# My emersed fun.



## cableguy69846

So. Thanks to Zapins and this thread that he did, http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...inners-guide-starting-your-first-emersed.html, I am starting one. So far I have all the supplies minus plants, and I even have a couple of those. Here is what I have so far.

110 qt. Clear container with clear top.
4x 6 qt. Clear containers.
36" dual lamp T5HOfixture with 10,000K bulb and 5,000K bulb. The 10,000K will change to a 6,500/6,700K bulb when I can get it.
Cheap humidity and temp guages.
2x 8 qt. bags of Potting Soil.



















I also picked up 2 plants from petco, one is a 4" peacock fern that I know is not aquatic, so I am going to try it in a terrarium at a later date, and one is a 4" Argentine Sword. I am going to try both of these in this setup.

I am also going to get some Java Fern, as many mosses as I can find, some crypts, HC, UG, and some terrarium plants as well. I may also try some stem plants too. And now, off to the drilling and setting up.


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## cableguy69846

Drilled all the boxes and put the dirt in them. It is really easy to drill them if you nest them and do them all at once.









Holey box, Batman! (Sorry, couldn't resist.)









I didn't sift the dirt or anything. I wanted to leave it all in there.









Dirt and bins in the big box.









Almost done.









The top is Peacock Fern and the bottom is Argentine Sword. Not sure how they will do, but am going to try.









Houston, we have light!









This is the temp and humidity right after I closed up the box. Now, it is at 79* and 83% humidity.


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## cableguy69846

Update, after almost 24 hours later. The water temp is about 74*F, air temp is about 76*F, and the humidity is about 82%. I am pretty happy with it so far, but am still planning on adding some stuff.


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## cableguy69846

I added 3 new types of plants today that I found at petco. 2 types of java fern and some Hygor compacta. Lets see how they do.


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## cableguy69846

An update. My humidity is at 74%. We turned the air off and are going to have the windows open and all that, so I will see what that does to the temps and humidity later tonight.


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## Aquaticz

subbed


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## Cavan Allen

What are your goals for your setup? Storage? Flowering?


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## cableguy69846

Aquaticz said:


> subbed


Thanks man.


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## cableguy69846

Cavan Allen said:


> What are your goals for your setup? Storage? Flowering?


Pretty much just growing some plants to use in my tanks and maybe trade. I also want to see if I can do it and try some different things with it. I would love to see if I can set something up to convert them back to submerged when I am ready to trade them.


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## asukawashere

Be prepared to transplant those swords. Swordplants get _huge_ and their root systems will spread out to take over the footprint of your tub. I've never grown Argentine sword (I'm assuming Echinodorus argentinensis) myself, but with the exception of a handful of manmade hybrids, swordplants all generally exceed 18" tall and many can grow to twice that  I give my young sword plantlets 4" square pots to grow in and then transfer them to larger pots once the roots start coming out of the holes in the bottom. With the exception of a few mother plants, I then swap/sell them to get new plant specimens because I don't have enough room for more than a handful of full-size plants. XD

If you get to that point, though, you can definitely write the swordplants off as a success


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## cableguy69846

asukawashere said:


> Be prepared to transplant those swords. Swordplants get _huge_ and their root systems will spread out to take over the footprint of your tub. I've never grown Argentine sword (I'm assuming Echinodorus argentinensis) myself, but with the exception of a handful of manmade hybrids, swordplants all generally exceed 18" tall and many can grow to twice that  I give my young sword plantlets 4" square pots to grow in and then transfer them to larger pots once the roots start coming out of the holes in the bottom. With the exception of a few mother plants, I then swap/sell them to get new plant specimens because I don't have enough room for more than a handful of full-size plants. XD
> 
> If you get to that point, though, you can definitely write the swordplants off as a success


I am not gonna keep the swords. And you are right on the scientific name. I am Just gonna grow them and trade them for some different plants. They were just really cheap at petco and I figured they would do will in this setup.


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## cableguy69846

Already seeing some new growth from the Hygro. Pics tomorrow.


