybe 2 leaves a year - it's ciliata. But the formation of the new leaf tells me it's pontiderifolia - they get pinky brown at the tips, ciliata doesn't. And the leaves look more PON shaped than CIL shaped.

http://images.aquaria.net/plants/Cryptocoryne/p/PON/


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## dirtmonkey (Mar 12, 2007)

You know, I saw that page before but didn't scroll down far enough- Now I bet you're tight, some of the pics on the lower half of the page look exactly like this. Thanks for that link. Now I wonder if I'll eventually get red veined undersides and those somewhat bullate leaves. There's no texture like that on these right now. Maybe it's an emerse/submerse difference if these are pontederiifolia.

Well, even if what I got wasn't what I ordered, I still got things I didn't have, so I'm not personally aggravated. I should be able to pick up walkeri in a LFS if I watch for it anyway.

V


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