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soils and C. affinis
Subject: soils and C. affinis
Neil Frank wrote, Sat, March 30:
> >BTW my latest affinis tank with the cm-soil is doing great. I h
> >any CO2 (yet). Better than all my others with affinis, but too
> >any conclusions. (like you say, maybe because of composting??)
> >from the same source as yours (most likely the 'large variety'
> >New leaf growth after a few weeks, but different shape leaf, la
> >wavy edges, but on shorter stem (so far). Upper leaf surface is
> >shiny. I have also noticed other color variations in other affi
> >In another tank under the same lights, a different batch of aff
> >very dark color - perhaps reddish (I am red-green color blind)
> >Has anyone noticed similar variations in affinis, either due to
> >the plant; lighting, or mix of nutrients.
I've seen these types of variations in a number of species. The
two most variable that I've worked with have been affinis and
wendtii. I have a variety of wendtii that I've grown for years
under a number of conditions. If I didn't _know_ that they were
all offsets from the same original group, I would not believe they
were the same plant.
Paul Krombholz wrote:
> Glad to hear about that!. Only a few of the leaves of my plant
> edges. They are somewhat bullate, and with the level of light t
> getting, are somewhat brown-green on top and a red-tan color und
> have seen a much more intense violet-red color on the underside
> variety of affinis, which I used to have. I am pretty sure, tha
> light, the green in the upper sides of the leaves would be less
> and the leaves would appear brown. It is still a pretty plant,
> muted shades of green and reddish-tan. It looks nice next to th
> green of the large Anubias nana (barteri, var. nana?) that occup
> other half of my 15 gallon. In lower light, I have seen affinis
> not the same variety as we have now) with bright green, almost b
> topsides and green undersides with some violet-brown shading nea
> petiole.
My C. affinis was bright wine red beneath and dark forest green
above with lighter veins when I got it. When I tried to grow it
in a gravel/laterite substrate, both with and without supplemental
CO2 it didn't do well. It put out very few runners, and the color
turned to a washed out olive green.
Then I took what was left of the stand and moved it to my
paludarium with peat plates and laterite under the #1 gravel.
This tank has neither supplemental CO2 nor strong lighting (2 40W
bulbs over a 55G tank, but the water level is a good 10" below the
bulbs) Within weeks of moving to this set up, they had deepened to
a bright green on the top side, but the undersides have not
returned to their former brilliance... just pink toward the
petiole. This seems to be a small variety. The leaves are
slightly bullate, and only a few have slightly wavy edges. It
hasn't gotten large under any of the conditions it's been grown
under. Over the peat plates it has spread rapidly and now covers
a fair amount of the bottom of the tank.
> On another subject, totally: Interesting article on crypts in t
> TFH. There is a goof, however in the picture that is supposed t
> pontederiifolia. The plant shown is some other species.
Which issue was this? I couldn't find it.
Karen Randall
Aquatic Gardeners Assoc.
Boston, MA