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## cableguy69846

Ok. So, a bit of an update and a question. The update first. Misting once a day keeps the humidity at about 80%, still going to get a fogger though as I want the humidity higher and more steady. Now on to the pics.









You can see plenty of new growth on the swords, and some of the older leaves are yellowing and dying. I am thinking it is changing over to emersed growth, but not sure.









Here is the Java Fern. I am not liking how much the leaves are drying out between misting. I think I am going to get another container of just water and let them grow in that.

















Here is the hygro. It is showing new growth at the top and not many leaves are yellowing on it. I think this would also benefit from a fogger. And also the question. I got this plant labeled as Hygrophila coryambrosia stricta. The common name was Compact. Can anyone help me out with this? I think it was mislabeled and misspelled. Thanks all.


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## cableguy69846

Ok, first I want to say, thanks to Bahugo for hookin me up the other day. He gave me tons of plants for a good deal. That being said, here is what I got yesterday.









$25 worth of plants from Golden Aquarium.









$40 worth of plants from Bahugo.

Does anyone see the problem here, lol.

I got some HC, moneywort, 2 types of crypts, and some red stem plant I already forgot the name of. That was all from Golden Aquarium.

I got Java Moss, Flame Moss, Guppy Grass, Glosso, and a bunch of stem plants from Bahugo.

Now that my goodie list is up. On to the good stuff.


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## Cavan Allen

The 'guppy grass' is a _Najas_ species, which means it's an obligate aquatic and won't grow in your emersed setup.


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## cableguy69846

Cavan Allen said:


> The 'guppy grass' is a _Najas_ species, which means it's an obligate aquatic and won't grow in your emersed setup.


I know. Thanks for the info though. I just showed all the plants I got. I have the guppy grass in the palu at the moment. It is floating for the time being till I figure out what I want to do with it.


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## cableguy69846

Ok. Added a bunch of stuff to this yesterday. Added the glosso, some stem plant that I think is needle leaf anacharis, and a pot of HC. I still need to break apart the HC and plant it right, but I think I am going to do that today. I am also going to tie all the Java Fern to a piece of wood and stick it in another container of just water so the roots will be submerged.

Here is what I am lookin at now.









Glosso.









The stem plant. ID would help here.









This is the tub the HC will go in when the java fern is moved out later today.

I think I am going to cut the Glosso chain apart and plant each bit individually. What do you guys think?


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## WeedCali

Anacharis won't grow emersed either.

Lookin good though!


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## cableguy69846

WeedCali said:


> Anacharis won't grow emersed either.
> 
> Lookin good though!


It is actually Rotala rotundifolia. I didn't realize it when I put it together yesterday. I am most likely gonna pull it out and put it in my 2 gallon tomorrow. And thanks for the kind words man.


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## WeedCali

I have R. Rotundifolia emersed but its really small. 

Watch out, This hobby is addicting (as I'm sure you are already finding out  )


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## cableguy69846

WeedCali said:


> Watch out, This hobby is addicting (as I'm sure you are already finding out  )


Lol, you can say that again. I think I am on my second bout of MTS. I am already thinking of 2 more. Now I just need to find room.


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## cableguy69846

Ok. So, I did a bunch of work with my plants today. I got another clear tub and am using that for my Java Fern. It was a pain to tie it all down. I have some on a piece of wood, some on some lava rock and some on a sponge. I want to see what it will do on the 3 different things. Here is what I have so far.









The whole setup. The tub in front up high is all the Java Fern and some moss that I had leftover from my 2 hour tying adventure. There is Java Moss and Flame Moss. I will work on getting that tied down at some point.









Flame Moss on a sponge. I am hoping at some point it will sink a little bit more. Right now it is being held down with a section cup on the wall of the tub.









The Java Moss setup.









I also separated the glosso strands and planted individual nodes in the dirt. I have one more strand to do.

I still have to plant all the HC, and I pulled the stem plant out to use in my 2 gallon. I also dosed the Java Fern tub with some API Leaf Zone. We will see what that does. I plan on doing water changes on the Java tub at least once a week and will continue to dose the Leaf Zone.


