Where The Jungle "Destroys" Red Rock Creek..

[Guest]

Little things tha worry me, mainly is matural light and temperature behind glass.. This can get realy extreem for submersed lifeforms such as fish.

Especially in a small volume of water with little buffering capacity. Either way I know this is going to turn out well Marcel

 

[zozo]

Especially in a small volume of water with little buffering capacity.

Indeed, i yet do not know it's true water volume.. Maybe 30 litre to the max, the rest is solid material. And its a south faced window lots of sun blasting on it.

Either way I know this is going to turn out well

I hope so, lifestock is the least of my concern rigt now.. I'm happy with a Wabi Kusa only in this dimensions. 🙂

 

[zozo]

This afternoon the LFS plants will arrive, depending on well they do outside a greenhouse i see if what already canbe planted.. 🙂 Thus gave it a presoak and test run.. I'm approximately at 30 litres total..





Also already planted the small Nymphaea and a rather small unidentified Nymphoides at the other side. Till now i wasn't able to identify this small nymphiodes it definitively is tropical and not realy winter hard.. Despite it was in the full sun entire summer in the garden last year growing like mad, it refused to flower. I only know it's a small plant, leaves didn't get bigger than 3cm in diameter with red striping on it. I'll give it a go in this setup and hope it will finaly flower on me one day. 🙂

In the day light with the sun on it, this setup is ompissible to make video or good photos from it. I definitively need an artifical light source and dark room for that. Thus excuse the crapy videos and i hope its beter than nothing.

 

[tam]

That is very very cool!

 

[zozo]

Slowly filling up.. 🙂


Plants doing good from the get go, not needing a transition. Ready to root..

Juncus repens in the back.. Micranthemum umbrosum in the front.


Hemianthus callitrichoides


Plugged a small portion in between the rocks that will be submersed after flooding.


Here is my Staurogyne repens test dummy.. I'll give it 24 hours to show if it likes it before the rest is planted.
I tried Alternanthera sessilis yesterday, this plant seemed to like the day, but didn't like the night, maybe a temp shock. Dunno yet but this plant needs a bit more patience.


At the right hand side from above pic, you see a small round leaved epyphite on the wood.. That is a Barbosella cogniauxiam (mini) Orchid. The wood is shaped like a cup filled with some peat, sphagnum and barkchips. It's still tiny.. It's a South American tropical Orchid alledgedly doing good in living room climate. We'll see.. I hope so, darn expensive little blighter.

Bellow on the wood stem also is a Barbossela specie, not further identified but more of a epyphitic climber. Same story should do well and readily flower. If they do, we are in for a treat..


The jungle boogie in the making.. Still waiting to recieve some terrestrials. Most anticipated are the Utricularias i ordered. And the pygmy Bromelia should also be a real stunner. In a way i can't get my mind of putting a Pachira aqautica in there, but i can not seem to track down one single young plant. Only the ones with the silly braided stems. It seems cuttings can be propagated, thus i wait till i come accross one i can take a cutting from..

Mister Pond Snail alread helping and threw in a bunch of Daphnia and what ever more was in the garden bucket.

Some more waiting in the propagator.. The picky Alternanthera sessilis (sensibillis) Some Brasilian pennywort, not sure yet if i'm going to use it. And Helanthium tenellum, defenitively a sensitive bugger, already failed 2 times transitioning it. But darn i must have it and must succeed.

 

[Edvet]

Somehow i think a long T5 in an enclosed (DIY) lampholder suspended over it (30-40 cm)will be helpfull.

 

[zozo]

Somehow i think a long T5 in an enclosed (DIY) lampholder suspended over it (30-40 cm)will be helpfull.

Yup already brainstorming about fixing me a hanging a light above it. Most likely go for a LED option. Still have time, for the summer i don't need it.. Now atcualy starting today it's spring time.. Its a step by step conept anyway regarding planting it up. Have to wait 3 more weeks for the Lilaeopsis pond version to arrive in the shop. So i wait with planting the sensitive ones as the last ones when its warmer and when its flooded with a higher water level.

But it indeed beter be ready before the winter. Somehow i don't expect it to survive the dark periode without artificial light.

 

[sciencefiction]

I think you're done Marcel. 😛 It looks great already.

 

[sciencefiction]

Let me know if you want any of these

 

[zozo]

Let me know if you want any of these

I added loads of mosses collected in the forest.. I'm not surprised if they pop up one day.. 🙂

 

[sciencefiction]

I added loads of mosses collected in the forest.. I'm not surprised if they pop up one day.. 🙂

I was asking about the mushrooms 😀

 

[zozo]

I was asking about the mushrooms 😀

Yes i know and i think it looks cool.. Since i always use moss and or wood pieces i find outdoors in about anything that has plants, i occasionaly have mushrooms too.

