FarCanal

This flower opened last night. This was a plant I got as part of a trade, all that was known by the owner was that it was a crypt. I was thinking it must be a Lutea or a Walkeri but it turns out to be a Wendtii, a really big Wendtii (at least I think it is). It was the size of the plant that had me thinking it must have been something different. Anyway, here are some pics;

The whole plant, emersed grown, 30cm (12") tall;


The spathe still on the plant;


The removed spathe;


The limb;


The limb cut in half;


Both sides of the kettle cut in half;


The kettle cut in half;


The leaf from a submersed grown plant from one of my aquariums, growing over 50cm (1'-7")long. The blade of the leaf is around 20cm (8");

rs79

In my opinion when crypts have to fight for light they can get big. Of course there are some populations that are just bigger than others too.

davemonkey

I had some that were 12" tall and have read they can get up to 16" or more. Probably a mix of age, lighting, ferts, etc...

-Dave

FarCanal

Totally agree. I've believed for awhile now that low light conditions gives you bigger crypts. The same tank has 45cm Wendtii Tropica and 100cm+ Balansae as well. That tank is a 4' x 18" x 18" with 110W of compact fluorescent over it. With the Balansae being the size it is, it shades most everything else out.

I have another aquarium that has lower light, a single T8 above a 4' tank (0.7 WPG) and the crypts in there are getting pretty big. Growth is very very slow so it will be a few years before they get to their potential.

In Australia I've seen a variety of Wendtii for sale labelled as "Wendtii Tall" ... I think this plant must be one of those. When I get more room I may buy one for a comparison.

Bert H

I have wendtiis in both of my 50's (AGA and Oceanic). Over time they will reach the surface and continue to spread on it if allowed. Usually, by the time they reach the surface, I will pull them, thin and replant. Several months later, we're back where we started. Except for the ocasional meltdown, I love them, just leave them alone and they will fend for themselves pretty well.

FarCanal

Another spathe opened last night. I got this plant from another plant trade also without a name. I've long suspected it's the same plant as the one above, this flower pretty much confirms those suspicions. It looks like a Wendtii flower too.

My DSLR had a flat battery so I snapped some shots with my pocket sized camera. I'll take some more photo's when the battery is charged. This is from my emersed tank, it's the only one growing semi-emersed. The top of the pot stays around 2cm underwater, you can see the fine roots reaching up out of the pot, time for some more substrate ferts and possibly a thin out and re-pot;


The guy who traded this plant with me was such a generous fellow I had the opportunity to plant some outside in a 60L tub. I only planted 2 crypts outside, both just to see if they would survive the winters here in Australia. The other one flowered, now this one has been even more surprising. There are 6 spathes developing in the same pot. I've been watching these for what seems an eternity wondering weather they would fully develop. This morning the oldest and largest of the spathes seems to have some discolouration on the outside that wasn't there yesterday. I fear these may melt as they are not quite reaching the surface. If the first one melts off I will place some stones under the pot so the flowers can get out of the water. I'm hoping at least one opens, 2 at once would be even better, fingers crossed.

The first 2 pictures show the closest 2 plants have 2 spathes each;




The 2 at the back of the pot have a single spathe each, also looks like some sort of hairgrass has piggy backed it's way in here;

FarCanal

Got the camera out this arvo, sadly the Wendtii flower pictured above has melted. In the outside tubs the 2 largest flowers also melted as they never got to the surface. On the weekend I put some stones under that pot and one of the other flowers is now open. There are 5 spathes in that pot so I've lost 2 but got another one. I won't be cutting these off. I'm hoping that they may set seed ...


In my indoor setup it would appear that the first Wendtii pictured in this thread that flowered not long ago is about to go again, this spathe is just starting up. It was so hard to see ...

FarCanal

From my outdoor tubs, 2 Wendtii's open at the same time.

FarCanal

Well I did manage to see 3 open flowers in one pot from my tubs outside but it only lasted a day, I went to get a photo the following morning but one had melted, oh well.

Much to my surprise though, a Wendtii flower from my indoor setup that was starting had a twin. That pot is so overgrown I didn't notice that there were 2 flowers in that pot. I could only just see one of the flowers and was waiting until it opened before taking it out for a photo. Typically wendtii flowers twist to the left, here I have one going either way. This plant also has the biggest and highest number of cathapyls of any of my plants. You'll spot them in all 3 photo's if you know what you're looking for.


Seeing as there were 2 I decided to have a go at getting them to seed. I cut a window in both kettles and used a small paint brush in an attempt to pollinate them. No idea if it will work.