• You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up

Echinodorus and Crypt help

PBM3000

Member
Joined
19 Jul 2017
Messages
275
Location
Hampshire
I have Echinodorus ozelot Green plants and they originally had oval leaves when I bought them. A month or two in and new growth is now more elongated (spearhead-shaped). On the plus side, their spotted, 'digital' patterns are much more distinct. Any ideas on why this change has occurred?

Second issue is with my Crypt. Wendtii Green - whilst they're quite healthy and growing at a good rate with minimal melt, most in my tank are now a distinct copper-brown. Also, why do some grow tall (6-10" high) and some have stayed small and compact (2-4" high)?

Lighting: Fluval Fresh & Plant 2.0 LED (7hrs @ 70% brightness)
EI dosing (at 1/3 for low tech).
Sub: Inert gravel but root tabbed.

Any help appreciated.
 
I have Echinodorus ozelot Green plants and they originally had oval leaves when I bought them. A month or two in and new growth is now more elongated (spearhead-shaped). On the plus side, their spotted, 'digital' patterns are much more distinct. Any ideas on why this change has occurred?
The Echinodorus you buy in the LFS is emersed grow form.. Even tho they display it submersed, likely a marketing trick since it odd to be an aquatic plant. But the majority are bog plants able to grow submersed. But they are nursed and sold in emersed form.. In you aquarium they go through this transition from emersed to submersed and a lot of plants have different shapes after that. So that's completely normal.

Second issue is with my Crypt. Wendtii Green - whilst they're quite healthy and growing at a good rate with minimal melt, most in my tank are now a distinct copper-brown. Also, why do some grow tall (6-10" high) and some have stayed small and compact (2-4" high)?
That's a good question, since there is a lot happening in the watercolumn and substrate obscured from vision. We can only guess, most likely it is genetics and since these are cultivated plants, selected during the cultivation in variety and nursed on to make a sertain characteristic dominant, that's how wendtii green or brown is made. But deep down in the genetics a green still has the potential to grow brown and visa versa. So by chance it can happen that you buy a green and grow a brown and or maybe both.

Also the size thing, can be genetic or something (for us invissible) in the invironment inhibbiting it from growing bigger (or change color). Which one it is can take a long time to discover. I also experienced a plant staying rather small for 2 years and than still all of a sudden starts to grow bigger. But most likely it is a genetic feature and also this is put to use at some nurseries to select on that characteristic and cultivate dwarf varieties of a sertain sp. e.g the crypt lutea hobbit is such a cultivated dwarf variety of the bigger crypt walkeri.
 
Is this Tropica's C wendtii 'green' - I've never had this strain be anything but bright green, it does like to grow 12-15 cm tall (vs their C beckettii petchii which has always been 8-10 cm height & pretty much a match for their main photo on the profile page)

Producing a more stable strain is much of what a plant nursery "does"

In my recent window tank, I added in 1-2-grow C w 'green' & it's remained tiny (filtered sunlight & further shaded by rock placement, Tropica soil, but no fertilizers to date)
 
Second issue is with my Crypt. Wendtii Green - whilst they're quite healthy and growing at a good rate with minimal melt, most in my tank are now a distinct copper-brown. Also, why do some grow tall (6-10" high) and some have stayed small and compact (2-4" high)?.

May be trim frequency, age of the plant, and light level. I have some wendtii brown. When the conditions (light, ferts) suit them, they will gradually grow newer leaves that are bigger than the old ones. 15-20 cm long leaves are normal if unattended. For the ones that I trim often, the max sized leaves stay at about 6-8 cm. Younger plant will naturally have smaller leaves. The ones in very low light area will grow very slowly and their leaves stay small without me pruning them, which may sound good but they look starved and sad.
 
Back
Top