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Emerged Crypts
<< I intend to grow cryptocoryne emersed. Do I need to keep the air around the
plant humid or can I just grow it like any terrestrial plant? All comments
welcome >>
Hi Wayne,
Since you live in Singapore, you can eventually maintain most Crypts species
in ambient air. In fact, if you purchased them from a local source, chances
are they were grown this way to begin with. Look at the foliage -- you should
be able to tell from the leaf form if they were cultivated emerged or not. If
they were, all you probably need do is pot them up using your favorite mix
and keep the pot(s) in a saucer or tray full of water. Eventually, you can
remove even the saucers if you want.
Just watch the leaves very closely and if the plants wilt, cover them
somehow. Place them in a container with a cover such as an aquarium or one of
those clear plastic storage containers in the larger sizes (cheap) and keep
them covered for a while until they begin to grow once again. You can then
slowly remove the top cover over a period of say 2 weeks, gradually exposing
them to more air and less and less humidity. The key is to stick around and
keep a close eye on the leaves when you make a new humidity change and if
they wilt, add more humidity, if they don't, then remove more cover.
Eventually, you can get most common commercial varieties to grow like African
violets in only slightly moist soil. In my experience, this is also when they
flower most often.
This is a good way to propagate most Crypts since they grow faster, ship
better (for trades, etc.), hardly ever melt and algae isn't an issue. They
usually slip into submerged growth seamlessly -- much easier than the other
way around.
Contact me off list for much more info, or heck, better yet; I'll send you
some Crypts that were grown emerged all ready for you to pot up. You can just
send me back some Elantine t. and Eriocaulon., all right?
Bob Olesen