An Experiment with Cryptocoryne Lutea
by Michael J. Wolff
1998 Issue 14
Having recently purchased a plug of Cryptocoryne lutea from a friend, I had to decide how best to grow it. I had heard of many different ways to make a plant flourish, but which one was best? As it was a large plug, I decided to conduct a little experiment. I divided the plug into four roughly equal parts. The first part I would plant in aquarium with gravel as the substrate. The second would go in an aquarium with sand as the substrate. The third would be potted and put in the gravel aquarium and the fourth would also be potted, and then be put in the sand bottom aquarium.
The potting was done the same way for both plants. Using a three inch clay pot and placing a small amount of filter floss on the bottom to cover the hole. I then filled the pot ¾ full of fine gravel. I placed a single Plant fertilizer tablet in each pot. Using a pre-soaked peat disk, which can be purchased from any local nursery, I placed the roots of the plants in the peat. The plant and disk were placed into the pot and covered with gravel.
The aquariums used were roughly (this isn’t a laboratory) set up the same. I used 20” high aquariums with a 15 watt full spectrum light tube on it. I turned the lights on at the same time each day and off at the same time. The plants received about 16 hours of light a day. I may seem like a lot, but it works around my schedule. After about a month, some interesting results were observed.
The plants I started out with were about two inches tall. The plant was placed in the gravel was about two inches after two months. It looked very healthy, but it had not gained much, if any, in size. The plant that was placed in the sand bottomed aquarium was a little bigger, maybe 2 ½ inches and also very healthy looking. The potted C. lutea that was placed in the gravel bottomed aquarium was much bigger. I was about four inches tall and had propagated. There were maybe three separate plants. They all looked very nice.
The biggest change was the potted Crypt that was placed in the sand bottomed aquarium. The leaves on this plant were about six inches or more and it also had propagated. There were three or four plants instead of the original one. The most shocking aspect of this experiment was the fact that when I picked up this particular pot, the root system had grown so much that there was about four inches of root that had grown through the floss and out through the hole.
Since this experiment, I have potted a few other Cryptocoryne species and placed them in the sand bottom aquarium. The have experienced similar results. This is by no means a thoroughly scientific experiment. I have had the same results with gravel bottomed aquariums, but not as frequently. This warrants some more experimenting, but it does speak well for sand bottom aquariums and Crypt. lutea. The End