warm pots/water for aquatic aroids

From: "Julius Boos" <ju-bo at msn.com> on 2007.02.13 at 10:36:52(15287) Reply-To : Discussion of aroids Sent : Tuesday, February 13, 2007 3:19 AM To : aroid-l@gizmoworks.com Subject : [Aroid-l] warm pots for aquatic aroids Dear JB, Thanks for this information, it surely will be of help to some aquatic plant growers, though a five gallon pot might be a tad large for most plants needing the warmth. I`m not certain if Enid has written a short article up on what I am about to describe, either for Aroideana or the IAS Newsletter, but if not she should (hint hint, Enid!). My friends Enid and Sam, of Natural Selection Exotics www.NSExotics.com< have developed what I consider the most simple and yet effective method to keep her potted aquatics not only growing during our cold/cool season, but also flowering reproducing freely! Her system consists of a large, square plastic 'concrete mixing trough', abour 4' X 4', or maybe it was 5 'X 5' by 12" deep (any other suitably sized container would do). These are available at any large hardware store. To this she adds an underwater aquarium water heater, and one of those small underwater devices that pumps/circulates water in many marine fish tanks you see at a fish store. She puts water in the container so that it stands about 4"-5" deep, sets the larger 3gal. and 1 gal. potted plants in it (Urospatha and Cyrtosperma sps, etc.), the smaller 4" and 6" pots are put on a suitable base (a brick, etc.), to bring them to the correct height, and then she plugs in the two devices, aiming the flow of now suitably warmed water across the heater and around the pots in the container! When I saw her set-up, it was COLD outside, but the water was WARM, and ALL her aquatics were in fantastic condition, HEALTHY roots had grown out the drain-holes of the pots and into the surrounding water, blooms and developing seed-heads everywhere! The warm water rising also seemd to keep the leaves looking great, and since the container was in a greenhouse, there was no wind to affect them. Well done, Enid! Good Growing to all, Julius +More For those of us who attempt to grow some of the aquatic aroids which are generally very cold sensitive there is some interesting news. There is a heated pot called "Thermoplanter" now available. It's a 5 gallon pot that has an electrical heater in the bottom. It is made specifically for use immersed in water. Made for waterlilies actually. For details check the web, www.thermoplanter.<< _ _______________________________________________ Aroid-l mailing list Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

From: Dan Levin <levin at pixar.com> on 2007.02.14 at 05:34:21(15294) Dear Julius, Here on the other side of the US I stumbled upon the same solution as Enid, perhaps 5 or 6 years ago. In my case I'm using a Home Depot inexpensive pre-formed plastic fish pond set well into the ground, a submersible heater/ submersible pump inside. The pond itself is located inside my greenhouse- conservatory style- set amongst an in-ground planting bed (it's too cold in the San Francisco area to sustain a heated +More pond outside year-round...). The one thing I'd like to add here: I discovered that using any solid- surfaced props (bricks, e.g. or even inverted clay pots) to elevate my submerged aquatic pots resulted in anaerobic conditions and serious root die-back at the solid surface/ pot interface. In other words, the greatly restricted water circulation at the bottom of the potted aquatic plants resulted in noticeable "dead" zones within the media profile. I'm growing my aquatics in plastic net pots by the way, so roots would grow out the sides only- not down through the bottom. I've since been buying 4" ABS black plastic pipe couplings (slip x slip type) which are very sturdy and of the correct height for me, then using a stepped drill bit to bore numerous large diameter holes in the sides of said couplings; 8 or so holes each. Water (read: oxygen) now circulates freely beneath the pots. I suppose any strong, very open, inert support would do the same- I merely found the couplings handy and easy to modify. The results have been significant and the plant's increased vigor quite substantial. They're growing easily twice as many roots as before, so no surprise (this includes Lasia, Cyrtosperma and Typhonodorum). All best, -Dan On Feb 13, 2007, at 2:36 AM, Julius Boos wrote: My friends Enid and Sam, of Natural Selection Exotics www.NSExotics.com< have developed what I consider the most simple and yet effective method to keep her potted aquatics not only growing during our cold/ cool season, but also flowering reproducing freely! Her system consists of a large, square plastic 'concrete mixing trough', abour 4' X 4', or maybe it was 5 'X 5' by 12" deep (any other suitably sized container would do). These are available at any large hardware store. To this she adds an underwater aquarium water heater, and one of those small underwater devices that pumps/ circulates water in many marine fish tanks you see at a fish store. She puts water in the container so that it stands about 4"-5" deep, sets the larger 3gal. and 1 gal. potted plants in it (Urospatha and Cyrtosperma sps, etc.), the smaller 4" and 6" pots are put on a suitable base (a brick, etc.), to bring them to the correct height, and then she plugs in the two devices, aiming the flow of now suitably warmed water across the heater and around the pots in the container! _______________________________________________ Aroid-l mailing list Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

From: "Enid" <enigo at bellsouth.net> on 2007.02.15 at 13:48:31(15299) Hi All. It works great as Julius described. I actually found that the aquatics (Cyrtospermas, Urospathas, Lasiamorpha) do better in this set up than they do for me the whole rest of the year when it is warm enough and they are not in heated, circulated water. Circulated water is VERY important otherwise they just rot. They are just under shadecloth, no heat or cover other than the water, and they have gotten down to the high 30's in this set up before with no ill effects. We didn't set it up this year since it has been so warm, and the plants really show the difference. The plants are all in great shape considering it is early spring, but I certainly haven't gotten the 2 ft of growth I normally get in the winter without the heated water. Enid +More Natural Selections Exoticswww.NSExotics.com _______________________________________________ Aroid-l mailing list Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

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