ICU for a new plant

[gardenman]

I just got some new plants, Crypt Lutea and Aponogeton Crispus. The Crypt is gorgeous. A near perfect plant. The Aponogeton, eh, not so much. I'm hopeful it's in mid-melt but it came with very little top growth and only about a quarter-inch long roots. (A quarter inch long may be overly optimistic even.) It's a very sad-looking little plant. So, it goes into the plant ICU. There aren't enough roots to hold it in the soil with any fish interaction at all, so I made it a little in-aquarium greenhouse out of a couple of 16.9 oz plastic bottles. Aponogetons are a bulb plant and there's no bulb. There are barely any roots. I put an inch of used flourite in the bottom of the bottle. (Aponogetons like a rich soil.) Punched a few small holes in the side of the bottle for minimal water flow. Cut the second bottle into a sleeve to extend it above the waterline, and the plant is now resting comfortably under my best lights in its little greenhouse. We'll see what happens. God willing, it'll take off and grow like a weed. I'm giving it the best possible chance. I'm not wildly optimistic though. It's a pretty sad-looking plant right now. But it's alive and has a chance. We'll see what happens.

[ScottieB]

Sounds like a plan... I imagine that crispus is gonna love those conditions (especially the soil) and should bounce back. You got a picture? Lets see what your dealing with. 

 

[Guppysnail]

I had a tiger lotus I got like this  it is still alive and trying but it is tiny. The others I got are now monsters. The roots have started growing and it has grown new tiny leaves. I’ve had it for 2 months. 

[gardenman]

On 1/6/2022 at 11:22 AM, ScottieB said:

Sounds like a plan... I imagine that crispus is gonna love those conditions (especially the soil) and should bounce back. You got a picture? Lets see what your dealing with. 

 

Here's a pic of it of the Aponogeton as it came.

 

[lefty o]

looks like a good case of melt.

[gardenman]

On 1/6/2022 at 12:09 PM, lefty o said:

looks like a good case of melt.

Agreed. That's what I'm hoping anyway. We'll see. It should bounce back if that's the case. 

[ScottieB]

Ouch, thats some melting. Lets see how it goes but I'm pretty sure the customer service at the COOP will help if you need it replaced. 

[gardenman]

On 1/6/2022 at 3:00 PM, ScottieB said:

Ouch, thats some melting. Lets see how it goes but I'm pretty sure the customer service at the COOP will help if you need it replaced. 

Yeah, it's not a plant I would buy in a typical retail store in that condition, but it's what came. I'll post a photo of the Crypt Lutea below so you can see the difference between the two. That's a gorgeous plant (for now anyway. It may be just getting ready to melt.) The Aponogeton is kind of a mess, but I'm arrogant enough to assume I can revive it and save it. We'll see if I'm right or not in the coming days/weeks. It's getting optimal care right now, so if it can survive, it should survive. If not, oh well, it won't be the first plant I've had die on me. It probably won't be the last either. The Crypt's just gorgeous though. 

 

[Torrey]

On 1/6/2022 at 10:06 AM, gardenman said:

Here's a pic of it of the Aponogeton as it came.

 

My spouse got me several plants that looked that bad or worse, because they were 80% off at a local box store.

I had surgery in November, and couldn't physically get the plants into tanks, and didn't even have water in the tank they are going to be planted in yet (still don't).

Plants have been left in their big box containers, and once a week they get fertilized tank water on the base. All plants have started regrowing, and a few have refilled their containers (the anubias are growing very slowly). They are currently emmersed in very high humidity. As soon as I am cleared to start the 4' tank build, they'll have a permanent home.

If you want to see images, I posted pictures today as I gave them their weekly dose of ferts, in my Name That Plant thread

[gardenman]

Sadly, I paid full price for mine. It is what it is though. If it lives, fantastic. If not, I'll replace it with something else down the road. It's certainly not display tank ready at this point. It's going to be in ICU for a few weeks/months until it either dies off completely (it's not that far from that now) or revives and becomes healthy. The good news is Aponogetons are generally pretty tough little plants and hard to kill. I suspect it'll revive. I'll find out in the coming days/weeks/months. It doesn't look good now, but we'll see what happens. It's got good water, good light, and good soil, so if it can survive, it should. This wasn't really a planned order. I needed to add a couple of plants to qualify for free shipping, so I added the Crypt and Aponogeton. Neither of which are readily available locally. The Crypt was a good investment. The Aponogeton, well, we'll see. Right now, it's not so great. In a few weeks it might be fantastic. (Or dead.) You never know.

[Torrey]

On 1/6/2022 at 2:43 PM, gardenman said:

Right now, it's not so great. In a few weeks it might be fantastic. (Or dead.) You never know.

Truer words have not been spoken.