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## cableguy69846

Finally got everything planted. Did the HC and the rest of the Glosso today and did a water change on the whole bin and the Java Moss tub. Here it is.









The HC. I may end up having more from my 2.5 gal. Need to figure how I want to scape that one first.









The Glosso. Had 5 or 6 3" to 5" pieces that I cut up and planted each node individually. Can't wait to see what it does.









The whole thing. Took the stands off the light to see if it would be better. Still need to replace the 10,000K bulb with a 6500K bulb, but it is doing well at the moment. And you can't even tell I changed water. Lol. Still dirty as all get out.


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## WeedCali

Very nice! Good luck with the HC. If it does well for you, It should fill up that container in a matter of months. I have yet to try it.


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## cableguy69846

WeedCali said:


> Very nice! Good luck with the HC. If it does well for you, It should fill up that container in a matter of months. I have yet to try it.


Thanks man. I hope it will too. If it dies, I have some in another tank I can try. I really hope it takes off though. I would love to use some in my Palu down the road sometime.


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## cableguy69846

Put the legs back on the light due to what I thought was some leaves burning. Could be from not misting enough the last couple of days. We will see how it plays out. Also added a 10 watt mini CFL right above the Java Fern bucket. I want to know what the extra light will do. I may have to hook something up to move the water around in that tub. I will watch it over the next couple of days though.


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## cableguy69846

Added a plant today. It is an Alternanthera ficoidea. I bought it thinking it was an aquarium plant from a small shop near me. Now I need to go back and tell them what it actually was. Any way, I am hoping it will do ok in here. Also trimmed some leaves off the sword plants. They are growing really well in here. Maybe one day I will have a tank big enough for them.









The whole thing. It is getting kind of full. I think I need another one. (Hint, hint)









I put the new plant in here with the peacock fern. Fern is getting kind of yellow. I may take it out of here and put it in a window. And the swords are growing like crazy.









HC. Whole lotta nothin.









Lots of growth on the hygros.









Lots of growth on the glosso as well.









May need water movement in this tub.









Not sure the extra light on the Java Fern tub is necessary. May take it off.

That is all for now. Look for some new stuff next week for sure.


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## cableguy69846

Well. I was relatively hard at work today. First I will put up some growth shots.









The Glosso. It is going nuts.









The Hygro coryambrosia stricta. Tons of little leaflets. Oh, and what's this in the bottom of that tub? Could it be? It is Hygro difformes that I picked up today.









The HC. There is some new green there for sure.









My sword plants on the bottom. And there is only the Alternanthera on the top. Where did the peacock fern go?









There it is. Wait, why is it in a pot? More on that in a min.

So I got bored and wanted another project and some more space for my collectoritis. So, I got this....









And moved this.....









So now, I have this....









My real reason for this was that the lighting on the original setup was burning the leaves on the javas and the peacock fern. So I needed to move them.

But I also got some plants from PetsMart. Java Fern "Tropica" and "Narrow Leaf" and some Hygro difformes, or Water Wisteria.









Here is how I set it up. Miracle Gro Organic Potting Soil in the tubs after putting a bunch of holes in the bottoms. Then I moved all the Java Fern from my other setup to this one. In the water, there are regular and Windelov. In the left bin is the Tropica and Narrow Leaf, and in the right, is the rest of my regular and Windelov. I also put the pot of Peacock Fern in this setup as well. For now the lighting is a 10 watt mini CFL from Wal-Mart. But I will probably go with two dome lamps with 10 or 15 watt 6500K CFL lamps.

I am hoping I will still have room for a couple pots of crypts if I can get them. But that will be in the water to the left of the tubs.

That is all for now. I am going to an auction this weekend, so if I find what I want, you will know by Monday.


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## cableguy69846

Fish auction. More stuff. Here ya go.









Crypt wendetti "Red". Got a bunch, so some went in here.









