Adding sand into the substrate mix to improve growth

I had 2 pots of C. striolata collected from Sarawak, one with ADA Amazonia mixed with Ocean Free Super Pro-Peat Granule (pot A) and BE-1 organic fertiliser, the other similar except that SUDO Crystal Orange Sand was mixed within the substrate as well (pot B).

After more than a month, the C. striolata in pot B seemed to be growing much better than that in pot A. See below, the first 2 photographs are the C. striolata in pot B taken one month apart, while the next 2 are that in pot A, also taken one month apart.

I therefore decided to add the same sand mixture into pot A too (see below) to see if the growth would be improved thereafter.

Similarly, there are a few species of cryptocoryne from Sarawak which are not growing well currently too. As these species of cryptocoryne were found in habitats with sandy base, I decided to add sand into the pots of cryptocorynes as well to see if this would improve their growth as well.

Firstly is C. auriculata 'Mador', the two photographs were taken one month apart. The C. auriculata was initially grown in a mixture of ADA Amazonia and Africana with peat granules and BE-1 organic fertiliser. The second photograph is the most current with sand already added in, showing the cryptocoryne not doing too well.

Secondly is C. cordata var. zonata 'Sungei Engkramut'. It was initially grown in a mixture of ADA Amazonia with peat granules and BE-1 organic fertiliser.

Thirdly is C. cf. cordata / C. cf. xpurpurea 'Lundu'. It was grown initially in ADA Africana mixed with peat granules and BE-1 organic fertiliser.

Hopefully I will have some good news to announce a few months later regarding this.

C. xpurpurea 'Tasik Bera' bloomed finally.

My C. xpurpurea 'Tasik Bera' finally bloomed last week in my cultivated tank after more than half a year in cultivation. It had red spotted limb with thick collar which seemed to have some slight tinge of yellow colour. The front of the collar is not fully enclosed, with a wide V shape open as could be seen in the photographs of other grower's C. xpurpurea spathe.

When I saw that the limb had started to rot tonight, I decided to cut open the kettle to take some photographs.

The white stigmas are vert cute in my opinion.

C. pallidinervia all melted except.....

I have potted the C. pallidinervia collected near Sibu in Sarawak in 2 separate pots of ADA Malaya + Ocean Free peat granules + BE1 organic fertiliser. They were growing well for a few weeks before suddenly melting away within just a couple of days. Sad, I guess it might be because the ratio of peat granules (about 10% only) was insufficient.

In an attempt to save them, I transferred a few remaining plants into a pot with rotting Ketapang leaves + coconut husk, hoping the the pH of the substrate would then be lower to aid in their growth. However, these plants melted away too except for...

... one leaf with petiole already melted away. This particular "last leaf standing" managed to remain green and healthy looking for more than a month already. Below is a photograph which I took yesterday to show its status, it is still looking good except for the petiole connection area which has started to turn yellowish.

Weird?

C. villosa updated cultivated photograph

Below are 2 similar photographs, one with flash on and one without. Not much changes to the C. villosa I had after close to 3 months of cultivation, just 3 new leaves.

Battling soil lice (or thrips?) again

My 2.5 ft emersed tank started to have soil lice (or thrips?) again after a few months. I guessed that there were remnant eggs laid in the pots of substrates which were not disposed off fully during my last attempt to submerge these pots under water for a week.

I decided to top up the water level in the tank till it went pass the top of the pots, fully submersing the substrates under water so that these lice / thrips will have no where to hide. A guppy was added to help eat any soil lice / thrips floating on the surface of the water. I will attempt to keep the water level permanently as such and see how the cryptocorynes react to such partially submersed environment......

From emersed to submersed to stimulate growth

One of my cultivation tank consisting mainly of those cryptocorynes from west Kalimantan and Anambas Islands were doing fine initially but over time, started to melt away and looked as if they were suffering from some form of malnutrition and stunted growth. The pots of cryptocorynes in the entire tank was affected by this.

An overview of the affected tank

C. cf. ferruginea / ideii 'west Kalimantan'

C. cordata 'Rompin'

In a desperate attempt to save these cryptocorynes, I decided to completely change their environment from emersed to submersed. The pots of cryptocorynes were transferred to some plastic box containers filled with tap water and placed outside the balcony to receive sunlight. A few fishes (guppy and platy) were added to prevent mosquitoes breeding.

More than a month later, most of the pots of cryptocorynes were showing considerable signs of improvement in growth as compared to when they were in the emersed tank. New leaves were growing out and were fuller and not stunted. The only problem is that the are many green hair algae growing in the plastic container which could easily be resolved by introducing a large bag of Malayan shrimps in.

C. fusca 'west Kalimantan'

C. cf. ferrigunea / ideii 'west Kalimantan'

C. cordata 'Rompin'

C. sp. 'Pahang River', the markings on the submersed leaves reminded me of that on the emersed leaves of C. nurii 'Terengganu'

C. cordata cf. zonata 'west Kalimantan'

C. sp. 'Tarempa 4'

What was the initial problem that affected the entire emersed cultivation tank?

C. longicauda 'Pantu' and 'Lachau'

I have not been updating my blog recently as I have not been going out for field trips recently. I have been concentrating more on beefing up my fitness level as I will be going for reservist next week and will probably need to take an annual fitness test. Also, my Canon A480 had a slight problem with its lens and is undergoing repair now. I can probably only share some updates of my cultivated cryptocorynes with photographs taken with my N73 Nokia hand phone instead.

The C. longicauda 'Pantu' and C. Longicauda 'Lachau' are growing fine in my cultivation tank in my opinion with the one from Lachau growing better. The Pantu one is grown mainly in ADA Africana while the Lachau one is grown mainly in ADA Amazonia. Both pots are mixed with Ocean Free Super Pro-Peat Granules to reduce the pH as well as BE-1 organic fertiliser granules.

Although the forests of Pantu and Lachau should be connected (i.e. they are the same forest), the specimens we collected from Lachau tend to have browner leaves as compared to that from Pantu. The new leaves although are green will turn brownish slowly.