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Cryptocoryne usteriana

zozo

Member
Joined
16 Apr 2015
Messages
8,643
Location
Netherlands
This plant kinda bothers me a bit, tho it is allegedly easy to grow large background crypt, if you give it time.. After doing some research i found also some articles stating it grows best in hard water..

Now my values are moderate
with GH and KH around 8 to 6 which actualy can't be more ideal.. But probably not for this crypt.

Give it time?? Ok, also a rather vague statement. What is that compaired to months??. Anyway in my non co2 tank this plant seems not want to grow.. As many crypts do it first melted away and from its new growth it made it only grew hardly 3 leaves about 3 cm in over 6 months time. Extra root tabs didn't do anything good.

What is it with this so called easy to grow plant? Should it be listed as "Does not grow at all in moderate water values" or are there other requirments to make it take of a little faster. Is this normal??

What are your experiences with this plant? Should i give it more time? I yet not decided, if i just should swap it with something more easy to grow.. :)
 
Hows the other plants in the tank doing? Time to increase light I think. :p
 
The other crypts like, indonesii, wendti, willisii, spiralis shola, parva, costata, albida all do relatively good given the conditions, even the anubias and java fern grow faster than the Usteriana.. As well as the BBA i'm still battling a bit :rolleyes:, so increasing light, is not realy an option at the time, but i kinda doubt this is the issue, like the parva is about the most light loving crypt i got acording the information and grows, not realy fast, since it is non co2 but still better..

I was just wondering if people over here have growen it low tech in rather soft water.. For me it doesn't seem to grow in these conditions..

The usteriana stands in between the Willisii and the indonesii, both are the fasted growing crypts in my tank. Also the pogestemon stellatus next to it grows .
Mean while Usteriana seems to be asleep..

Oh ps, :) also have some in the high tech, there is grows just a bit better, but also not realy something to write home about..
 
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Be aware that C. usteriana and C. aponogetifolia was, untill quite recent, considered same species. A lot of the info is related to C. aponogetifolia, since this species was far more common in the hobby. Not all this info fit C. usteriana.
C. aponogetifolia was considered very usefull in the classic Malawi-tanks because of size and very high tolerance of alkaline water.
C. usteriana has, at least, 3 known varieties ( I had them, for comparison, when I tested for suitability in trade). The traded variety is the most red one.
In oposition to the C. wendtii types, C. usteriana will usually not grow new, tall leaves right away, when introduced to a tank. Much like C. balanceae, it will spend energy and time, building a rather voluminous root-structure, before growing the huge leaves. When this root-structure is in place, though, C. usteriana will show allmost encredible vitality both in size and amount of leaves (often some must be trimmed off, to provide flow) and in the numerous new plants from runners - often appearing quite far from original plant.
 
Thanks Mick, i indeed did read from the flowgrow database about the mix up with the C. aponogetifolia. And indeed as you say the description given on the webshop i bought it from seems to refer more to C. aponogetifolia. So i have no idea know which one is realy sold to me. The statement grows best in hard water, i thought a bit less in soft i can live with, but going dormant for over half a year and only grow 3 new leaves with 2mm a month is a bit to slow. Even in the high tech tank it's not realy doing a lot.

Well i leave it just where it is and see what it does in time.. Maybe i'm still in for a surprice since it's still living. :)
 
Just checked your linked webshop. Picture there is defenitely C. aponogetifolia. So if it represent what you bought, your plant is C. aponogetifolia.
The C. usteriana comes in an allmost pure green variety, but leaves are a bit different from that picture.
The commonly traded C. ustetiana variety has deep burgundy red colour on undetside of leaves.
 
Just checked your linked webshop. Picture there is defenitely C. aponogetifolia. So if it represent what you bought, your plant is C. aponogetifolia.
The C. usteriana comes in an allmost pure green variety, but leaves are a bit different from that picture.
The commonly traded C. ustetiana variety has deep burgundy red colour on undetside of leaves.

Thanks again for the confirmation, that was what i was afraid of.. I drop them a line, to tell them they are not up to date with this one... That grows best in hard water is rather a confusing statement, it should say, does not like soft water at all. I wonder where the turning point is, becuse i'm in the high range of soft.. I'll order the correct one from Tropica and swap it.. :thumbup:
 
Dean if i take it out, i promise you are the first one i think off.. :).. For now it's still in there, very tiny so it actualy doesn't bother me, i moved a Crypt Costata in the middle of them to make up for the free space they ignored to fill up. I'll watch it for some time with the hope they addapt and finaly grow.. Who knows how long it takes, now reading how big a aponogetifolia gets, if it ever comes alive i definitely need to take one out. :)
 
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