More HC and one crypt parva from the 2.5 gal rescape today. I had two Parva plants, but I think the cat ate one of them.









The apontaogen from the 10 gal.

That is all.


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## WeedCali

Very nice! You'll know when the Hygrophila Difformis is growing in its emersed state because the leaf shape will change drastically.

also, Aponogetons arent capable of being grown emersed... or so I thought?


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## cableguy69846

WeedCali said:


> Very nice! You'll know when the Hygrophila Difformis is growing in its emersed state because the leaf shape will change drastically.
> 
> also, Aponogetons arent capable of being grown emersed... or so I thought?


Thank you. Sadly, I took the Hygro difformis out of this setup and put it in the 2 gallon. I didn't like how wilted and dry it looked. As far as the apontogen, I am not sure if it can or not. I am not even sure that is what it is. But we will see shortly. If I see signs of it dying I will toss it back in the 10 gallon.


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## asukawashere

Might as well put the aponogeton back in the tank; they don't grow emersed.

Fish auctions are wonderful things for buying new specimens  I still haven't figured out what I'm doing with all the stuff I bought at the one I went to last weekend (but hey, $1 plants? Who could pass that up?).


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## cableguy69846

asukawashere said:


> Might as well put the aponogeton back in the tank; they don't grow emersed.
> 
> Fish auctions are wonderful things for buying new specimens  I still haven't figured out what I'm doing with all the stuff I bought at the one I went to last weekend (but hey, $1 plants? Who could pass that up?).


I am planning on it. I just need to get the rescape done first. It is going to happen next weekend, I hope.

And I know what you mean on the plants. I love the cheap ones, but I look for them at any pet store with an aquatic dept. Lol.


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## cableguy69846

A lot has happened. What I thought was apontogen was actually crypt lutea. That makes me happy. And I found the other Crypt Parva that I thought the cat ate. Here are some pics.











































































































































































































































Since these were taken a few days ago, I have trimmed some of the plants. Most of the dead or dying leaves, I got rid of. Enjoy.


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## cableguy69846

Got some pics to post.
































































New plant.


















That's all.


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## cableguy69846

Trimmed some dead leaves, and changed out the water. Also split some stems off the Hygrophila corymbrosa 'stricta' and planted them. Let's hope they take off like the original plants.

Pics










































































Does anyone know what this is? It is growing in the same tub as the HC.

















Some white bugs.


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## Slappawha

Any updates? Looking great by the way!


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## cableguy69846

Slappawha said:


> Any updates? Looking great by the way!


I should have some updates today at some point. I may also have some pictures from a few days ago. I have to check. And thank you.


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## totziens

The plants looks really good. Can't wait to see the latest update


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## cableguy69846

totziens said:


> The plants looks really good. Can't wait to see the latest update


Thanks. I am going to get some pics in a little bit. I didn't have any time yesterday, but have nothing but time today.


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## cableguy69846

Update time.





































Rich's glosso is in a roid rage right now. Lol.


















Random moss.


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## cableguy69846

Got some A. reineckii 'Cardinalis' and DHG the other day. After splitting it up in different tank, I also added some to this. Need to organize this a bit more, but here it is for now.



















I moved all the Java Fern out and put it in the 20gallon, and moved the crypt parva, crypt lutea, and hygro polysperma 'sunset' to the smaller container and added a 15 watt 6500K spiral CFL in a desk lamp to the smaller box. Still planning on better lighting, just not sure when.


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## cableguy69846

Pictures, finally.

Alternanthera ficoidea, and Argentine Sword. I trimmed a bunch of the A. ficoidea and replanted it, and took a few dead leaves off the sword. Also moved the C. lutea to the other container.



























HC. I took out all the C. parve, and H. polysperma and put it in the other container.









Hygrophyla corymbrosa 'stricta' and Cryptocoryne wendtii 'red'. Trimmed some dead leaves off the H. corymbrosa.


















Glosso. Need I say more? Lol.









