Emersed Growth Experiment 56K WARNING!!

[connordude27]

Well its emersed and i can't find a better place to put this (this thread might eventually cause one of my 10g's to turn in to a riparium or pladarium

There is a place around here where they sell plastic trays by the pound for $2 I bought 1/2 pd of the small 72 pot trays (3 total) and 1/2 pd of the 32 pot trays (4 total) i also bought the dome and a tray without holes (also peat pellets @$0.13ea)

Total cost so far $13

Light- In the window only a few hours of direct sun
Soil- Peat pellets (soon to be capped with AS)
Plants- C Wendtii (species unknown for now)
Amazon Sword
Fissidens fontanus
Peacock Moss
Java fern
Staurogyne sp 'low grow'
Staurogyne sp 'porto velho'
Dwarf hairgrass (species unknown at the moment) 'belem'
Ferts- Dry added to water KNO3 KH2PO4 MgSO4

Heres the little tray greenhouse it is in

[jerrytheplater]

I don't know how long you have your plants in direct sun or if it is filtered or not, but be careful. It can get really hot in a sealed greenhouse and you can kill your plants from the heat quickly.

I killed a few Crypts I was growing in large glass vases I bought from Wal-Mart when they got exposed to full sun in the early fall. As the sun angle changed to lower in the sky, it allowed the full sun to hit my plants on the shelf they were on. I didn't notice it in time and most of the plants died. Some only melted and recovered after I moved them back from the window and out of full sun.

I only have three left now, and they are kind of hurting now. They are at work in an area without A/C. It gets up over 100F in there without the sun. We wilt too!!

[connordude27]

Hi,

Theres not to much direct sunlight that hits it. There is an hour at the most. Thanks for the advise though, since i am going on vacation for 3 weeks i will have the vents partially open so some heat can escape while retaining some humidity.

A question- What kind of nutrients does peat have? Was it a good idea to add dry ferts to the water in the tray?

Thanks,
Connor E

[jerrytheplater]

There aren't any nutrients in peat. It will buffer the water and lower the pH.

You will have to feed your plants somehow. Dry ferts will work. I use a liquid plant food like Dyna-Gro. It has really good trace nutrient levels. I actually just soak the peat in the bottom of the jars with a diluted mix of the fertilizer for about an hour and then pour it off. I'll replace the liquid with water.

Search on hydroponic growing, because that is what you are doing.

[chuukus]

I have been growing plants emersed for a few years. My Staurogyne both of them like the water level a little higher. About even with the rim of the pot. Once they change from submersed to emeresed and you see some new leaves they like garden ferts like Miracle Grow. The stuff you mix with water I found that Peters brand works better. I put one tsp in a spray bottle then fill with RO water. The water will be a light blue color. I then spray the plants up to 4 times a day and they love it. When they get taller some will put out air roots from the first few inches of the stem. I trim them at the base then repot the tops so the roots dont dry up. This way you can propigate them pretty fast. The plant you just cut at the base will grow much bushier. Just keep repeating the process and you will have tons of plants.

[connordude27]

Thanks for the replies,

I'll get working on buying that fertilizer for the plants so i don't have to dose dry plants.

Thank you,
Connor E

[Da Plant Man]

Update?

[connordude27]

I'll get pics by the end of the day but... All the R Rotundifolia died. The Ludwigia repens x acurata is doing awesome along with the staurogyne 'porto velho' and low grow

[bherren1]

i'm really anxious to see how your mosses are doing. -BH

[bherren1]

any updates?

[connordude27]

really sorry for not updating.. heres the update (pics come tomorrow FOR SURE!!!)

The R. rotundifolia completely melted. I capped all the surviving plants with AS (except the moss)

[albirdy]

I look forward to this.

[connordude27]

well here it is... The sticks molded so i took them out.

The moss is still alive... It just yellowed at the tips on both fissidens and peacock moss.

Staurogyne sp 'Porto Velho' and 'low grow'


Tray Overveiw

Moss and fissidens fontanus

DHG 'belem' (i also grow this submersed)

Crypt shot



MY OTHER EXPERIMENT.. EMERSED GLOSSO in a custom build acrylic tray with AS

[Jaggedfury]

Anymore updated to this? I'm curious to find out if fissidens fontanus actually grows quicker emerse or submersed. Mines seems to take forever to grow submersed but it does look very lust green and awesome.

[connordude27]

As soon as i find the camera i can get an update...

As for the fissidens it looks so much better if grown submersed. I would say it grows a bit faster emersed. It would be interesting to see someone use fissidens in a terrarium with live animals