# Planted Tanks > Plant Talk > Cryptocoryne Club >  Picture of my Cryptocoryne

## bossteck

Hi all, 

Want to share picture of my crypts.

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## benny

eric,

The growth looks good. Which species is this?

Cheers,

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## bossteck

Frankly, I don't know.  :Opps:

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## benny

hmm.. from the local shops? Then it might be _Cryptocoryne becketti_ or _wendtii_.

Cheers,

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## bossteck

Here's another shot. (I need photography lessons!)

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## illumnae

it looks like _Crypt. becketti_ to me based on leaf shape and the way it grows (i think _Crypt. wendtii_ usually has thicker leaves and grows more tightly?), but the colouring is different from the _becketti_ i have in my low tech tank. Mine is bright green without the brownish patterning on the leaves

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## uklau

Finally, I get to see your Crypts garden  :Smile: . Healthy bunch of Crypts there!

BTW, may I know how far do you space between 1 stalk to another? I used to plant few stalks of C. Wendtii together & when it started to grow in,  :Shocked:  too crowded, causing water circulation problem....& there come Mr. BBA  :Embarassed: .

Harvested some for a friend yesterday & was shocked with the massive root system formation. Substrate is only around 2-2.5" thickness of Seachem Flourite covered with Angel black gravel. Fed them with Wonder-Gro Root+ every month.

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## doubleace

nice bunch of healthy crypts.. I think i also want to turn my foreground into crypts...  :Grin:

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## bossteck

Yeah, they are getting better less 'leggy' thanks to the root tabs you recommended.

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## benny

Less leggy meaning shorter growth? Mine seems to be a bit taller that I would like it to be.

Cheers,

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## bossteck

Hi uklau, 

I space them about 2-3 inches apart.

Hi Benny, 

Yes, shorter growth is what I am aiming for, so that there is a nice bushy feel. Mine are growing too tall too, making the bottom of the tank seemed empty. It was worse before the pics were taken. I believe they are growing tall instead of bunching because I am cutting back on lights. 4 x 55 PL tubes for a 5x2x2. (LxWxH) tank.

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## medicineman

Eric and Ben, good to see that you experienced it and willing to share the joy of using substrate inserts and W-G Root+. According to test and research the product is very effective especially towards heavy root feeders which do not respond too well towards water collumn fertilisation or some conventional substrate additive.

I used to plant my crypts (most of the time I bought emmersed form of crypt) in small bunch of 3-4 individual stalks in one hole. I like the effect created some time later after all the leaves melts away and replaced by newgrowing submersed form and they start to form many daughter plants. The look is massive, and when you have several bunch planted to start with you can get crypt forest look in your tank, almost carpet-like when used in giant tank. I'd usually wait for some time until the crypt start to settle in swithching leaves, then jab in some tabs just underneath/nearby the base and re-insert after they look worn off.

Although you may want to carefully select the species or variety to be used especially when looking for foreground or for a small tank. A small and short emmersed crypt might grow into a 40cm giant over time when given proper care and ample nutrition (some wendtii is one example).

Here is my crypt after they switched to submersed form.

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## doppelbanddwarf

That looks good. I'm surrently using the same wonder-gro root tabs and i must say its really effective for crypts. My crypts are growing short and with plenty of leaves in a low-tech setup.

I've just added lots of Crypt. wendtiis (1 pot 'Green Gecko' and 1 pot 'Tropica') and also waiting to add in 2 more pots of Crypt. wedtii 'Mi Oya'. Hopefully can get the same effect.

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## bossteck

Hi Dedy, 

You really put me to shame. Your pictures is basically what I hope my tank will turn out to be... hopefully  :Smile:  

Cheers

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## uklau

> Yeah, they are getting better less 'leggy' thanks to the root tabs you recommended.


Eric, 

I must thanks you for your willingness to try out Wonder-Gro Root+. It is your own decision that gives you the level satisfaction you are enjoying now  :Grin: .

Good luck & enjoy this wonderful hobby. Most importantly, share your joy with others  :Smile: .

