# what abt crypt seeds for propagation and sending internationally



## danb (Jun 10, 2007)

hi the title says it. I did not see mention of growing Crypts from seed. Also using seed to send internationally. What do you think? Anyone doing this but just not talking abt it?

slowly getting back into Crypts after many years. I would like some of the ones I originally got from Gasser. Looks like the best hope for that is import the seed. Who has seed?

Dan


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## rs79 (Dec 7, 2004)

I've never heard of it.

It's pretty easy to ship rhizomes with say, one small leaf and a root or two only and they do fine.


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## ts168 (Apr 13, 2004)

Seed are tough to get. This make me wonder if there is anyone who has collect cryptocoryne seed?


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## SCMurphy (Jan 28, 2004)

Where are you located? There might be someone near you who has what you are looking for.


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## Kai Witte (Jan 30, 2006)

Hello Dan,

I have been raising crypts from seed (both collected as well as artificially propagated) but this takes quite some patience.

Shipping runners (both nationally and internationally) is usually much more feasible and not too difficult. What country are you from?


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## danb (Jun 10, 2007)

Hi all, 
Thanks for the positive replies. I am in Bellingham, Washington, USA.

Somehow, I just naturally think of seed when I think sending plant materials. Hence my comments/questions........

I had some of the more interesting plants from Gasser, but I guess that was 30 years ago. Even so I had his pricelist around here somewhere and could find it if it were important. So much water under the bridge since then. Now I want to grow some emersed and some immersed.

I would like eventually to get some of the ones with heart shaped leaves as I had, and some of the smallest runners, oh and those bullate ones are nice. Recently I read abt the one that grows new plants from leaves. Finally I am interested in cool water tolerance.... I do not wish to try to get all the known species and forms of Crypts..... but why are the more intriquing ones so hard to find... story of life I supose... as it always has been...

THE LIST ( in my current ignorance this is what I might be interested in, but PLEASE steer me towards what is reasonable):
C. cordata var. diderici
C. elliptica
C. longicauda
C. parva
C. minima 
C. petchii
C. beckettii
C. ´willisii

The LFS just doesn't get much. Let's leave it at that. http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif

Ok so there has been so much confusion abt naming Crypts that there is not much point in trying to get exactly what I had before. Besides, there are more choices now days.

Ok that is a start of what I am interested in.... What do you suggest?
Thanks
Dan


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## Kai Witte (Jan 30, 2006)

Hello Dan,



> Somehow, I just naturally think of seed when I think sending plant materials. Hence my comments/questions........


Crypt seeds need to be kept wet and germinate almost immediately - thus, theyy are not as forgiving as in many other plants. 



> I had some of the more interesting plants from Gasser, but I guess that was 30 years ago. Even so I had his pricelist around here somewhere and could find it if it were important.


On Jan's Crypt Pages there's a scanned version. Do you know the date of your list?



> Finally I am interested in cool water tolerance....


What temperatures are you thinking of?



> C. cordata var. diderici
> C. elliptica
> C. minima
> C. longicauda
> ...


The last 4 from Sri Lanka shouldn't be too tough to get.

I'd recommend blackwater conditions for the first 4 species. Actually, minima and elliptica are freshwater swamp crypts and will also grow in slightly acidic water. The other 2 (cordata var. diderici and longicauda) are also not too difficult to grow if you have access to acid leaf-mold.


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## danb (Jun 10, 2007)

Hello all!

My son and I got a large mother plant- C. lutea. We separated it and planted the pieces in pots in a variety of environments- aquatic and emersed. The aquatic plantings were done using iron laden subsoil, peat, cocofiber, grey clay. We also planted the same way/medium for some mini-terrariums- a gallon jar with plastic seal, several heavy duty ziploc bag covered pots. Finally, he took some rhizome pieces and planted in a 10gallon terrarium. Those pieces in the terrarium without leaves have grown the best and are larger than even the original mother plant. His medium is a mixture of used potting soil that had been long before thrown outside in the rain mixed with peat, and sand.

Now that we have had this success.... we are interested in starts of other Crypts. For us even rhizome pieces are interesting. 