 

[zozo]

Did a little experiment with the 3 sensitive plants.. Because i noticed a weakened plant readily come back with the roots in the water. Kinda gave me the hunch, low humidity around its leaves aint always the problem, It more likely the change of substrate and lower humidity around its roots shocking and killing the plant.

I took them all from the green house left them in the pots standing in the water.. And they all are fine..


They are in here now for the last 24 hours without any sign of stress.. As soon as i plant one in substrate with the roots above the water line than they do not feel like living..

Another hint towards how important the roots actualy are for a plant to survive and thrive. It contradicts the common practice and recomendation to unpot a plant cut off the long roots and replant it. What we actualy should do is keep the roots as intact as possible and sufficiently dig the plant into the substrate without damaging them. 🙂

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

What we actualy should do is keep the roots as intact as possible and sufficiently dig the plant into the substrate without damaging them.

I think that is good advice, I try and avoid losing any roots when I move a plant (I don't buy many). I just cut any damaged roots back to the first intact root section.

I do the same with the stems and leaves, if they are green and healthy looking I'll try and keep them until the plant is established. I'll only prune off stem sections, or leaves on rosette plants, when the plant is back in active growth.

The only exception to this is if a leaf is obviously senescent, then I remove it.

cheers Darrel

 

[zozo]

Did some modifications on the HOB so i can run it at alower water level.. After that i noticed my gully wasn't realy streaming. 🙁 It spilled water rather as soon as it fell in from the hob. Thus i needed to do some modifications to the gully as well. And with rather satisfying results. Not a rafting stream, not making splashy running stream sounds, doesn't need to i don't keep singing birds anyway.. 🙂 And what is streaming water without birds singing , making you run to the loo.

This will do and still needs to grow in with mosses etc.


A close up

 

[zozo]

The Jungle boogie update.. 🙂 Yet new plants arrived again.. And i'm as happy as i toddler with a lollypop.!..

The Cisus amazonica.. Still need to figur out a way to make it climp up the wall..


Ficus punctata sp. Panama..



Utricularia alpina.. Came together with some wonderfull moss sp. Awsome!!


Utricularia blanchetti a lovely tiny plant, you have to look twice, is it moss, no, is it grass??


If it wasn't for the lovely flowers growing out one would easily overlook this plant among the mosses.. 🙂


Last but not least the Neoregelia lilliputiana. Growing on the highest driest spot available. But i expected it to be smaller regarding it's name.


Not sure if i leave that Bromelia up there.. Still have a few smaller ones in the pot.. Have to think about that..

Still feel like missing a plant in the background.. 🙄 As said maybe a Pachira aquatica.. The black slopes will later on be overgrown with Lilaeopsis..

 

[mort]

You could give the cissus a branch to climb up. I have a Monstera dubia that I have climbing up a piece of oak bark that I peeled off a dead tree. I'm going to try the same thing but growing down, with a Hoya.

 

[zozo]

You could give the cissus a branch to climb up. I have a Monstera dubia that I have climbing up a piece of oak bark that I peeled off a dead tree. I'm going to try the same thing but growing down, with a Hoya.

I was thinking somewhere along that line.. Visit a saw mil and ask for a slap of wood with bark still on. Or go for a <decoarative dried Syringa branch> from the dry flower arr. shop. Or maybe as you say slabs of bark, thats a good idea.. Maybe do something crazy with smaller slabs of different sizes and puzzle them together in form of a tree. 🙂

Still have time for the plant to establish, no hurries.. 🙂

 

[zozo]

An dit has a light now.. Even tho i do not need it yet..

1 metre 4000 lumen Led strip.


Copper stand off mount at the wall for the wire suspention..

And fixed the wire slider to the Alu led profile..


All that wire suspention material was chrome nikkel plated.. Used reverse electrolysis to get the plating off and now its simply solid brass. At first i thought to give the alu a brass paint finish.. But in way it doesn't look uggly...

Than dissaster struck.. 🙁 During mounting it to the wall.. A smalll 4mm alen key fell out of my hands.. It could have fallen anywhere.. But it fell exactly smack dab in the middle of the back glass panel breaking off a glass chip.. 🙁. It isn't much but it is exactly in the middle i wanted to keep unplanted.. Now i have to put some plants in front to hide it away..


It is what it is.. Darn..

 

[sciencefiction]

So unlucky Marcel. At least the damage is small. I like the copper holders, very stylish.

The tank looks great and those plants are going to love the sunshine.