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## medicineman

Hi Eric,

I just plant them as bunch and leave them be with tablet nutrient reserves at the base. I'm sure yours can be as full, but it would take some time until plenty enough of daughter plants are produced. 

Here is another pic showing crypts as foreground in a tank without any base fert. The crypts are planted in plain silica gravel with some tabs at the bottom. Though I do not actually reccomend this (better still if you have some base fert), they grow surprisingly well.

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## rwalker

Nice and healthy crypto you have there.
Mine melted like nobody.
Now the new growth leaves are small :-(

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## uklau

> Nice and healthy crypto you have there.
> Mine melted like nobody.
> Now the new growth leaves are small :-(


Read in Tom Barr's article that melting is mostly due to damaged root. I did try this out by uprooting (very carefully) the entire bunch (the photo is posted in this thread) & replant it somewhere else. When planting, I rest the root on the halfway-laid substrate before covering up the root with the substrate (together with Wonder-Gro Root+). I'm using Seachem Flourite.

Surprisingly, none of the leaves melted (Tom is right) & I see new shoot in less than a week (must be Root+)  :Shocked: .

If your new grown leaves remain small in the next 1 week, it may indicate nutrient deficiency. To grow healthy Crypts, fertile substrate is a must.

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## rwalker

Bro uklau, can you point me to the Tom Barr article as I don't quite understand the melting associates with the root rot part?

So for your case, you pull them out and replant them on Seachem Flourtie + fertilizer substrate and the plants recover.

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## uklau

Sorry that I may have confused you. My Crypts are growing healthily. I was experimenting with shifting it very carefully so that the damage to the root system is minimum. After the relocation, I didn't get any melting.

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## uklau

> Bro uklau, can you point me to the Tom Barr article as I don't quite understand the melting associates with the root rot part?


There you go: http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...ad.php?t=32708. Post #9

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## rwalker

Thanks a lot!
This information is very helpful indeed  :Well done:

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## doppelbanddwarf

Eh i read on some websites that certain crypts are less prone to leave rot than others. For example Crypt. wendtiis are said to be more "resistant" to the leave rot problem. I'm not too sure whether its true but i stuck my Crypt. wendtiis into the substrate roughly using a pair of tweezers and the leaves did not rot.

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## illumnae

I've read the same thing as chongyu and had the same experience. my wendtiis didn't rot at all, after planting and my beckettis only experienced very minimal melting in like 1 of the 5 plants i planted

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## uklau

Thanks for enlighten me on this, bros  :Jump for joy: . I definately learnt a lot more (& faster) with you guys around  :Smile: .

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## lorba

What do you consitute damaged roots? I cut all crypts when i get them in pots to less then half the length before i plant them. The key is, shorten the roots after you relocate it, be it in the same tank or repotting it in emerse form.

If you are planting potted crypt from stores, you can choose not to cut the roots. Just be careful with removing the cottons. To wash it, use the tank water that it will be going into and not fresh water.

When you crypt is growing strong, there is not a problem of pulling its runners that pops up here and there, or cut and replant it. There will most likely be no melting.

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## uklau

Thanks for sharing, Lorba  :Jump for joy: . I wonder what causes my Wendtii to melt when I first planted it (purchased from LFS). Could it be caused by the conversion from emersed form to submersed form?

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## zenscape

> Hi Eric,
> 
> I just plant them as bunch and leave them be with tablet nutrient reserves at the base. I'm sure yours can be as full, but it would take some time until plenty enough of daughter plants are produced. 
> 
> Here is another pic showing crypts as foreground in a tank without any base fert. The crypts are planted in plain silica gravel with some tabs at the bottom. Though I do not actually reccomend this (better still if you have some base fert), they grow surprisingly well.



Medicineman, that are really some beautiful crypts at the foreground. I have always wanted to do something like that but they grew to 1 foot tall and became quite unsightly. Are there any species that are inherently short? Pardon my ignorance, do you guys trim it down so as to 'train' crypts to remain short like in the case of lotus? By the way, whats the name of your crypts?

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## rwalker

What is the best way to plant crypt?
I mean, do you leave the rhizome half planted into the substrate or full?

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## zenscape

crypt has roots and you can plant the roots into substrate. Are you talking about java fern?

