Crypto lutea growth issue...

[Martin]

Hi all!  My planted tank is about 6 weeks old now and everything is going well overall.  All the plants are producing new shoots/leaves however the cryptocoryne lutea has been somewhat of an enigma.  Each time it produces a stem, over the next few days, a different stem will yellow and die off.  At this point, I'm 99% certain all of the original leaves have already melted away, so I'm dealing with all new, post-planting stems.  All of the other plants are thriving, so I don't think I have a mineral deficiency.  I also have a crypto wendtii green, which is having no problems.  Maybe this species needs more root tab than the other?

I've included a handy-dandy photo!  Yeah, I have too much time on my hands...  Thanks in advance all!

[Its Hutch]

It looks to me like it is still converting. The new leaves are nice and green and it is consuming the old ones. I could always be wrong of course.

[Martin]

Thanks Hutch, but that yellowing one was actually a new leaf at one point; all of the original leaves had already melted away.  Very perplexing.

[Brandy]

Welll, I mean...Lutea means "yellow" in Latin, right? Just kidding. I suspect it is focusing its growth on roots at the moment and will rebound once it is established. 

[Martin]

30 minutes ago, Brandy said:

Welll, I mean...Lutea means "yellow" in Latin, right? Just kidding.

I read that first part and was like, "Ooooh..."  Then I read the second and was like, "Oh." 🤣

[Brandy]

Heh, it does mean yellow. But I don't think that is "just how they are".😎

[Jungle Fan]

@Martinare you using any root tabs, or adding liquid iron? If not you might want to give that a try. Crypts just like sword plants are heavy root feeders and crave iron and potassium. Liquid iron can help some but for crypts and swords it's all about root tabs since the roots are there primary uptake for both, not the water column.

[Martin]

Thanks @Jungle Fan!  I had placed down root tabs when I first planted the tank.  The other crypto has been growing well since that time so my initial thought was that wasn't the issue, but now I'm not so sure.  Tomorrow is PWC time so I'll try plopping down another and seeing what happens.