[tsunami]

Hi everyone,

Over the summer, I decided to find a way how to keep all the extra plant species I had collected by setting up an emmersed tray outside. With the help of fellow hobbyist Jim Lockhart, I set one up for about 30$. At one point, I was growing two dozen species in this setup.
I was so fascinated by tending my emmersed setup that I have decided to get a second tray for this upcoming summer to house even more plants. However, this time, I will be concentring almost entirely on Cryptocorynes!

Ingredients:

1 black, plastic propagation tray
1 black, plastic pot pack with 48 slots (going with 32 next time)
1 extra high top propagation dome
1 bag of Schultz Aquatic Plant Soil (my medium)
1 Hydroponic liquid fertilizer kit, including three separate bottles (Florabloom, Floragro, and Floramicro in my case)
water
Florida sunshine

Plants that did very well in this kind of setup:

Cryptocoryne undulata
Cryptocoryne wendtii 'red,' 'green,' 'rose,' and 'Tropica'
Cryptocoryne walkeri
Eleocharis montevidensis
Saururus cernuus
Lobelia cardinalis 'small form' (dwarf lobelia)
Ludwigia repens
Ludwigia brevipes
Bacopa caroliniana
Hydrocotyle verticellata
Lindernia rotundifolia
Hemianthus micranthemoides (baby tears)
Micranthemum umbrosum
Hygrophila difformis (wisteria)
Lysimachia nummuleria

Carlos

 

[HeyPK]

Carlos,

Direct Florida sunshine? Wouldn't that cook everything in the summer?

Nice pictures!

 

[Sir_BlackhOle]

That looks like a great idea! Lets hear more details

 

[tsunami]

Indirect Florida sunshine.

Actually, next time, I am going to try and place it in a more well lit spot. I think it was one of the limiting factor my first time around.

That's basically all the details there is to know. It's really simple/easy to setup. I just used cuttings from my tank to stock it up.

Water changes once every two weeks, readding the fertilizer every time, seemed to work best.

Carlos

 

[MiamiAG]

Carlos,

This is where my interest currently lies. It is extremely rewarding.

I made a makeshift greenhouse and use Florida sunlight to grow mine. I used a larger raft system but the concept is the same.

The image is of an E. rangeri that grew out of control in the system. You can see the Crypts in the background.

 

[Phil Edwards]

Art,

Do you have the pots in any sort of separator or are they just surrounded in weed infested water?

That's a beautiful sight, for sure.

 

[MiamiAG]

Phil,

Thanks. No weed infested water. The plants are in rockwool. Rockwool is in 2" plastic pots. Plastic pots are in styrofoam rafts with exact holes cut out. The rafts float on the nutrient enriched water. As sunlight doesn't make it to the water, you don't have algae.

 

[Jim Lockhart]

Carlos, it is good to see the setup works well for you, it's a great cheap way to get started (being Scottish that's always important to me :wink: ). I have 4 of these domes now, and this year I managed to keep everything going through the winter with heating pads, that work very well.

I have two types of Crypts that grow well in this environment, but never flower. I have moved some of them outside the Domes under a mister, but so far no flowers (I think I have red and green dwarf Wendti).

Anyone any tricks to get the flowering going ?

 

[plantbrain]

Peat and PO4 and patience.
The 3 P's.

They will flower if you use a general liquid house plant fert and mist once a week or so.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[Jim Lockhart]

The three P's. That's good Tom, I mean Plantbrain . I use the Gen. Hydroponics nutrients, and they do recommend a specific mix of their products that favors P (the one in NPK) for blooming.

I'm sure there are some other tricks, photo period etc, wow that would be 5-p's !

Any other tips ?

 

[MiamiAG]

I've used various techniques to induce flowering in Crypts.

You must first be sure the plant is mature enough and healthy. With just that you can get flowers out of the easier crypts.

For the harder ones, I've used gradual changes in the photoperiod in combination with increased ratio of P to N:K. Follow the hydroponic nutrient instructions at half dose or less. Also, spraying a good B12 supplement gave me good results.

The Aquatic Gardener Vol. 8 No. 5 has an article on the use of gibberellic acid to induce flowering. Dr. Kane at UF studied this some time ago I believe. I had some success with this on tissue cultured crypts, but the flowering could have been the result of my other techniques. Need to experiment on this some time.

 

[Steve Pituch]

Where did you get the equipment?

Hey Carlos and Jim,

I am very interested in starting a few trays. It will be my excuse to get some Crypts. But I have not seen anything on the Internet like the trays, dome, and pot pack you show in the pictures. It looks like such an ideal setup. Where can I get some of these?

The two hydrophonics stores listed in the Yellow pages here in Corpus Christi seemed to have gone out of business.

Regards,
Steve Pituch

 

[tsunami]

Steve,

I ordered my dome, tray, and pots from:

www.charleysgreenhouse.com

On the left hand column, click on "Pots, Trays, and Flats."

Then, "Flats and Domes."

Carlos

 

[Jim Lockhart]

Steve,

Carlos suggestion of Charleys is a good way to go. The tray's are standard 10"x20" propagation trays, and you can usually find those at places like Home Depot or garden centres, however they usually only have 2" high domes to go with them, and the cuttings hit the top pretty quickly. So the high domes are worth gettting, and I've only saw those at hydroponcs stores or online. The little 9-packs that you can get for them will let you do 72 cuttings per tray.

Jim.

 

[Raul-7]

How about using it to grow stem-plants...I want to setup one to grow the rare plants I get, but can't keep in my aquarium; would this be the ideal method?

 

[Sir_BlackhOle]

I think I would like to try to grow some of the local aquatic plants we have down here. Do you think that would be possible using the supplies listed in the original post?

 

[Gomer]

looks like I need to try something like this for my petite nana farm

 

[Jim Lockhart]

Raul,

the setup works just as well for stem cuttings. Some can be a little difficult to transition from submersed growth, but once you get them started additional cuttings from the emersed growth usually go pretty easily. I have most of my stem plants growing emersed (but not all).

What stems do you have in mind ?

 

[Phil Edwards]

Carlos,

Is that Charley aka Lowcoaster that sells that stuff?

 

[Gomer]

I just realized...there is a "dog run" on the side of my parents house that never gets used...dog is an indoor dog

..I think I'll claim that and do a little greenhousing! I don't think they will mind too much since it is not used and is hidden from view!