Storms

Hey Ke, I'm trying your swampy dry start method for HC. At least I think it was you who proposed it. Basically, filling the water a little higher than normal dry start so it is swampy, and injecting Co2 into the plastic wrap. Keeps a very humid, swampy, and Co2-like atmosphere. I'm creating my own mini-greenhouse.

Inspiration:



HC Planted:


Emersed growing for the next couple of months:

asukawashere

Neat! I love petrified wood scapes

What're you going to put in it when you eventually fill it up?

Storms

Thanks! I think I'll just put about 6 danio margaritatus (celestial pearl danios).

Storms

Some of the HC is turning a bit brown in spots. I'm keeping the substrate very moist with water by spraying it every day or two. Is this the HC normally going from submersed to emmersed form? I purchased the HC on eBay and it came in a small pot with rock wool. I guess it's hard to know if it was grown emmersed or submersed.

asukawashere

Even pre-emersed HC tends to brown out a bit when transplanted. Give it a chance to settle in before you change anything - a little bit of browning doesn't hurt, so unless entire patches are dying off I wouldn't worry.

Storms

I actually made a couple small changes (sorry, couldn't leave well enough alone). I cut the photoperiod from 12 hours to 10 hours. A 26 watt CFL only 8 inches from the HC might be melting it a little, and I removed the Co2 injection. I was concerned that maybe the Co2 was making a hypoxic (oxygen free) environment and I think plants need to respirate oxygen at night.

I poked some holes in the top of the plastic wrap to facilitate gas exchange. I think air probably has plenty of Co2 already so why mess with mother nature?

asukawashere

Air does have plenty of CO2 LOL - otherwise we wouldn't have plants at all :P

The thing to keep in mind with CO2 is that it's actually heavier than the other molecules that make of air (mostly oxygen and nitrogen). So unless you have airflow to encourage diffusion, it'll tend to pool toward the bottom of a glass enclosure... as such, in a sealed environment, you could very well be getting somewhat hypoxic.

Fun Experiment: make a balance using two paper bags and a stick (yardstick, bamboo pole, broom handle, etc). Use the oldschool vinegar & baking soda combo to produce lots o' CO2 quickly and "pour" the resulting gas into one of the paper bags - the CO2 filled bag will weigh more than the unmodified one.

Storms

Interesting. Yeah, I read that air has something like 380 ppm Co2, where we strive for 20-30 ppm Co2 in our aquariums, so there is probably no need for Co2 injection in an emersed setup, although I think people inject Co2 in some hydroponic setups, but then again, they are probably not in a small glass box...

Storms

I think it'll be ok because I noticed some new small leaves forming, but it sure does seem like a lot is melting. Do you think maybe I burned it by adding half a cap of Excel to my misting bottle? Or maybe too wet/too much water?

csmith

You don't need to spray it with Excel. You're just wasting money doing that. It is also too wet inside. You want the top of the substrate a little more dry. It's about humidity, not moisture. When I converted my HC to emergent growth it all looked like it was dead before it came back in new growth. If you do see new leaves, rest assured the transition will be fine.