Alternanthera reineckii 'Cardinalis', Linderna rotundifolia 'varigated', Cryptocoryne parva, and Hygrophyla polyspaerma 'sunset'









New growth on the H. polysperma 'sunset'


















New growth on the L. rotundifolia 'varigated'


















C. parva not doing much.









A. reineckii 'Cardinalis' that I just put in there.









Cryptocoryne lutea, Dwarf Hair Grass, and Anubias that I need to get in a tank at some point.









I was going to separate the DHG, but I don't want to stress it too much. I am going to see if it will grow out like this.


















That is all for now. No full bin shots today. Looking forward to see how everything does in the next few weeks. Enjoy.


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## asukawashere

What are you feeding that glosso, pure crack? Essence of kudzu? I know it can grow rampantly, but that's just crazy. XD

DHG tends to be a poor candidate for emersed growout - it multiplies just as fast or faster in a well-lit tank and grows thicker submersed. The A. reineckii should do well for you, though  It grows even in low-humidity environments - I chuck mine outdoors uncovered in the summer and it does just fine  Come to think of it, even though it's indoors now, I still have it uncovered.


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## cableguy69846

asukawashere said:


> What are you feeding that glosso, pure crack? Essence of kudzu? I know it can grow rampantly, but that's just crazy. XD
> 
> DHG tends to be a poor candidate for emersed growout - it multiplies just as fast or faster in a well-lit tank and grows thicker submersed. The A. reineckii should do well for you, though  It grows even in low-humidity environments - I chuck mine outdoors uncovered in the summer and it does just fine  Come to think of it, even though it's indoors now, I still have it uncovered.


Lol. You would think I was feeding it that by the looks of it. The funny part is, I planted that at the same time as the HC, and it has passed the HC by leaps and bounds.

I have the humidity way up for the DHG. If it does not grow, I am hoping to at least keep it alive until I get my plant farm rack going in the spring. If it comes down to it though, I may throw it in a 2.5 gallon with some AS and a good light, and just let it do it's thing. The A. reineckii was an impulse buy, but from everything I am seeing, it is going to turn out well. I have it in here and 3 other tanks, it is bound to do well in something. Lol. I may try growing some outside next summer. I am thinking I am going to do one of these outdoors and a tub pond. So, I will see what happens.

Thanks for stopping by, man. Now that I see that pics attract people, I will be sure to take more of them.:roll:


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## totziens

Can anyone view those photos? I can't.... I only see "This image exceeds bandwidth with too many views. Go pro and get unlimited." Photobucket messages.


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## cableguy69846

totziens said:


> Can anyone view those photos? I can't.... I only see "This image exceeds bandwidth with too many views. Go pro and get unlimited." Photobucket messages.


Yeah. They will be back on the 15th. I got a second account though. So I can switch between the two. I will see about getting some new pictures tomorrow.


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## totziens

Thanks for the confirmation. I thought something's wrong with my laptop


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## cableguy69846

totziens said:


> Thanks for the confirmation. I thought something's wrong with my laptop


No problem man. Check back in an hour or so. I am going to go get some pictures now.


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## cableguy69846

Finally got the pics of the emersed to load. Took forever and I had to rotate half of them, But here goes.










Will start with container 1










Alternanthera ficoidea and Argentine Sword.













































HC









Hygrophyla corymbrosa 'stricta' and Cryptocoryn wendtii 'red'




































Random moss. It is actually growing.


















Glosso









Now container 2










Lindernia rotundifolia 'varigated', Alternanthera reineckii 'Cardinalis', Cryptocoryne parva, and Hygrophila polysperma 'sunset'

















































































Dwarf Hair Grass, Cryptocoryne lutea, and Anubias




































That is all.


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## carlschr

Hi Cableguy!

This is too funny. This is Ghotifish from the other forum. After receiving that beautiful package of glosso from you (which is kicking butt in it's new submerged home), I got interested in emerged plant growing. So I came over here to learn more and ta-da! Here is the illustrated life-story of my beautiful glosso! Too cool! Thanks for the inspiration. I think I'll be purchasing some plastic tubs in the near future. And probably planting some of your glosso, which seems like a good idea since you've got a super-strain! (glossostima var. Cableguy?)  Lucky for me, my hobby of a few years ago was starting flowers and veggies from seed inside during the winter, so I have grow-lights and a variety of plastic trays and such. This is going to be the marriage of old hobby with new hobby. Fun! 

