Growing Cryptocoryne emersed
An Asiatic genus of aquatic aroids, Cryptocoryne (kreep-to-ko-rye-ne) are popular plants for aquatic gardeners but seldom kept by mainstream aroid collectors. I think they're missing out! During the dry season, then water levels in their habitats recede, leaving the plants partially to wholly exposed. During these periods, the so-called 'immersed' foliage dies away, to be replaced by 'emersed' leaves; these are shorter and more compact with denser cuticles that allow the plants to tolerate atmospheric air. It is during this (semi-)terrestrial stage that the plants are triggered to bloom. Despite being on the small side, Cryptocoryne inflorescences are curiously complex in structure.
This short post is intended to illustrate how I grow crypts (as they are colloquially known) emersed, and for that purpose, I am showing a still undescribed Philippine species similar to, but still distinct from, C. usteriana. A photo of an inflorescence is shown below. Basically, it's just a used, transparent milk-tea cup with no perforations at the bottom (I know that gardeners can always find uses for these). At roughly a third from below, the container is filled with different-sized pebbles; it is imperative that the particles are heterogenous enough in sizes to permit spaces between them. On top of this, I place a layer of activated carbon, the same material used in filtering water for domestic use. I am not particular as to the depth of this layer, but I would say that about a centimeter is sufficient. It is on this layer that I rest the plants' roots. Finally and carefully, I finish it off with a stratum of mixed-size pebbles with some sand and clay. I leave about 1.5 cm of substrate clearance below the rim to permit water to accumulate. I place the set-ups above trays filled with gravel and water and situate them where there is good air movement and some filtered morning sun. That's it.
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| These plants were grown in a small plastic basin but with the same principles outlined here; these have since been planted directly on the ground in my backyard. The moss-like cover is Riccia fluitans. |
When transitioning plants from its immersed form to one that is emersed, be aware that the aquatic leaves WILL die. It may seem disconcerting to novices, but this is normal. I find no need to cut off the yellowing leaves as I am under the impression that the plants absorb back the nutrients from these old leaves as they wilt away. A warning though, if there is not enough air circulation around, the rotting leaves can be attacked by fungi. If unchecked, these might later target the plants itself. If all goes well, you'll see new leaves popping out of the plants' apices in just a few days. When the plants have fully acclimatized, watch out for those strange 'flowers'. These are well worth your scrutiny. Can you grow crypts emersed year-round? Of course, you can! Just make sure to top off the water at least twice per week to dissuade mosquitoes from using the containers as egg deposition sites. If you have crypts growing in your tanks and you're bored to death inside your homes during the pandemic, why not take the plunge and grow at least a few differently? Happy emerse-ing!
Do you grow them under humidity domes or in open air? I'm assuring they might survive in room air with 65-80% humidity in my area (I'm from PH too), can they?;by your experience?
ReplyDeleteI grow them out in the open. For as long as there's water around their roots and the growing area is quite humid, they should be fine.
DeleteI'll try to update if my attempt would work
DeleteRight now one leaf is breaching the soil
Oh, wait. Were your plants growing immersed prior to the current attempt? If so, then it's normal for the immersed leaves to rot away, leaving just the crown. In a few days, a new leaf will emerge (likely the one your plant is having now); these leaves have thicker cuticles and are better adapted to atmospheric air than their underwater counterparts.
DeleteThis is my other account. My attempt was a success btw. I actually have 2. The other one has 3 emersed leaves and I expected it to wilt in room air (54-70% humidity) but it was growing fine. It's placed indoors and I only occasionally bring it out
DeleteCurrently I followed your advise I have now around, maybe estimated 20 individual plants and they are sending out runners everywhere. I have 4 mature ones they send around 4-9 runners each
DeleteNow, try giving them more light and see what happens.
DeleteActually they are exposed to 2-3 hours of extreme direct morning sunlight, so far the plants are good except if its already noon sun where they can wilt a bit. I also tried growing them in shade and apparently they grow slower in lower light.
DeleteCurrently i have 3 species: Cryptocoryne wendtii green and bronze, some C. parva, and C. aponogetifolia. The last was the hardest to grow you should not expose it to too much sun or the emersed leaves will wilt and die eventually, while the other 2 are just fine under full sun
DeleteCryptocoryne aponogetifolia to me is a true aquatic. Many have attempted shifting it to an emersed way of life, and none that I know have succeeded. It seems to me that these plants very rarely, if ever, experience drastic water level fluctuations to allow a subterrestrial habit.
DeleteAlmost All of my C. aponogetifolia are submersed with 2-3 ft long leaves (including the petiole) in my 45 gallon. Im currently having an emersed experiment in both outdoor and high humidity situations. The outdoor one is placed under partial direct sunlight and i had observed it growing steadily, its even having a runner emersed. The one in a high humidity glass jar is growing faster tho. If you want to check the pictures i have you can go to Aquatic Plant Central in the general plants discussion and find the topic is started "cryptocoryne aponogetifolia emersed"
DeleteI just checked it out. I assume that the leaves have to be wetted from time to time? Also, have you managed to flower it?
