[Robert Hudson]

affinis: ok, I know to guys like Paul and Art this plant may seem very common place, but it's actually difficult to find anyone in the USA selling it, and this is the first time in three years I have had it!

I want to try growing affinis emmersed. Any particular special needs for this plant?

 

[oh-yeah]

C.affinis!

C.affinis? Where? I also have been looking for it for a long time. I checked your website:aquabotanic; not there. I'm another mere mortal that would like to have it. I once had a 15 long over flowing with it growing in daylight. I took about 10 or so with me when I moved to California but it decided it did not like it there and all gradually faded. But now I am back and proud so I say again: WHERE? Jack

 

[Ben Belton]

I have this plant. This is the second time.

The first time I had it, it was very slow to acclimate. Crypts can be this way, but most take off after a week or so. It took the affinis a month at least. It started growing slowly at first and then next thing I knew it took off and I had baby plants. I think it is very important with this plant not to move it once you plant it. Unfortunately after a house move and some tank rearranging, I lost it.

I got this plant a second time about a month ago. I received about a dozen plants. Only two survive after initial meltdown. Of those 2, I am not sure they will make it. I don't know what the problem is.

Initially I would have said it was an easy plant if you leave it alone. I had no trouble the first time. I don't know what's going on this time.

It is a beautiful plant with emerald puckered leaves that are red on the reverse.

Good Luck,
Ben

 

[oh-yeah]

C.affinis!

I received a plant from azgardens which was called C.affinis and although it does send out long runners and is prolific it does not look like affinis. If it is, its a poor representative.It has light green leaves for one thing and they are not pot marked (BULLATE?) even in good light. I've been wrong before though. I checked your site but still no source for the elusive affinis. Bye the way its also scarce in the UK. I think what bothers me most is the articles claiming its one of the easiest to come by.Even Charley Lowcoster doesn't have it but hes trying. Jack

 

[Aaron]

Jack,
Are you the one who got the crypt from me on AB a little while ago? Anyway, I think C. affinis is one of those plants that have seen their hayday and have been replaced by easier and newer material. It is a plant that everyone has had way back and lost it due to neglect or whatever, all the while thinking "no big deal, it's common anyway..." This led to the demise of a lot of my crypts some years ago when I turned my attention to the wonderful world of power compacts and CO2. Happens all the time, especially with fish. Here in Hawaii, many old timers, fish keepers, not plant growers have affinis and lots of it. These guys have been in the hobby for over fifty years, breeding angels and guppies and livebearers, all the while keeping this ubiquitous plant in the back of there tanks.
--Aaron

 

[oh-yeah]

C.affinis!

Hi Aaron, yup thats me. Thanks again. The Plant from you not only came in good shape but has yet to suffer meltdown,and is "righting" itself. I'm betting pretty much the whole farm on this one. But Crypts can be tricky. I say nice things to it daily like "you're a good Crypt, a nice Crypt". I think it's working. Jack

 

[MiamiAG]

Hi folks,

Actually, affinis is probably one of the Crypts I like best. It is beautiful when growing well.

Affinis was once widely available and was the primary reason for the difficult reputation Crypts enjoy today. As easier to grow Crypts became available, affinis faded away.

Affinis is a hard-water crypt and does best with a good amount of calcium and magnesium in the water. It is a relatively slow grower. To grow it emersed, use semi-hard water with a good organic mix (loam, peat, etc.) and keep the organics semi-wet. Medium light.

 

[HeyPK]

The variety of affinis that is available now (if it is available at all) is not like the affinis---called hartelliana, then--- I saw when I first started getting interested in fish and plants as a high school student. Today's affinis has more muted colors, green on top and orange-brown underneath. It is also a taller plant with more slender petioles and longer leaves. The old affinis was a smaller plant with a bright, blue-green leaf that had a gaudy pink-purple underside.

 

[Robert Hudson]

I think its listed on my specials page. I got it from Oriental Aquarium in singapore. The leaves are puckered dark green, and red on the underside. The plants are small.

I also got some C nurii from Prescott which I understand has now been confirmed as the real thing. They are fairly good size.

Paul, you have some unused credit with me. I would be happy to send you a couple affinis and nurii if you are interested. My compliments.

 

[Robert Hudson]

I still have some affinis left if anyone wants some. I also have lots of blassi that I have been growing submersed for almost a year. Some are 18" plus, others 8 to 10" but have over 6 leaves per plant. They are well established.

 

[Error]

Jack,
Are you the one who got the crypt from me on AB a little while ago? Anyway, I think C. affinis is one of those plants that have seen their hayday and have been replaced by easier and newer material. It is a plant that everyone has had way back and lost it due to neglect or whatever, all the while thinking "no big deal, it's common anyway..."

That's kinda funny, in a way, since C. affinis is the only plant the old-timers keep around here. All of the Detroit auctions I go to invariably have a few bags of red wendtii, some Java fern, a bunch of bags of Java moss and some floating plants. Then there's 2 dozen or so bags of C. affinis. That's why it's so surprising to hear that it's becoming rarer elsewhere in the US.

I don't have any currently, but I think my girlfriend may still have a few stems. A while ago, an interesting Crypt that the seller thought may have been a form of C. affinis went up for auction on Aquabid. Here's the URL for the closed item: UKNOWN CRYPT... C. affinis, maybe???

 

[oh-yeah]

Pseudobullosa?

I have a book entitled"The Complete Guide to Water Plants" by Helmut Muhlberg in which he describes the other C.affinis.The discription is longish, pale,ovate leaves that are rarely bullate.He calls it C.affinis var. haerteliana and says the plant that has the bullate green leaves with dark undersides is denoted as "psuedobullosa. `Very interesting,I hope. Jack

 

[HeyPK]

Muhlberg's 'pseudobullosa' is a much more intensely colored plant. The top of the leaf is a bright blue-green, and the bottom is an intense wine-red only seen on the undersides of Alternanthera reineckii leaves. I used to see this plant in the late '50's, but nobody seems to have it now.

 

[aquaverde]

That's too bad. Sounds like a real beauty, and one not matched by any other crypt I'm aware of.

 

[Error]

Muhlberg's 'pseudobullosa' is a much more intensely colored plant. The top of the leaf is a bright blue-green, and the bottom is an intense wine-red only seen on the undersides of Alternanthera reineckii leaves. I used to see this plant in the late '50's, but nobody seems to have it now.

What might be the nomenclature then of the "standard" C. affinis? (Medium green bullate leaves, reddish undersides)

 

[oh-yeah]

C.affinis var. ?

How about calling the pale one C.affinis var. "lite"
I shall try to flower it. I'll report back in a few years.