Thank for the helpful thread-
Carlschr/Ghotifish/Mary


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## cableguy69846

carlschr said:


> Hi Cableguy!
> 
> This is too funny. This is Ghotifish from the other forum. After receiving that beautiful package of glosso from you (which is kicking butt in it's new submerged home), I got interested in emerged plant growing. So I came over here to learn more and ta-da! Here is the illustrated life-story of my beautiful glosso! Too cool! Thanks for the inspiration. I think I'll be purchasing some plastic tubs in the near future. And probably planting some of your glosso, which seems like a good idea since you've got a super-strain! (glossostima var. Cableguy?)  Lucky for me, my hobby of a few years ago was starting flowers and veggies from seed inside during the winter, so I have grow-lights and a variety of plastic trays and such. This is going to be the marriage of old hobby with new hobby. Fun!
> 
> Thank for the helpful thread-
> Carlschr/Ghotifish/Mary


Lol. Glad to see you over here as well. Glad I could inspire you.  when you get this up and going, make sure to show us. The glosso will be perfect for that. I started with maybe 30 nodes, and wound up with the monster I have now. It grows great emerged. Lol @ glossostima var Cableguy. That is funny. Have fun with your new hybrid of hobbies, we look forward to seeing it all set up.


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## cableguy69846

Container 1









A crypt from Chad.









Container 2









More crypts from Chad. Not sure what they are yet, but they are recovering nicely and putting out new leaves already. He had them growing emerged as well and said that one of them was a Green Gecko for sure.




































DHG is taking off. You can see all the shoots coming out of the main body of it.


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## Caton

Emersed tanks really are fun aren't they? 

I love my 75g emersed


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## Zapins

Yep, I agree, I love looking in on my emersed tubs. It is really pleasing. 

Love the plants cable they are looking great! 

You can even use the tubs to grow enough plants to make a bit of money back on the hobby. UG/HC are great for that purpose.


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## cableguy69846

Zapins said:


> Yep, I agree, I love looking in on my emersed tubs. It is really pleasing.
> 
> Love the plants cable they are looking great!
> 
> You can even use the tubs to grow enough plants to make a bit of money back on the hobby. UG/HC are great for that purpose.


I think I like watching the plants grow more than the fish. Lol.

Thanks Zapins.

I have sold a bunch of plants out of this tub. A lot of HC, Glosso, some swords, and some of the crypts. I got a ton more plants coming this week for it too though.


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## Zapins

LoL I might buy some HC from you to help fill in my new tank if I ever get around to buying a substrate  

Come to think of it, taking pictures of the emersed tubs and their flowers is another great extention of emersed tubs. I love taking photos of the flowers, if you ever get some flowers that aren't in the plant finder yet let me or cavan know and they will be added to the database. Its even possible through the trickery of various programs to focus stack several photos taken from the same position at different depths of focus into one ultra sharp all-in-focus super picture. If you want to give it a shot I can show you how to do it.


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## cableguy69846

Zapins said:


> LoL I might buy some HC from you to help fill in my new tank if I ever get around to buying a substrate
> 
> Come to think of it, taking pictures of the emersed tubs and their flowers is another great extention of emersed tubs. I love taking photos of the flowers, if you ever get some flowers that aren't in the plant finder yet let me or cavan know and they will be added to the database. Its even possible through the trickery of various programs to focus stack several photos taken from the same position at different depths of focus into one ultra sharp all-in-focus super picture. If you want to give it a shot I can show you how to do it.


Just let me know on the HC man. I may have to wait for it to fill in a bit more, but that should not be long now.

I didn't understand a word of what you said about the picture. Lol. That is wwaaaayyyyy above me.