We would pay shipping. At this point inside the US seems pragmatically the best option.

Thanks
Dan


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## Khamul1of9 (Oct 25, 2005)

Hi danb,

If you are interested in a humble trade, I have a small 4 leaved cutting of _C. parva_ for you as well as a good corm of _C. willisii_.


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## danb (Jun 10, 2007)

thanks to the suggestion. That sounds great!

my son needs to post a picture of the plants available for trade... if you like it then we'll go ahead. hope to do that tomorrow...

Dan


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## rs79 (Dec 7, 2004)

YES! It would be a help if you could find your list from Gasser and perhaps talk about which ones you had.

There's a lot more nice crypts around these days, even it some are in very limited quantity.


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## danb (Jun 10, 2007)

I am sorry I am doing something wrong abt posting the pics. Please point me to instructions.

Thanks
Dan


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## rs79 (Dec 7, 2004)

http://rs79.vrx.net/works/kwikref/post_pics/


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## danb (Jun 10, 2007)

The pictures show how simple the setup can be. These plants grew from rhizome pieces with no leaves to this in 2 1/2 months.

The larger plants are Cryptocoryne lutea and the smaller are chain swords. The moss is a local from the woods nearby.

Dan


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## ferchu22 (Oct 27, 2007)

Danb, your plants look great, especially the Lutea!!!
From rizome to this in only 2 1/2 month?!?!?!

Please tell us something about your setup, substract, ligth...

Thanks, regards


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## rs79 (Dec 7, 2004)

The one speciaes I have that nobody knows what it is seems to produce little nubs on the rhizome which break off easily. Once when I was cleaning out the tank they're in I just siphoned some water from the bottom after rearranging things a bit and in that water emerged some plantlets that grew up to be big plants. They're so small at this stage here though they could almost pass for seeds.


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## danb (Jun 10, 2007)

Hello ferchu22,

This is what my son said "rain washed sand/peat/soil from an old planting pot
light from 6am - 8 pm" Emersed as you can see... the lights seem to cause the terrarium to go to 80F during the day but house temps are abt 65F so it goes down during the night to abt 65F.










Danb


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## andrew__ (May 18, 2007)

rs79 said:


> The one speciaes I have that nobody knows what it is seems to produce little nubs on the rhizome which break off easily. Once when I was cleaning out the tank they're in I just siphoned some water from the bottom after rearranging things a bit and in that water emerged some plantlets that grew up to be big plants. They're so small at this stage here though they could almost pass for seeds.


Sounds like C. ciliata to me. From the crypt pages:

"C. ciliata differs in regards to other Crypts in the way of making runners. The "broad leafed" form with short runners in the axils, which easily break."


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## rs79 (Dec 7, 2004)

Haha, no, it's not ciliata. I think it might be undulata but nobody's flowered it yet. It was bought under the tradename "versicolor" and may be a hybrid for all I know although superficially at least it resembles undulatus the most. I don't think it's a wendtii because it sends out long runners - wendtii makes lots of new plants around old plants instead.

It can be green or brown depending on the light:

http://images.aquaria.net/plants/Cryptocoryne/u/UND/


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## andrew__ (May 18, 2007)

I was sort of leaning away from ciliata since you've got it submersed and it's growing


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## rs79 (Dec 7, 2004)

Frim what I've seen you just need to add carbon get get ciliata to grow submersed. I've seen it fill a tank with two plants.


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## DelawareJim (Nov 15, 2005)

rs79 said:


> Haha, no, it's not ciliata. I think it might be undulata but nobody's flowered it yet. It was bought under the tradename "versicolor" and may be a hybrid for all I know although superficially at least it resembles undulatus the most. I don't think it's a wendtii because it sends out long runners - wendtii makes lots of new plants around old plants instead.
> 
> It can be green or brown depending on the light:
> 
> http://images.aquaria.net/plants/Cryptocoryne/u/UND/


Sounds like undulata. It must have the most brittle rhizome. I just got one that was an incredibly full plant with dozens of side shoots most of which fell away just unwrapping the thing.

Cheers.
Jim


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