DeleteEmersed or submersed, never managed to make it flower or propagate vegetatively even if the water has high GH and pH. I have one C. ferruginea that likes acidic soil, so i repotted it with peatmoss, sand and annato leaves
DeleteI also repotted my 1 year old C. wendtii bronze to a large basin so they can invade the container and hopefully I can sell some. The C. parva is also happily shooting runners, and my C. ferruginea is having its first runner. Only C. aponogetifolia the one that haven't propagated since last year
DeleteCryptocoryne wendtii- whatever the color form- is easy to flower in an emersed state. I would guess that flowering C. aponogetifolia still requires water, but at a depth that is enough to see the leaf bases.
DeleteI have flowered my only C. wendtiis easily but often it's a sign of stress (for me maybe). After they flower, they eventually lose all of their leaves and die back but they grow back again strongly. I've made the mistake of digging the dormant rhizome just to be seeing healthy white roots and startling the plant, fortunately all my C. wendtiis have carefully. Im not sure what will trigger C. aponogetifolia to flower but probably stress though the crytptocoryne pages have managed to flower an emergent culture. Not sure too how to make my C. parva flower to hopefully hybridize it with the C. wendtii
DeleteI had bought some C. albida and its growing in a mixture of sand, rice hulls, peat, coco coir and clay. Its growing quite nicely and since the container is transparent I can see its roots and it is developing quite quickly. I had put some nutricote under it to help boost its growth. My C. aponogetifolia is growing well too under emersed settings-I transferred it to a hydroponic set-up because the older one I used was using heavy clay soil which C. aponogetifolia does not want-I find it liking porous and finer substrates like sandy loam or gravely soil.
DeleteCoco coir as a crypt component is new to me. I have always been reluctant to use a highly organic mix as I am afraid that a combination of heat, humidity, and water can quickly turn organics sour. How long have you been using coco as an ingredient?
DeleteI only mix a little coco coir and either I let it decompose or not and had used it for, I think 4 months. I suppose the only way for the soil to get sour or anaerobic is if there is a lot of clay or if the ratio of organics is greater. From what I know you can grow any Crypt in sand and peat moss or, leaf litter--More organics for blackwater species and lesser for hardwater species. I haven't observed any sourness in my set-ups probably because my water is naturally high in GH and KH but only has a pH of 7.5-7.8 in neutralizing any acid. As long as there is no buffer or microbial imbalance maybe no sourness?
DeleteI had tried mixing sand with clayish soil with low organics and made the soil quite dense and hard to poke with (when dried is like a soil brick, really difficult to dismantle) and that is the reason I add much organics to make it permeable.
For just using sand and little organics, its only used for my C. aponogetifolia. Finding a fertilizer with microelements is scarce locally and ones sold online are quite expensive like osmocote.
One way I test if the soil has too much organics is if underneath the top layer is blackish or the Crypt's roots are pretty much studded with black patches.
When I used a subsoil clay soil (yellowish like) mixed with some loam and sand for my C. wendtii, it went well until it started flowering and then died soon after flowering a couple of times. I don't know if its from the soil so when I repotted it I used the mix I mentioned for my C. wendtii's apart form the C. albida and they grew very quickly. It happened around late Feb so I suppose the melting is by seasonal changes?
DeleteMy C. wendtii recently made 2 syncarps/fruits and contained a fair amount of seeds. I remembered that a crypt can be only pollinated by another crypt flowering consecutive to the first plant (Usually a pungent rotting scent indicates a day 0 flower). I haven't counted the seeds, but there are around 20-30 per fruit. The seeds look like little boomerangs and germinate extremely quickly when hydrated. I assume that the hybrid seeds I have are C. wendtii, because that is the only species that had constantly flowered for me (though my C. parva and C. pygmaea did ONCE only). Also, I haven't observed any indication of a pollinated flower, so you just need to watch for any suspicious tumors growing out of the ground--that's the cue
DeleteGreat observations! Like most, if not all, aroids, self-pollination is possible from just one inflorescence, but the way in which the flower zones become receptive makes this a very rare event. However, inflorescences activating more or less in synchrony amplifies the likelihood that seeds will form.
DeleteI have another crypt species (which was sold online as C. albida, though is gigantic when submerged--not typical for C. albida), that is about to flower and I plan on putting it next to my C. wendtii so hopefully they can cross. Im still about to identify the plant via flower if its C. ablida, spiralis, retrospiralis, consobrina, etc. cuz these look almost the same
DeleteI have been seeing 'C. albida' being sold, but currently have little interest in getting a few. But since you mentioned "gigantic", I think I am changing my mind now!
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