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## cableguy69846

Container 1














































The random moss that ended up in here is still growing.









H. corymbrosa 'Angustifolia'


















C. wendtii 'Tropica'









Anyone know what this plant is? It randomly started growing in my HC.


















Container 2




























All the crypts I got from Chad a while back are growing like crazy in here. I need to get some ID's one of these days.


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## Cavan Allen

Looking good! Might be time for weeding soon.

I think that the mystery plant is _R. rotundifolia_ and that your humidity is high.


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## cableguy69846

Cavan Allen said:


> Looking good! Might be time for weeding soon.
> 
> I think that the mystery plant is _R. rotundifolia_ and that your humidity is high.


You can say that again. I think I need to get something up on the for sale area.

Thanks man. It started growing out of no where and I had no clue what it was. Is it bad that the humidity is high?


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## asukawashere

cableguy69846 said:


> It started growing out of no where and I had no clue what it was. Is it bad that the humidity is high?


Not a bad thing - just means that some plants look different. I think what Cavan was getting at is that normally R. rotundifolia has shorter, rounder leaves in emersed form, but due to the high humidity, the leaves are taking on a shape more akin to that of submersed growth. IME, Rotala specimens can convert & grow out of the tiniest segment of stem, so it's not uncommon to have them pop up seemingly out of nowhere in a tub of mixed emersed plants. I have a couple pots in my tubs where much the same thing happened.

You actually need the high humidity to grow most Crypts, so keep it as it is. 

Anyway, you've got some impressive growth going there - great job!


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## cableguy69846

asukawashere said:


> Not a bad thing - just means that some plants look different. I think what Cavan was getting at is that normally R. rotundifolia has shorter, rounder leaves in emersed form, but due to the high humidity, the leaves are taking on a shape more akin to that of submersed growth. IME, Rotala specimens can convert & grow out of the tiniest segment of stem, so it's not uncommon to have them pop up seemingly out of nowhere in a tub of mixed emersed plants. I have a couple pots in my tubs where much the same thing happened.
> 
> You actually need the high humidity to grow most Crypts, so keep it as it is.
> 
> Anyway, you've got some impressive growth going there - great job!


Cool. Thanks man. I try to keep the humidity kind of high. Thought I was failing at it, but I guess not. Do you have a thread for your setup? Would love to see it.

-----------------------------------------------------

Got some new lights for the smaller emersed container. 2 20watt 6500K CFL lamps in some dome fixtures. Should make the plants really take off now.


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## asukawashere

cableguy69846 said:


> Cool. Thanks man. I try to keep the humidity kind of high. Thought I was failing at it, but I guess not. Do you have a thread for your setup? Would love to see it.
> 
> -----------------------------------------------------
> 
> Got some new lights for the smaller emersed container. 2 20watt 6500K CFL lamps in some dome fixtures. Should make the plants really take off now.


My "setup" isn't really a singular thing, nor a well-organized set of trays like yours - it's just a bunch of bins scattered around my fishroom, so I don't have a thread for that. I do keep a photo journal of the plants that flower for me, though. There are a couple shots of various bins in there, but the focus is on documenting blooms/seeds.

I've found dome fixtures work really well for emersed plants - I use the cheap ones from home depot with 6500K CFLs and a couple of those on a bin are plenty for even the most finicky plants... though, as previously mentioned, you don't seem to be hurting in the "plants taking off" department. XD


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## cableguy69846

asukawashere said:


> My "setup" isn't really a singular thing, nor a well-organized set of trays like yours - it's just a bunch of bins scattered around my fishroom, so I don't have a thread for that. I do keep a photo journal of the plants that flower for me, though. There are a couple shots of various bins in there, but the focus is on documenting blooms/seeds.
> 
> I've found dome fixtures work really well for emersed plants - I use the cheap ones from home depot with 6500K CFLs and a couple of those on a bin are plenty for even the most finicky plants... though, as previously mentioned, you don't seem to be hurting in the "plants taking off" department. XD


Lol. Mine is not all that organized. I need to add a few bins and spread some stuff out. Gonna check out your thread.

