Picture of my Cryptocoryne

[uklau]

Bro uklau, can you point me to the Tom Barr article as I don't quite understand the melting associates with the root rot part?

There you go: http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...ad.php?t=32708. Post #9

[rwalker]

Thanks a lot!
This information is very helpful indeed

[doppelbanddwarf]

Eh i read on some websites that certain crypts are less prone to leave rot than others. For example Crypt. wendtiis are said to be more "resistant" to the leave rot problem. I'm not too sure whether its true but i stuck my Crypt. wendtiis into the substrate roughly using a pair of tweezers and the leaves did not rot.

[illumnae]

I've read the same thing as chongyu and had the same experience. my wendtiis didn't rot at all, after planting and my beckettis only experienced very minimal melting in like 1 of the 5 plants i planted

[uklau]

Thanks for enlighten me on this, bros . I definately learnt a lot more (& faster) with you guys around .

[lorba]

What do you consitute damaged roots? I cut all crypts when i get them in pots to less then half the length before i plant them. The key is, shorten the roots after you relocate it, be it in the same tank or repotting it in emerse form.

If you are planting potted crypt from stores, you can choose not to cut the roots. Just be careful with removing the cottons. To wash it, use the tank water that it will be going into and not fresh water.

When you crypt is growing strong, there is not a problem of pulling its runners that pops up here and there, or cut and replant it. There will most likely be no melting.

[uklau]

Thanks for sharing, Lorba . I wonder what causes my Wendtii to melt when I first planted it (purchased from LFS). Could it be caused by the conversion from emersed form to submersed form?

[zenscape]

Hi Eric,

I just plant them as bunch and leave them be with tablet nutrient reserves at the base. I'm sure yours can be as full, but it would take some time until plenty enough of daughter plants are produced.

Here is another pic showing crypts as foreground in a tank without any base fert. The crypts are planted in plain silica gravel with some tabs at the bottom. Though I do not actually reccomend this (better still if you have some base fert), they grow surprisingly well.

Medicineman, that are really some beautiful crypts at the foreground. I have always wanted to do something like that but they grew to 1 foot tall and became quite unsightly. Are there any species that are inherently short? Pardon my ignorance, do you guys trim it down so as to 'train' crypts to remain short like in the case of lotus? By the way, whats the name of your crypts?

[rwalker]

What is the best way to plant crypt?
I mean, do you leave the rhizome half planted into the substrate or full?

[zenscape]

crypt has roots and you can plant the roots into substrate. Are you talking about java fern?

[rwalker]

Crypt.
When all the roots and leaves melt away, you probably left with only rhizome. Some cryptocoryne plant for example Balansae has a much bigger and visible rhizome.

Probably crypt dosen't has any restrictions compare to Anubias or ferns but I just wonder.

[uklau]

I'm not an expert in Crypts but I don't think they have rhizome. I planted everything below the substrate, except for the leaves & they stay alive healthily for the past 6 months.

[rwalker]

http://www.aqualandpetsplus.com/Plan...ptocorynes.htm

[Quixotic]

Crypts do have rhizomes.
http://www.nationaalherbarium.nl/Cry...tructures.html

I don't think it matters how you plant them. The key to planting Crypts is to leave them alone as much as possible, and not introduce rapid/significant changes to your aquaria (pH, temperature, water changes etc).

[uklau]

Thanks, Quixotic.

Does this mean that some rhizomes can be buried (crypt) but some cannot (java fern)?

[Quixotic]

Cross checking with Wikipedia reveals that rhizomes are usually found undergroud, but some rhizomes do grow above ground. Why they are so, I have absolutely no idea. An adaptation of evolution, perhaps?

See Wikipedia, Rhizome, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhizome (as of Nov. 2, 2007, 16:25 GMT).

...In botany, a rhizome is a horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground and often sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Good examples of plants with underground rhizomes include medicinally important ginger and turmeric and the economically damaging weeds Johnson grass, bermuda grass and purple nutsedge. The spreading stems of ferns are also rhizomes. Some plants have rhizomes that grow above ground or that sit at the soil surface including some Iris species...

[medicineman]

Thanks for the extra infos on crypts folks.

@zenscape,
I have no idea what kind is exactly my crypts are. But they are mostly common species, easy to get and cheap. I pick them by experience, trying to identify them from the emmersed leaves. If you want tiny ones, look for crypt parva and see if it is desireable. Some wendtii can remain rather small, but it still depends on the variety.


Anyway, while talking about the topic here are mine again in my 1000L tank.





They are grown in plain quartz/silica gravel with no base fert or soil. I just jab in some substrate insert (Wonder-Gro Root+ tablets) underneath the plants. Now the tank going to several months old and is one low maintenance tank.

[doppelbanddwarf]

Well zenscape i'll recommend Cryptocoryne wendtii "Tropica" as one of the so called shorter ones. Also brown leaves make it a very attractive plant. According to some websites certain wendtii leaves tend to lie on the surbstrate if there is space around the plant.

[zenscape]

Hi Medicineman, great to see more pictures of your beautiful tank. I had heard about crypt parva are tiny species and will get a hand of it and try.

Chong yu, i am no expert in crypt ID but i believe mine is wendtii as it is brownish like you described and also like medicineman's in his tank. However, I hate it when it grows tall. I think must be due to species. But your suggestion that space may keep it lying low sounds logical. Thanks.

[doppelbanddwarf]

I'm no expert at crypt id either. Just trusted what the LFSes told me. I got them from Biotope and Midori.