Matt's emersed setup

[a1Matt]

Here is the only snap I have of my setup:

 

[aaronnorth]

nice one, i just need a propagator now

 

[Steve Smith]

Hmn, interesting stuff... I have a little clearseal tank (about 40cm) with a black plastic lid I could use to start me off. It's just finding somewhere to put it!

So you reckon soil is the way forward at the moment? I'm looking to grow on crypts and mosses I think.

 

[Steve Smith]

I bought some plant pot tags in Wilko at lunch. One step closer

 

[a1Matt]

Nice one. I need to get me some of those, am struggling to remember what is in what pot already

 

[Steve Smith]

Thinking about it, I don't actually know what crypts I have at the moment, so they're kinda useless untill I ID them! I'll have to post up some photos in the plant section to get confirmation IDs!

 

[johnny70]

How often/how long is the mini fogger on for? its 36w that seems an awful lot of power for such a small thing

 

[a1Matt]

The mini fogger was in my original plan, but it turned out that the humidty was high enough without it, so I never got one. (FWIW, I think the wattage was quite steep as well.) I expect if I do ever get one that growth would increase as a result.

Instead, I got a hygrometer off ebay (secondhand for £1 inc p+p) and aim to keep the humidity between 80 and 90%
It is very easy to do, you get a feel for how much to leave the cover glass open\lid propped up quite quickly.

I found it is temperature that you have to keep an eye on, as it is very easy for things to get too hot from direct sunlight.

 

[Steve Smith]

I'm going down the compost route, as Supercoley suggested. I'm just concerned the pots I'm going to use (standard tropica/AquaFleur) won't hold the compost too well. What I might do is buy some small plastic pots from homebase or something.

I'll start my own thread this weekend if I get too it, and stop hijacking everyone elses

 

[GreenNeedle]

I don't use compost in pots. I use compost without pots. The whole of the propogator.

I use pots for rockwool

AC

 

[daniel19831123]

Just wondering if there is a pump circulating the water in your tank? Is that pogostemon helferi and Hc in one of the pots? I've been wanting to grow P. Helferi emersed as well but not sure how quick they grow compare to the submerged version. I'll be starting an emersed setup after I moved to Manchester. I was going to go with Top soil initially but then changed my mind and wanting to use the akadama from stripping the tank. Then I changed my mind about using rock wool slab. Now I'm tempting to use Jiffy Peat Pellet lol. Anyone tried using this in propagating aquatic plant emersed? The ph is right for crypt but not so sure about the nutrient. I supposed you can soak it in tank water fertilised with EI and then just use that for planting. Any thoughts?

Dan

 

[a1Matt]

Well it was pogostemon helferi, but it never made the transtition to emersed growth. It never even made the effort! just stayed in its submersed form for a month or two, looked quite healthy, then started withering and died over the last two weeks. All my plants that have a similar form emersed and submersed converted really easily (staurogyne, anubia, HC in particular). I guess there was not much to convert. On the whole those plants with different growth patterns (mainly stems) almost died completely but a little bit transitioned, and then they are growing back healthily from that.

I do not use a pump. I just let the water sit and change it out once a month or so. The plants do not seem to care about this, but the water looks pretty rank after a few weeks (hence my WC schedule). I was quite generous with the osmocote granules, so I expect that will cover me for fertilisation for the length of the setup - a few months (I'll add more if I see signs of deficiencies). I'd be confident that 'loaded' tank water will be ample fertilisation.

As to growing mediums... growth was quicker with compost than with akadama. I expect peat pellets will work well too. I was going to try them as well, but was too tight to buy them (especially as I had everything else needed already to hand).

Other updates....

I noticed some tiny mites in the tank a while back. They have multiplied slowly but surely and I just left them as they did not seem to be doing any harm. This week though they seemed to have increased exponentially and and I can now clearly see they are destroying my crypts which is sad to watch. (Although luckily these are all surplus from my main tank, so I will not lose any species as such.) Does anyone have any tips for getting rid of them? I do not want to use any chemicals as these plants will end up back in an aquarium at some point.

I was thinking that if it were a long term emersed setup I would turn it into a paludarium and add some fish that could eat the mites that are underwater. With maybe occasionally flooding the rest of the tank so they can clean up everywhere else as well.... It is not a long term scape though In fact if I do not get rid of the mites soon it will probably not be lasting much longer at all!

 

[daniel19831123]

I've been told that regular flooding every 3-4 days will not only prevent fungus from growing, it also stop mites from developing. How much water column fertilisation is too much for an emersed setup? Too much fertiliser and the plant wither, so does that mean I am trying to aim for the same concetration as I do with EI water column dosing? i.e Nitrate 20ppm, Phosphate 1ppm and K 20-30ppm?

 

[a1Matt]

I do not know what exact levels to shoot for... I would keep it simple and say that if you already have a tank with EI then just use the water from this. Hopefully someone with a bit more expertise in this area will chime in with a more authoratitive reply for you...

Thanks for the tip on flooding . I will drown the plants and then drain again and see what effect it has.
I wonder how long to flood them for... I think I will go for 24 hours. (Little and often is probably better, but I am dragging buckets of water up and down stairs to do this, so will go for one heavy hit instead.)

 

[MarkyG]

hi matt you could try neem oil

 

[a1Matt]

Nice one Mark

I am a big fan of oils. As testament I use oil based soap and shampoo It is really good stuff ... http://www.drbronner.com/DBMS/OLEU02/Eu ... idSoap.htm

Will try flooding and then follow it up with neem oil. I'll update here in a week or three with progress.

 

[MarkyG]

if none of these work you could try Biological control if you can work out what might you have. http://www.defenders.co.uk/ used these few years ago

 

[jonny_ftm]

Hi,

Look at my emrsed starting nano topic. I wrote everything about growing them emersed. I'm now growing C. Parva, P. Helferi, E. Tenellus and just started Eleocharis acicularis.

P. Helferi grows much faster than in water, C. Parva is very slow, tenellus is crazy fast. Never had any melting issues

About ferts, go with an EI cycled tank and mist 1-3x/week and decrease progressively to 1-2x/15d to keep soil moisted. Misting can't compensate for low hygrometry: target 80% humidity, 70-75% being lowest ideally, plant leaves should dry between mistings

Never dry soil but don't flood it too, level water to 0.5-1cm below surface

Don't use casting alone, mix it with sand, it will add consistency, aeration and helps plants to establish. I mixed with Flourite Black Sand for micro-enrichement, since I'm gonna flood it later, it wasn't a bad investement

For success guaranty, freshly bought plantlets means less effort to adapt, as they are grown emersed by major distributers