# Growing Crypts Emergent: How I Do It



## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

A lot of folks ask how I keep all of my Crypts emergent and the answer is pretty simple. Here's a very old picture of my setup at my old house. The new setup is the same, only with stronger lighting.










I basically have two types of setups, blackwater and tap water. In both setups I use 3" net pots with cocotek liners. I find plants grow much nicer in these types of pots because they do not get root bound. I've grown the same exact species in the same tray with regular plastic pots and net pots and the net pots do better. It also makes plucking runners easy because they grow out the side of the pot such as the noritoi seen here.









I'm using basic 10x20 trays with 7" lexan humidity domes. Get double or quad thick trays. The ones at the local nursery are too flimsy and are asking for trouble. Get humidity domes with adjustable vents too.

Lighting is 2 x 39 watt T5HO with parabolic reflectors over 4 trays side by side. I used to have a 2 x 32 watt shoplight and it wasn't enough light. IMO this is the number one place folks go wrong when growing Cryps emergent. Give those babies some PAR and watch 'em grow. 

In the pots I put a little leaf compost from my folks woods, a little peat, and some fresh Aquasoil to top is all off. I use this medium for both setups. The only difference is that the blackwater is filled with RO and topped with RO and the tap water setups use tap water. I fertilize each tray with 1/8 tsp or so of Miracle Grow plant food every 2-3 weeks.

That's it. It's that simple to get started. Of course, there are some nuances to learn, but those all come with experience and patience.


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## saddletramp (Sep 16, 2012)

Very nice post!
Will try to get some shots out of this set up soon. However, the French Quarter Fest is next weekend and I hear it calling me.
Bill


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

Thanks Bill. It's a pretty humble setup, but it gets the job done for now.


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## denske (Jul 28, 2013)

The plants just grow through the cocotek liners? Cool setup Aaron.


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

denske said:


> The plants just grow through the cocotek liners? Cool setup Aaron.


Yup, they just grow right through them.


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## denske (Jul 28, 2013)

How tall is the bottom tray on these Aaron? Seems like water would only be up to the middle of the pot or so, correct?


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

denske said:


> How tall is the bottom tray on these Aaron? Seems like water would only be up to the middle of the pot or so, correct?


It comes up about 2/3 of the way. I do wish they were a tad taller for that reason. Crypts really like their feet wet.


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## h4n (Dec 23, 2005)

Very nice!

Thanks for the info/post Aaron


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## ts168 (Apr 13, 2004)

Hello AaronT, I must said it a neat and super setup. Thanks for sharing.

Q1. Do you have any water moment in the setup? such as airpump/filter? 
Q2. What is tank temperature?
Q3.Any holes ontop of the cover for air circulation?

Thanks Thanks Thanks


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

ts168 said:


> Hello AaronT, I must said it a neat and super setup. Thanks for sharing.
> 
> Q1. Do you have any water moment in the setup? such as airpump/filter?
> Q2. What is tank temperature?
> ...


- no water movement
- I have no idea what the temperature is. It's warm though. It's in my laundry room and stays warm all year round
- Yes, I do have adjustable vents. I keep them about 1/2 way open. I find this is a good balance between enough humidity and keeping away mold.

One day when I have the room i would like to build a custom enclosure just for keeping emergent plants. I would include water movement then and perhaps even inject CO2.


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## TorontoPlantMan (May 11, 2014)

Hey Aaron, A month or so back I saw this post and realized these domes were much more convenient than buying aquariums for the same purposes. Anyway, I've been having a lot of difficulty with these domes ever since I transported some of my plants there, things like H.C Cuba, Alternanthera R 'Mini, & S. Repens are growing great, as is my C. ponterdifolia and a few other crypts in there but my C. Affinis and Downoi are just "melting" like crazy. I'm more so worried about my c.affinis since it's melting at a much faster rate but at the same time it is still sending up new leafs & runners

I'll try to get some pictures so I can show you what I'm talking about in terms of the "melting". 

Do you mist your plants at all? & if so how often?

Thanks


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

No, I don't mist my plants. If anything, I find the domes can get a little too humid, which might explain your melting issues. Did you get the ones with vents on top? If so, try opening them more or all the way.


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## TorontoPlantMan (May 11, 2014)

AaronT said:


> No, I don't mist my plants. If anything, I find the domes can get a little too humid, which might explain your melting issues. Did you get the ones with vents on top? If so, try opening them more or all the way.


I purchased the exact same ones you have (tray+dome). I can see that it is indeed humid inside based on the water droplets on the sides of the domes but I also have the vents open all the way for both vents on both of the tray/domes I have. Would pictures help?


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

TorontoPlantMan said:


> I purchased the exact same ones you have (tray+dome). I can see that it is indeed humid inside based on the water droplets on the sides of the domes but I also have the vents open all the way for both vents on both of the tray/domes I have. Would pictures help?


Pics never hurt. 

Anytime you change the environment Crypts can melt on you. The important thing is not to move the rhizome even if all of the leaves do end up melting. New ones will grow back in time. I thought I had lost a few different ones from time to time only to look back weeks later and see they had grown back.


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## TorontoPlantMan (May 11, 2014)

AaronT said:


> Pics never hurt.
> 
> Anytime you change the environment Crypts can melt on you. The important thing is not to move the rhizome even if all of the leaves do end up melting. New ones will grow back in time. I thought I had lost a few different ones from time to time only to look back weeks later and see they had grown back.


Here are a few pictures so hopefully you could shed some light, I wanna nip this problem in the butt now before I bring in some much much much rarer crypt's.

Is it possible that my AC being on has something to do with it? Temp in the room is 72, inside the domes I'm not sure but it's always humid/warm anytime I take the covers off.


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

That looks like a reaction to higher humidity to me. The domes are definitely very high in humidity. It looks like the newer leaves are not effected. Give it a few weeks and see if the newer leaves still do that. I would bet they don't and the plant looks a little different in the new environment. Warmer temps might help. Mine are sequestered in my laundry room so they stay fairly warm.


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## looking4roselines (May 10, 2008)

TorontoPlantMan said:


> Here are a few pictures so hopefully you could shed some light, I wanna nip this problem in the butt now before I bring in some much much much rarer crypt's.
> 
> Is it possible that my AC being on has something to do with it? Temp in the room is 72, inside the domes I'm not sure but it's always humid/warm anytime I take the covers off.


Your AC is not causing any problem as long as your dome is humid. Your plant looks very nice and healthy to me. It's free of fungus and pests - or at least not any that I can detect. As what Aaron had already mentioned, even the slightest environmental change can make them fuss. I got a batch of emersed grown crypts that are now fully submerged and they all melted to the stump within a week. They're all growing back nicely now.


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