Emersed Plants

So with some inspiration from fellow fish boxers (Hobbyobsession and PBmax) and the inter-web. I've been really excited to setup my own emersed setups. The key seems to be good lighting and high humidity. I've seen so many varieties of substrates used, from peat, dirt, aquasoil, gravel, clay balls. So I just decided to do my own recipe.

(please chime in if you find some substrates work better than others)

The first layer, I used organic Garden soil, small pieces of clay and then topped with Africana simply because I had it laying around.
I then fertilized some tank water and Potassium Nitrate, Potassium Sulfate, Magnesium Sulfate, Plantex CSM+B.
I also dropped in some Seachem nitrogen and trace.

I may have over done it a bit but this is new territory for me and I'm ok with learning from my mistakes. =)

My Emersed Jar setup:
This is my office plant

Plants:
Crypt Wendtii bronze
Glosso
Hydrocotyle Sp Japan
Staurogyne Repens

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My 3 Gallon Setup. Used for some of my clippings from the 12 gallon.

Plants
Utricularia graminifolia
Pennywort
Rotala Rotundifolia
Bacopa
HC
Cardamine

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looks good.

Very cool - keep us updated with photos!

ultimate fail on the jar, I left the light on all weekend on the jar at work and now I've got a jar full of molded plants.

Not sure what may have been the cause. Has anyone else experienced this?

I'd trim back any plants that you think are salvageable then manually remove any mold you can. Then just keep going forward. Mold pops up from time to time in high humidity environments . ive always just added removed the mold and added in more plants.

I run the lights on my emersed containers about 12h a day, though I think hobbyorobsession is right - mold loves moisture. My glosso container always breathes a bit thanks to defects in the cuts for the glass lid and my dry start 10g is always vented a bit. So far I've had no mold in either.

Also, my dry start tank has amazonia which is sterilized as part of the production process, if I recall correctly. I baked the dirt in the glosso tank myself before I setup that tank, so that probably helps. I imagine this only delays mold, but for now both tanks are mold free.

I think allowing the emersed tanks some breathability is important. Like pbmax mentioned, I open my containers daily to mist them, exchanging that air a little. Good luck with your experiment.

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I agree with pbmax and hobbyorobsession: the mold is caused by too much moisture and low air circulation. I had succes with dry start and I never sealed the fish tank. I've always left a small air gap for air circulation. Above you can see some pictures of a 2.5 gal tank in dry and flooded phase.

It may also be worth mentioning that I didn't fertilize either of my containers with anything. I used straight amazonia 1 (old amazonia) and straight organic choice garden soil. Maybe the extra nutrients made the mold happy?

The use of fertilizers is necessary only if you use inert soil/gravel or after the nutrients in the specialized soil are exhausted(old setups). However I don't think the adding of fertilizers will cause the mold.

Yes, definitely think its the low air circulation it was sealed pretty tight, for the entire weekend with lots of ferts. My other setups seem to be doing good since I peek in there everyday.
I'll give it some air.

Jar update:

Major mold problem. Any chance of a phoenix here or should I start over?
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Hmmm, personally I'd drain that water with an air tube until there was no standing water visible in the jar. I read elsewhere that standing water generally grows bad stuff in emersed setups. Most plants shouldn't care, I think, as long as there's moisture in the air and they're getting misted once every day or two. At least that's been my experience thus far.

oh that explains alot.

the office jar was a failure but my plastic tub has grown awesome! The verticillata has pushed off the plastic sheet that was covering it

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Wow, they look fantastic   Nicely done!

thanks I've let them sit outside on the shady side of the house and the growth has really exploded. I may try that with some of the other emersed plants but I'm afraid some will melt due to the change in environment.

quick updates on the 3 gallon emersed setup. Things are starting to fill in, albeit slowly. I'll have to try something new out after I move for a better method. I've been reading up on hydroponic systems and may give that a go. It looks like fun and perhaps I can harvest some edibles while I'm at it. =)

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yes that is lindsay Lohan looking at my baby Reineckii
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binbin9 wrote:quick updates on the 3 gallon emersed setup. Things are starting to fill in, albeit slowly. I'll have to try something new out after I move for a better method. I've been reading up on hydroponic systems and may give that a go. It looks like fun and perhaps I can harvest some edibles while I'm at it. =)

Try it out man, I'm willing to bet you would have a blast if you like doing immersed.  Look into aquaponics too, it combines two super sweet hobbies and a bit more fun than a closed hydro system.

I was thinking about using the water change water for the emersed setups, so I guess it can be some kind of hybrid system. We'll see at the moment I find myself thinking more about my new fish and plant rack then buying and decorating for the new house. =)

I also bought one of those pond fog machines to help with humidity. Not sure how well they work but in we'll see.