Cryptocoryne Riparium

[Mark Evans]

what is that red stem Devin! that's stunning!

 

[hydrophyte]

That plant is an Iresine. For me it is a bit too red. After getting these pictures I trimmed it down small again.

Iresine is mainly used as an outdoor annual bedding plant, but it grows well right in the water planted on a Nano Trellis Raft--very easy.

 

[hydrophyte]

Here quick is a view from another angle.

 

[hydrophyte]

I put together a blog post about moving this tank over to its new spot there at the Paradigm Gardens store (http://www.paradigmgardens.com/hydroponicstore/store/home.php) here in Madison, Wisconsin, USA. Here is the link...

http://hydrophytesblog.com/?p=1799

 

[altaaffe]

That is an absolutely stunning shot. Must admit - I love the shock of that red but I suppose it does tend to draw your eye in and away from the rest. I should imagine that kept lower it looks much better ?

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
If you can find a plant or seed of Iresine herbstii, sometimes sold as the "Beefsteak plant", it is extremely easy to propagate from cuttings. The very red form is cv. "Brilliantissima", you can also get streaked red and yellow leaved ones.
cheers Darrel

 

[hydrophyte]

I think that that is "beefsteak plant" that I have. It is very easy to grow like this in hydroculture, but in this tank it has gotten to be rather leggy. It would probably perform better with somewhat brighter light and drier air.

 

[hydrophyte]

I put together a new blog post with descriptions of stuff that I received in a new order from Asiatica Nursery (http://www.asiaticanursery.com), a rare/exotic plant nursery in Pennsylvania, USA. I got two Schismatoglottis spp. plants and a couple of other fun and intriguing possibilities for riparium growing.

Plants in genus Schismatoglottis have a natural distribution in Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia. A number of them live in streamside situations out in the rainforest and it seems that they could be good choices for a lowish-light, high-humidity ripairum setup like this one and good companions for emersed crypts and Anubias.

Here's the link to the post.

http://hydrophytesblog.com/?p=1952

And here are shots of the two plants that I describe there.



Schismatoglottis 'Frosty Kiss'



Schismatoglottis picta

 

[hydrophyte]

Last week my emersed Cryptocoryne usteriana bloomed for me. The spathe was really fantastic--it only lasted a day. As crypts go, this one is pretty hefty and robust. That riparium planter cup is about 3" across at the top.



Here's a close up shot for the spathe.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
Fantastic, I love the Cryptocoryne flower, Aroids are just great. I admired a Dracunculus in the garden this morning, it's not quite out yet, but it won't be long.
.
I've never heard of Schismatoglottis before, but the look of it would instantly suggest that it will be suitable.
Have you got Schismatoglottis picta as well? The nursery link you sent is very interesting to, lots of good plants both glasshouse and garden.

I was very taken with the Philodendron collection. http://www.asiaticanursery.com/inde...phaKey=P&whichName=genus&showIntro=0&catID=73

cheers Darrel

 

[chilled84]

Hi all,
Fantastic, I love the Cryptocoryne flower, Aroids are just great. I admired a Dracunculus in the garden this morning, it's not quite out yet, but it won't be long.
.
I've never heard of Schismatoglottis before, but the look of it would instantly suggest that it will be suitable.
Have you got Schismatoglottis picta as well? The nursery link you sent is very interesting to, lots of good plants both glasshouse and garden.

I was very taken with the Philodendron collection. http://www.asiaticanursery.com/inde...phaKey=P&whichName=genus&showIntro=0&catID=73

cheers Darrel

I plopped one of these bulbs in my garden just before spring, But it has not poped up at all Wish i could find someone who sells it potted in the uk that i can just place in the garden for this year. I only bought it because i love the way it looks and i realy wanted to annoy the neibours with it rancid smell lol

 

[hydrophyte]

Thanks you guys. That is quite a remarkable patternation on the petiole bases of that Dracunculus.

Here is another quick close up of that usteriana spathe.

 

[LondonDragon]

The usteriana spathe is a beauty, would be interesting to source this out in the uk

 

[hydrophyte]

Hi all,
Fantastic, I love the Cryptocoryne flower, Aroids are just great. I admired a Dracunculus in the garden this morning, it's not quite out yet, but it won't be long.
.
I've never heard of Schismatoglottis before, but the look of it would instantly suggest that it will be suitable.
Have you got Schismatoglottis picta as well? The nursery link you sent is very interesting to, lots of good plants both glasshouse and garden.
cheers Darrel

That looks like a fantastic plant Darrel. I think that it is possible to grow Dranunculus here by planting it out and then digging the tubers to store in the fall. I like aroids too; they are my favorite group of plants. HAve you ever checked out the International Aroid Society? I seem to recall that there are some pretty active members in the UK and elsewhere in Europe. I went to their show in Miami last fall and they were a fun crowd, and they had amazing plants.

