# Crypt recovery project.



## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

I had to completely neglect my crypts for a long time, and now I am trying to get them back to health. Some of them have dwindled to rhizomes that are hardly still alive. I am trying to recover these submersed rather than emersed. I have weighted the rhizomes down in trays with sand with a little soil mixed in. Hopefully with good light, CO2 and nutrition they will recover.

Almost dead rhizomes---The one on the right is _C. cordata_, and it has been in the recovery tank for about a week and has grown a new leaf. It looks likely to make it! The two in the middle are, I think, _C. moehlmannii_. The nearer one is growing a new leaf, but the one behind it hasn't shown any growth. I will find out for sure what they are when that new leaf becomes fully grown. The two to the far left may be _C. undulata_. No sign of recovery at all, yet.










The tiny little plant in this picture is _C. x timahensis_. I had thought I had lost it completely, and was amazed to find this tiny little plantlet still struggling in a dense growth of _Hygrophila polysperma_. It will be a miracle if I can get this little one to get bigger, because this species has done nothing but decline since I got it.










The rest of my crypts are in jars or soda pop bottle cultures, and they are in better shape.

This is my _C. longicauda_, which has been struggling for a long time in this small jar. I gave it some nutrients recently, and it is looking a lot better. All the brown leaves are the new growth, and they look healthier than the older, green leaves.










_C. minima_. It, too, is looking better after getting some nutrients. The older leaves are still quite pale. Probably needs more nitrogen. 









Many of my remaining crypts are in soda pop bottle cultures, and some of them have kept up very well. This picture is another _C. cordata_, a different variety from the little one in the recovery tank. This one has larger, greener leaves, and it has been in that soda pop bottle for 7 years, and it looks ready to bust out of it!


----------



## looking4roselines (May 10, 2008)

Wow! seven years? This looks like a nice way to store plants away when you're low on space. I noticed that the Japanese crypt enthusiasts have a very similar approach where crypts are cultivated in air tight food containers.


----------



## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

These windowsill cultures are good if you are not only low on space, but also low on time. I have found that soda pop bottle cultures or jar cultures on the windowsill work well if I remember to give them some additional micronutrients. Surprisingly, a culture even with soil, often runs out of one or more micronutrients after 6 months to a year. Once in a while, I toss in a flake or two of oatmeal or a dried leaf or two to provide CO2.

_C. beckettii_









I think this one is _C. spiralis_, but I am not sure. It has been in the soda pop bottle for 10 years.


----------



## mats808 (May 7, 2008)

Sucks that we all go through recovery efforts whether it be for an entire collection or a single plant. Although it's a pretty good feeling when your plants make a comeback. Good luck and great job with the soda pop culture.


----------



## FarCanal (Mar 12, 2008)

I've got a few crypts in soda bottles (we call them soft drink bottles here in Australia) and they do very well in them. Mine have been going for around a year and have been surprisingly successful. Even crispatula's do well in them. I have mine in a mini shade house outdoors, I buy cat litter trays and keep them topped up with water and put the bottles in the trays. I get 6 bottles to one tray, of course I have several small holes drilled in the base of the bottles. I spray mine with a foliage spray a few times a week and add some ferts only very occasionally. I love the idea of taking a photo through the top of the bottle ... must try that!

Good luck with the plant recovery, I've had found that growing a crypt from just a bit of rhizome is fairly successful.


----------

