# My emersed Crypt setup



## andrew__ (May 18, 2007)

I've been growing some crypts emersed for over a year now but just upgraded a little bit with a larger tank and better lid.










Crypt species I'm growing in there (I'd post pictures of the plants but I recently had a problem with the lid... it fell in! Plants are growing but still don't look great after that)

C. wendtii 'green'
C. wendtii
C. walkeri 'lutea'
C. willisii
C. pontederiifolia

(Sharing the tank but not crypt species are Hygro corymbosa, Tillandsia spp., an Aerangis biloba orchid, and an Episcia I'm trying to salvage)

I had been growing them in flourite (with poor results) though I recently repotted them into RedSea Florabase.

I'll be moving my C. undulata into this tank as well as I have too many crypts in my planted display tank right now 

Biggest problem right now is my C. pontederiifolia - it grows very slowly such that I only have two leaves at a time, by the time a new leaf is growing the oldest is dying. This was the reason I changed the substrate so hopefully that will help but what else might I be able to try to encourage better growth? I haven't been fertilizing but have been using waste water from my fish tank so they have been getting at least some nitrogen from that... Open to ideas


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## ts168 (Apr 13, 2004)

Good one, keep it up. welcome to the world of crypt and emmerse growing...


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## plantkeeper (Apr 30, 2007)

Perhaps uping the N dosage can help with the C. pontederiifolia growth.


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## DelawareJim (Nov 15, 2005)

Andrew;

The pontederiifolia will be happier if you give it some more fertilizer. You can use your fertilizer of choice at about 1/4 to 1/2 strength. I use a urea-free fertilizer like DynaGro, MSU blend, or Better-Gro Orchid Plus at 125ppm with good results.

Also, since you're growing in basically straight gravel (FloraBase) I would repot it in a mix of your FloraBase and some leaf mould, or a little garden soil. I use a mix of 1 part laterite, 2 parts Aquasoil, 2 parts Flourite with good results. I've also used half peat, half sand successfully and pure leaf mould collected from the woods. Thankfully, pontederiifolia is quite forgiving.

Cheers.
Jim


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## andrew__ (May 18, 2007)

DelawareJim said:


> Andrew;
> 
> The pontederiifolia will be happier if you give it some more fertilizer. You can use your fertilizer of choice at about 1/4 to 1/2 strength. I use a urea-free fertilizer like DynaGro, MSU blend, or Better-Gro Orchid Plus at 125ppm with good results.
> 
> ...


Just wondering how you measure the fertilizer if the plants will be sitting in the water? Would you want it sitting in say... 1/4 strength what you'd normally water with ("recommended mixing rate") then do a water change from time to time or just re-dose or a bit of both (add more ferts every 2 weeks, change water monthly sort of deal)?

Also, florabase is a lot softer than standard gravel, from what I've heard it's a lot more like Aquasoil or similar - you can easily crush the stuff and it's very soft when wet. I'm going to wait on re-potting since I just did a few weeks back and don't want to slow its growth (any more than it is!).


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## DelawareJim (Nov 15, 2005)

Andrew;

I just mix the ferts at the desired concentration and water the pots with a couple of ounces of it (half a yogurt cup per pot) once a month. It with flush through and dilute in the rest of the water in the tank, but that's okay. It will still be absorbed by the roots during the rest of the month.

I just remembered from talking with Ghazanfar a while back he uses Jobes house plant fertilizer sticks. If I recall, he breaks them in half or thirds and sticks a piece in each pot as needed.

I've not used FloraBase before so I don't really know its properties. I'm always experimenting with different potting mixes, so I'll have to give it a try.

Good luck.

Cheers.
Jim


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## pepperonihead (Nov 25, 2004)

I just got one of these a couple of days ago. I have it in a 24 gallon Aqua pod with 150 watt metal halide 8800K bulb. I will let you know how it does with that kind of light.


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## andrew__ (May 18, 2007)

I was going to be watering the orchids today so I'll have some spare fertilizer mixed up at a low concentration, I'll give my crypts a bit and see how that works.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

nice work!

i agree that some of your plants will do better with real organic matter, such as peat, topsoil, potting mix or leaf mould. i mean to repot some of mine with a change in substrate. i had potted up a bunch of crypts in straight gravel (Turface). some have thrived, but others, such as _C. pontederifolia_ have grown only very slowly. i think that such plants do require some organic matter.


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## andrew__ (May 18, 2007)

fertilizer has helped a lot as well. My pontederiifolia is still fairly sad looking but it has one leaf up that still looks good and a new one coming. I may actually get two leaves on it at a time [smilie=l:

In other news C. undulata took off quickly converting from submersed to emersed, didn't lose any leaves after almost a month after moving into this tank and has grown 4 new leaves.

Next time I'm messing around with my plants I might try a pontederiifolia in regular potting soil since I have a few more doing alright submersed & some soil on hand.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

it is my experience that _pontederifolia_ is very slow to establish and recover from transplanting, but once it does it has good growth. next time i mess with mine i will definately use some organic matter in the mix.

do you have any pictures of your _undulata_? i have some that i think is _undulata_, but i'm not sure. it is one of my hardiest crypts and grows as fast as _wendtii_, but doesn't produce as many offsets.

i fertilize my crypts in an irregular, haphazard way, always erring on the side of dilute solutions. they all seem to do fine with this regime.


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## andrew__ (May 18, 2007)

So I don't know how much can be attributed to the substrate vs the fertilizer that gets rarely added these days but my c. pontederiifolia is doing much better and currently has a fourth leaf growing with no sign of decline on even the oldest leaf. My C. undulata has sent out a runner and generally is doing well (and is my largest emersed crypt). All of my C. wendtii cultivars have for some reason changed to a smaller leaf form possibly due to a drop in humidity. I am going to try to take pictures of a few of the plants later today.


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## andrew__ (May 18, 2007)

A quick update here of some of my plants.

In October I had my first two spathes.

More recently I've really upped the fertilizer they are getting and have had some great growth from my wendtiis. I've started growing some of my orchids in passive hydroponic culture - when I mix up their fertilizer solution (that they always sit in) I also use that same concentration in my Crypt. tank.

Humidity is still on the low side, lighting has been increased slightly, will be improved more very soon.

C. wendtii (the first one that flowered in the other thread):



C. wendtii (the second that flowered)



C. x willisii - this plant is still growing slowly. Will add some potting soil next time I re-pot it.



C. pontederiifolia - new growth is coming in nice and big but still slow. Will definitely be potting in potting soil next time it gets re-potted.





C. undulata - did not grow well for me submersed but absolutely took off emersed.


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## ferchu22 (Oct 27, 2007)

Nice healthy plants!!!! Good job!!


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## Tuiflies (Jan 21, 2010)

out: Aww, I wish I could have an emmersed crypt setup. I never get anything.


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