I did order the "S. picta" with those other plants. I understand that that name is obsolete and a synonym for Schismatoglottis calyptrata, a highly variable species with a broad range. Here is a shot of a leaf of my plant.



It seems that S. calyptrata is not really a rheophytic/water-associated plant, so I am just growing mine as a houseplant.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
Dracunculus is quite hardy. I just leave them in the ground, I can't dig them up now even if I wanted as the tubers are a long way down. It got to about -14oC here in the winter but it rarely gets any colder. I grow a few other aroids, in the garden Arisarum proboscideum - which does very well, and a couple of Arisaema sp. (A. candidissimum and A. "griffithii" these do less well). They have been very fashionable here, I got mine from http://rareplants.co.uk/, they sell all sorts of good stuff in the UK.

Here is my picture of the RBG Kew "Titan arum" a couple of years ago.


I was thinking about another Aroid for the riparium, the vegetable Eddoes or Taro (Colocasia esculenta)

as you see it likes the wet, and should be cheap and easy to obtain. You can also get variegated and purple leaved ones.
Colocasia esculenta albo variegata 'Elepaio'


Another thought was a non-aroid, but another edible one Sweet Potato (Ipomea batatas) here is 'Pink Frost'

and leaves flower of a standard one.

cheers Darrel

 

[hydrophyte]

Nice Arisarium Darrel. In that order of plants that I got from Aisatica Nursery I also received an Aridopsis, which is a small aroid from the Himalayan region with heart-shaped leaves and an unusual little spathe. Those mini-aroids are good for collecting for somebody like me who doesn't have a lot of space. Some of those aroid collectors accumulate big collections of those monster Philodendron and Anthurium and the like but I suppose you have to be independently wealthy with a conservatory or live in the tropics to keep those things.

I have tried a couple of different Colocasia esculenta, but they quickly grow to large to keep in a riparium. However, I have done very well with a dwarf taro, C. fallax. These stay managable for a riparium at least 90cm wide and have this very attractive foliage.



This one is var. 'Silver Dollar'.

Look at the mass of roots and rhizomes all round the riparium planter cup. This plant must do a super job at biological filtration for the aquarium water.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
The Arisarum is very easy, I'm a great one for plants that you plant and just let get on with it. I tend to divide mine occasionally as if you get a big patch they die down by early July and it leaves a bare patch. I've tried planting them with Cyclamen hederifolium and a Roscoe "cautleyoides", to try and limit the amount of time with bare ground. The Colocasia fallax looks a great plant for the riparium, as you say fantastic roots.
cheers Darrel

 

[hydrophyte]

The roots of that C. fallax grew all over the tank near the top of the water. I was getting livebearer fry in that tank at the time and the root mass provided many spot for them to hide.

I ought to try some Arisarum some time. They look like great little plants. I think that there might be a few US sources.

 

[hydrophyte]

Now that I have moved and redone this tank with a different selection of plants I am starting work on another new setup for my emersed crypts. I have some real nice plants, but they are all in dingy culture tanks right now.

I have a fun piece of of hardware to use for this new project, a new riparium trellis raft design that is designed for medium-small varieties of emersed aquatics that grow on hard substrates, such as Java fern 'Windeløv' and Anubias barteri var. nana. Here is a shot of the raft, which is about 5.5" long.



This picture shows a nana growing on the old prototype raft similar to this new one, but the prototype had more pieces of foam sticking out, and was thus more difficult to hide.



The new design should be easier to cover up and it has a few other handy features too. Here are some shots showing various different configurations that one might use for attaching the raft with hanging planters.







That last one uses one of the puzzlie-piece floats to get the raft out another 3cm or so. There are some other plants that might also be supported well by this thing. Certain stems, such as this NOID Pilea, could for example be planted into those larger round holes in the raft.



I think that I have a pretty fun idea for the tank configuration in mind. I won't be using a 220-litre as I did before, so I might start another new journal thread.

 

[hydrophyte]

I haven't been back to this thread in a while but today I got a quick shot of this tank. It was having some trouble with algae but now it's all clear again.



I'd say it could use a trim. I also hope to add a few underwater plants sometime soon.