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 makes me happy. This post just a photo documentation of 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.

Cryptocoryne minima in blooming spree

When I cleaned my setups today and looked closely on my plants. What a surprise when I found spathes in both pots. In one pot, I even have three of them. Both pots are already full and plants have many plantlets.

Sorry for poor quality. Since I don’t have macro lens, close up filters lower the quality.

Cryptocoryne minima (Sept. 2, 2014), younger pot
Cryptocoryne minima (Sept. 2, 2014), younger pot
Cryptocoryne minima (Sept. 2, 2014), detail, older pot
Cryptocoryne minima (Sept. 2, 2014), detail, older pot
Cryptocoryne minima (Sept. 2, 2014), spathe, older pot
Cryptocoryne minima (Sept. 2, 2014), spathe, older pot
Cryptocoryne minima (Sept. 2, 2014), 3x spathe, older pot
Cryptocoryne minima (Sept. 2, 2014), 3x spathe, older pot

I guess I need to lower the humidity and vent it more to get rid of this algae/fungus.

Cryptocoryne minima, spathes in June & August 2014

Recently I uploaded a photo of unopened spathe. Here is the rest…

To tell the truth, I was expecting a nice red limb which I have seen on other photos. What a surprise when It had a yellow limb. It resembles me a photo on the Crypt pages labeled as “coll. NJ 3103, cult. B 371”. Anyway, I am happy it is thriving. So far it has flowered at least twice.

Cryptocoryne minima - spathe (June 2014)
Cryptocoryne minima – spathe (June 2014)
Cryptocoryne minima - spathe (June 2014)
Cryptocoryne minima – spathe (June 2014)
Cryptocoryne minima - spathe (June 2014)
Cryptocoryne minima – spathe (June 2014)
Cryptocoryne minima - spathe (August 2014)
Cryptocoryne minima – spathe (August 2014)
Cryptocoryne minima - spathe (August 2014)
Cryptocoryne minima – spathe (August 2014)
Cryptocoryne minima (August 2014) - another pot
Cryptocoryne minima (August 2014) – another pot

Cryptocoryne minima is going to flower

Recently, a colleague collector wrote me a message about getting new species. Since I was curious whether I have something to trade I looked, looked closely on my Crypts and found out my Cryptocoryne minima is developing inflorescence. So far it is tiny and I am waiting at least fourth day to open, but It made me happy. The spathe is – as expected – approx. 1-1,5cm.

I will comment more on this topic when the spathe opens.

For now, a few photos.

Cryptocoryne minima with spathe (June 2014)
Cryptocoryne minima with spathe (June 2014)
Cryptocoryne minima with spathe - blurry detail (June 2014)
Cryptocoryne minima with spathe – blurry detail (June 2014)

Cryptocoryne minima – fills the pot

It was my first blackwater Cryptocoryne. Although I’ve read it was easy to grow, I was a little bit worried. I got in a submersed form but It converted quite fast. Now It fills one pot (approx. 8cm in diameter) and in another one it is starting to thrive too. As I wrote in previous post, I have it in a pH about 4,5 and EC approx. 350 μS/cm and substrate – beech leaves.

Sorry for a dirty pot. I have realized how the pot is dirty after taking a photo and during editing the images.

Crptocoryne minima (April 2014)
Crptocoryne minima (April 2014)