July 2016 Photo Update

Being busy past months, I couldn’t/forgot to upload photos sooner. Photos are mostly before tank and plant cleaning. Fungus developed again in one or two tanks . Luckily plant pests I was fighting last year are gone. 95% plants survived my time abroad, I think only 2-3 plants are gone. Bad news, my C. auriculata ‘Tiger Stripes’ is one of them – I liked that one.

Later on, I will also label photos, for now upload with “no comment”. 🙂

Oh, I also refilled pots with beech tree litter… some pots were almost empty as you can see (filled just with roots). I will try to document progress this weekend.

Photos from 20th July, 2016

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February 2015 photo update! The growth of my rare Crypts.

Despite my trials, despite my care, the plants grow. I keep these species for several months already. None of them flowered yet (correction – C. sp. ‘Yellow Ring’ flowered 2 times), but seeing how they grow make me happy. This post just photo documents the progress.

In some cases I got two plants per each species, therefore I tried different substrates (mostly based on beech tree litter/mould) and different setups to see in which it goes better. Here are the “pretty” looking plants. If you want to compare the size of leaves, the clay pots are 8/9cm wide.

Since there are a lot of pictures, a lot of species in one post, here is a a quick navigation:

C. affinis | C. bullosa ‘Sarikei’ | C. fusca | C. ideii | C. longicauda ‘Seri Aman’ | (?) C. minima ‘Perak’ | C. noritoi | C. uenoi ‘Serian’ | C. usteriana | C. x purpurea novothovar. borneoensis ‘Lundu’ | C. sp. ‘Yellow Ring’ ‘Bukit Ibam’ | L. meeboldii pink

 

Cryptocoryne bullosa 'Sarikei' (Feb. 12, 2015)

Cryptocoryne bullosa ‘Sarikei’ (Feb. 12, 2015)

I put C. bullosa in cover protected plastic pot and the humidity condensates all over so I cannot see through properly. I was surprised when I saw 3 new leaves with pretty vidid green color. The darker leaves are “import” leaves – from nature or farm. Another surprise were tiny bubbles. I suppose it is gas creating in substrate.

Here is the picture when I got this plant.

 

Cryptocoryne fusca (Feb. 12, 2015)

Cryptocoryne fusca (Feb. 12, 2015)

Another specimen is growing much slowly. This one is in pH approx. 4-4,5 and already has new plantlets. The same goes for following two species.

Here is the picture when I got this plant.

 

Cryptocoryne ideii (Feb. 12, 2015)

Cryptocoryne ideii (Feb. 12, 2015)

Here is the picture when I got this plant.

 

Cryptocoryne longicauda 'Seri Aman' (Feb. 12, 2015)

Cryptocoryne longicauda ‘Seri Aman’ (Feb. 12, 2015)

Here is the picture when I got this plant.

 

Label mix up? Labeled as Cryptocoryne minima 'Perak', but reminds me more C. x purpurea (Feb. 12, 2015)

Label mix up? Labeled as Cryptocoryne minima ‘Perak’, but reminds me more C. x purpurea (Feb. 12, 2015)

I am not sure, but when I look at the picture, it resembles me my C. x purpurea from Dennerle. It was labeled as C. minima ‘Perak’, but the leaf pattern confuses me. Lets wait for a spathe.

 

Cryptocoryne noritoi (Feb. 12, 2015)

Cryptocoryne noritoi (Feb. 12, 2015)

Here is the picture when I got this plant.

Another specimen is growing much more slowly. Maybe it is because of higher pH. Anyway, I started to lower pH in most of my tanks. I am curious about the results. Here is the picture.

 

Cryptocoryne uenoi 'Serian' (Feb. 12, 2015)

Cryptocoryne uenoi ‘Serian’ (Feb. 12, 2015)

Here is the picture when I got this plant.

 

Cryptocoryne usteriana (Feb. 12, 2015)

Cryptocoryne usteriana (Feb. 12, 2015)

I also have several of these usteriana(s) in my fish tank. The leaves were getting larger, were becoming bullated and I could see the reddish color on their underside. Unfortunately it all melted down several days ago… so the pictures of submersed plants…maybe next time.

I have seen plenty of pictures of emersed C. usteriana, but still – I was surprised how easily it grows.

Here is the picture when I got this plant (submersed form of plants).

 

Crpytocoryne x purpurea novothovar. borneoensis 'Lundu' (Feb. 12, 2015)

Crpytocoryne x purpurea novothovar. borneoensis ‘Lundu’ (Feb. 12, 2015)

When I got this Crypt, I was a little bit worried because it was kind of pricey, but it grows really well.

Here is the picture when I got this plant.

 

Cryptocoryne sp. 'Yellow Ring' 'Bukit Ibam' (Feb. 12, 2015)

Cryptocoryne sp. ‘Yellow Ring’ ‘Bukit Ibam’ (Feb. 12, 2015)

I have several pots of C. sp. ‘Yellow Ring’ and it flowers regularly. Here are some pictures.

 

Bonus:
These plants are not rare, but I add them to the post.

Cryptocoryne affinis (Feb. 12, 2015)

Cryptocoryne affinis (Feb. 12, 2015)

Just in case someone is interested, here is  my pot with common C. affinis. It is covered with lid, so the humidity goes high.

 

Lagenandra meeboldii pink (Feb. 12, 2015)

Lagenandra meeboldii pink (Feb. 12, 2015)

L. meeboldii has actually much prettier color, but the leaf surface makes kind of reflection and it is changing from brown to pink. You can see some pink color in the picture, but not as much as you would in reality. The picture shows large leaves, but in my conditions it often melts down.

November 2014 update!

The past few months have been busy but fruitful. My collection expanded a lot (as you can see in my Crypt-list). Most plants are freshly potted so I will wait a little bit longer to document it.

Another news:

  • Because of expansion of my collection I sold some of common species and made some space for new ones, added another 50 liter emersed box. All of my emersed setups make approx. 400 liters, more then 80 pots.
  • I also started to use LED chips more and more… 70% of my setups use LEDs.
  • A week ago I potted some Crypt Flamingo(s) and placed it into emersed setup.
  • The fruit of C. striolata ‘West Kalimantan’ I got is opening.
  • I made special boxes for several Crypts (for C. bullosa ‘Sarikei’, C. keei, C. thwaitesii ‘Kottawa’).

 

In next posts I will show photos of some freshly imported/bought plants. I send thanks to colleagues collectors who obtained them and sent me some.