Dome fixtures are great. Cheap and really easy to use. Not to mention it is a good way to boost a tank into medium or high light really easily. I use them on 2 of my tanks too, and you would not believe how little wattage you need for medium/high light. I love them. I am hoping to get some flowers from some of the plants under the domes now. If I do, I am going to replace the lights on the larger box with the dome lamps as well.


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## asukawashere

A lot of factors other than the light intensity influence blooming in different plants - photoperiod, light color (supposedly the redder frequencies encourage flowering), temperature, barometric pressure, time of year (even though it's indoors, the season can affect blooming - case in point: indoor Xmas cactuses still manage to bloom in the winter). Right now, Limnophila and Staurogyne specimens seem to be in blooming season for me... Persicaria and (tropical) Hydrocotyle seem to bloom year-round... but your mileage may vary


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## cableguy69846

asukawashere said:


> A lot of factors other than the light intensity influence blooming in different plants - photoperiod, light color (supposedly the redder frequencies encourage flowering), temperature, barometric pressure, time of year (even though it's indoors, the season can affect blooming - case in point: indoor Xmas cactuses still manage to bloom in the winter). Right now, Limnophila and Staurogyne specimens seem to be in blooming season for me... Persicaria and (tropical) Hydrocotyle seem to bloom year-round... but your mileage may vary


Hmmmm. This may be something to look into. Do you have any info on this? I wouldn't mind looking deeper into it.


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## asukawashere

Most of the info out there is written for orchids, garden plants, flowering shrubs/trees, and so on - that is, the plants the majority of people try to flower, as opposed to the aquatic plant niche - but here are some general reading links that address the issue of blooming (or lack thereof):
http://www.uri.edu/ce/factsheets/sheets/whynobloom.html
http://www.gardeners.com/Gardening-Under-Lights/5080,default,pg.html

Guitarfish has some great reading and photos regarding the aquatic plant hobby in general, but one of the recurring subjects is the blooming of this or that plant, with beautiful accompanying photos. Many threads on this forum address the issue of blooming aquatics (heck, just look at the plethora of Crypt keepers showing off spathes over on the Crypt board).

Some of the other emersed-growth fans here may be able to chime in with their own experiences in flowering specific plants.


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## cableguy69846

asukawashere said:


> Most of the info out there is written for orchids, garden plants, flowering shrubs/trees, and so on - that is, the plants the majority of people try to flower, as opposed to the aquatic plant niche - but here are some general reading links that address the issue of blooming (or lack thereof):
> http://www.uri.edu/ce/factsheets/sheets/whynobloom.html
> http://www.gardeners.com/Gardening-Under-Lights/5080,default,pg.html
> 
> Guitarfish has some great reading and photos regarding the aquatic plant hobby in general, but one of the recurring subjects is the blooming of this or that plant, with beautiful accompanying photos. Many threads on this forum address the issue of blooming aquatics (heck, just look at the plethora of Crypt keepers showing off spathes over on the Crypt board).
> 
> Some of the other emersed-growth fans here may be able to chime in with their own experiences in flowering specific plants.


Thanks man. I am going to have to sit down tomorrow and start hunting around. Didn't have time today at all.


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## myjohnson

Nice proggression on the hc growth brahhhh!

Looks like it really took hold the last two months and took off.

Did you do anything differently?


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## cableguy69846

myjohnson said:


> Nice proggression on the hc growth brahhhh!
> 
> Looks like it really took hold the last two months and took off.
> 
> Did you do anything differently?


Thanks man. I have not done anything differently. Once it establishes some roots, it will take off really well.


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## chrislewistx

Great thread, I have been reading it the last week or so.

Any updates since February? At the rate those plants were growing I was afraid they might have taken over the house, and grew right over you as you sleep  lol

Do you have any advice for helping plants adapt from submerged to emersed growth?

Also, any advice for someone starting out with emersed setups. Maybe things you wish you had known when you started, or that you would do differently?


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