Crypt wentii wont turn red?

[Seized]

My crypt wentii isnt turning red at all in my tanks i dose easy iron and easy green as well as i use plenty of good light and root tabs to help the plant grow. However my plant is still a brownish black. Any idea why and or what to do to make my crypt turn red?

[James V.]

Are you sure you got a Crypt wentii red, or could you possible have gotten bronze? What kind of light do you have on what size tank?

[Brandy]

I have the same thing, but I think I just don't have enough light. I have cheap Nicrews, and my fert schedule is a little haphazard. But I have other strongly red plants, they are just closer to the light than the crypts. They are short, and get shaded easily.

[Shade]

Just bc it's the red variant doesn't mean it's supposed to be red. It is completely dependant on iron from my experience. I have some that I only feet with root tabs and they are more purple/brown and the ones I have I'm Flourite are a lot more red. Higher light also helps get more vibrant red color. 

[Alison]

On 9/22/2020 at 4:46 PM, Seized said:

My crypt wentii isnt turning red at all in my tanks i dose easy iron and easy green as well as i use plenty of good light and root tabs to help the plant grow. However my plant is still a brownish black. Any idea why and or what to do to make my crypt turn red?

Its probably not getting enough light. The color of the leaves is caused by the production of anthocyanin. The plant produces more of this pigment in response to high light levels. 

I use the production of this pigment to measure how much light I'm giving my orchids. When I see just a bit of red/purple I know they are getting about as much light as they can tolerate without burning.