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## rwalker

Crypt.
When all the roots and leaves melt away, you probably left with only rhizome. Some cryptocoryne plant for example Balansae has a much bigger and visible rhizome.

Probably crypt dosen't has any restrictions compare to Anubias or ferns but I just wonder.

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## uklau

I'm not an expert in Crypts but I don't think they have rhizome. I planted everything below the substrate, except for the leaves & they stay alive healthily for the past 6 months.

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## rwalker

http://www.aqualandpetsplus.com/Plan...ptocorynes.htm

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## Quixotic

Crypts do have rhizomes.
http://www.nationaalherbarium.nl/Cry...tructures.html

I don't think it matters how you plant them. The key to planting Crypts is to leave them alone as much as possible, and not introduce rapid/significant changes to your aquaria (pH, temperature, water changes etc).

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## uklau

Thanks, Quixotic. 

Does this mean that some rhizomes can be buried (crypt) but some cannot (java fern)?

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## Quixotic

Cross checking with Wikipedia reveals that rhizomes are usually found undergroud, but some rhizomes do grow above ground. Why they are so, I have absolutely no idea. An adaptation of evolution, perhaps?

_See_ Wikipedia, _Rhizome_, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhizome (as of Nov. 2, 2007, 16:25 GMT).



> ...In botany, a rhizome is a horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground and often sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Good examples of plants with underground rhizomes include medicinally important ginger and turmeric and the economically damaging weeds Johnson grass, bermuda grass and purple nutsedge. The spreading stems of ferns are also rhizomes. Some plants have rhizomes that grow above ground or that sit at the soil surface including some Iris species...

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## medicineman

Thanks for the extra infos on crypts folks.

@zenscape,
I have no idea what kind is exactly my crypts are. But they are mostly common species, easy to get and cheap. I pick them by experience, trying to identify them from the emmersed leaves. If you want tiny ones, look for crypt parva and see if it is desireable. Some wendtii can remain rather small, but it still depends on the variety.


Anyway, while talking about the topic here are mine again in my 1000L tank.





They are grown in plain quartz/silica gravel with no base fert or soil. I just jab in some substrate insert (Wonder-Gro Root+ tablets) underneath the plants. Now the tank going to several months old and is one low maintenance tank.

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## doppelbanddwarf

Well zenscape i'll recommend Cryptocoryne wendtii "Tropica" as one of the so called shorter ones. Also brown leaves make it a very attractive plant. According to some websites certain wendtii leaves tend to lie on the surbstrate if there is space around the plant.

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## zenscape

Hi Medicineman, great to see more pictures of your beautiful tank. I had heard about crypt parva are tiny species and will get a hand of it and try. 

Chong yu, i am no expert in crypt ID but i believe mine is wendtii as it is brownish like you described and also like medicineman's in his tank. However, I hate it when it grows tall. I think must be due to species. But your suggestion that space may keep it lying low sounds logical. Thanks.

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## doppelbanddwarf

I'm no expert at crypt id either. Just trusted what the LFSes told me. I got them from Biotope and Midori.

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## Quixotic

There are actually many cultivars of _C. wendtii_, including "Tropica", "Brown", "Green Gecko", "Mi Oya".

There is also what appears to be _C. wendtii_ var. jahnelii and _C. wendtii_ var. krauteri (possibly many more). I am not sure if these are cultivars, or just locality variants as there isn't much information, and if they are available here (not that I know of).

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## doppelbanddwarf

Yup i've gotten the "Green Gecko" and "Mi Oya" from the mentioned LFSes too. I especially like the "Green Gecko".

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## o2bubble

Hi all, i planted both wendtii and willisii with very little roots or even none on some. However all survived. The roots grew long fast when i pulled up some to relocate.

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## medicineman

Here is a group of my Crypt wendtii green from my sunken garden pond.
Planted for less than 2 months and growing. Most are transplanted as submersed form while others were bought as emmersed crypts. No mass melting and they are growing just great on fertile substrate of plain quartz gravel with some Wonder-Gro Root+ and W-G trial base fert.



This type of crypt can reach 30cm in height over time with no problem.

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