RE: [Aroid-l] My method--warm pots/water for aquatic aroids

From: "D. Christopher Rogers" <crogers at ecoanalysts.com> on 2007.02.15 at 17:10:08(15300) Hiyer! I really like this method, Julius! I plan on giving it a shot. Here is what I have been doing so far: In my greenhouse I have two 35-gallon aquariums. I put a layer of peat and compost about 4 cm deep on the bottom, and then an 8 cm layer of fine sand. Then I filled the tanks with R/O water, and add some Lemna, Wolfia, Wolfiella and Spirodella. In this way, the sand traps most organic material at the bottom, and what sneaks through or is generated is picked up by the duckweeds. This helps keep algae to a minimum. I use no heaters or circulation pumps. I planted my Crypts and Anubias in the sand, and let their roots go where they like. I have had one Crypt bloom, but other wise the plants just keep dividing. The Anubias seem disinclined to spread, but like to flower. Maybe if I used heaters and circulation pumps the Crypts would bloom more, and the Anubias would grow and spread. Next experiment! Grins, Christopher +More D. Christopher Rogers Invertebrate Ecologist/Taxonomist ((,///////////=====< EcoAnalysts, Inc. (530) 406-1178 166 Buckeye Street Woodland CA 95695 USA ? Invertebrate Taxonomy ? Invertebrate Ecological Studies ? Bioassessment and Study Design ? Endangered Invertebrate Species ? Zooplankton ? Periphyton/ Phytoplankton Moscow, ID ? Bozeman, MT ? Woodland, CA ? Neosho, MO ? Selinsgrove, PA www.ecoanalysts.com -----Original Message----- [mailto:aroid-l-bounces@gizmoworks.com]On Behalf Of Julius Boos Sent: Wednesday, February 14, 2007 12:13 PM To: aroid-l@gizmoworks.com Subject: Re: [Aroid-l] My method--warm pots/water for aquatic aroids >From : Dan Levin Reply-To : Discussion of aroids Sent : Wednesday, February 14, 2007 5:34 AM To : Discussion of aroids Subject : Re: [Aroid-l] warm pots/water for aquatic aroids Dear Dan, Thanks for the note! I really should have 'qualified' my note by saying that what Enid did was AFTER she had followed my advice given in my article in Aroideana, "Experiencing Urospathas', where I outlined my experiences with my irreplacable aquatics being lost to exactly what you describe, the potting 'soil'/mix rotting when submerged underwater. In my article I outline my battle to overcome this, finally discovering that by using 4"-5" of rocks/crock at the bottom of the pot, and then using a mix with LITTLE 'soil' and mainly coarse sand into which I pot the plant ABOVE this layer of rock/crock, and then placing these pots in LARGE saucers of water kept no deeper than say 3", so that the 'soil'/mix is kept above and so NEVER submerged underwater. You must hand-water until you see roots emerge from the drain holes into the water, and fertilize with a weak liquid fertilizer more frequently, and change the water on a regular basis to prevent salt bulid-up. Dr. Birdsey used to submerge his pots (he used pure coarse sand as a medium) completely underwater, and depended on his fishes waste products for fertilizer. If you can, look up and read the article. Enid took this one step further by just using my method, but used a larger 'saucer'/container with circulating heated water, it is a fantastic method. All richer 'soil' mixes (not really soil at all!) will rot if submerged. Good Growing, Julius >>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 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 _______________________________________________ Aroid-l mailing list Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

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