Look back to the Oct 08 / Nov 08 timeframe to the posts I did about trying to grow Cryptocoryne elliptica from leaf pullings. Well, this week, one of the plants I propagated from that method flowered. ~6-7 months from leaf > plant > spathe.
It’s actually got atleast two spathes on there. Check it out.
Ok, this is the last update on the Cryptocoryne elliptica plantlets. I’ve demonstrated how Cryptocoryne elliptica can be successfully propagated via its leaves. Almost 6 weeks since I started, the plants are now strong and large enough to be planted into individual pots, which I’ve done today. Here’s a picture of the container just prior to me pulling these plants out. Roots are not visible in this picture, but each plant has multiple 2″+ roots and appears to be growing vigorously.
Side note: I pulled some additional leaves off my mother plant last week and those are now rooted already. This is not a common crypt by any means, and if I can propagate some more out, I’ll be able to share it with my fellow crypt enthusiasts.
Well, its been a total of 20 days now since I started experimenting with the C. elliptica propagation via leaves. Today, the plantlet roots are about 1″-1.5″ long, and there are multiple roots per plantlet. Most planlets have two young leaves at this point as well. I’ve decided to ‘pot’ them up at this point in about 1″ of ADA Amazonia which is right at water level – creating a slurry of Aquasoil for the plantlets to thrive in. I took several pictures, but my CompactFlash card got corrupted and I lost all the pictures on it. This update will have to do without any pictures. Next update in 1 week.
Its been 5 days since I pulled the remaining leaves from the pot and dropped them into the water. Compare these pictures…
Today -5 days
Today
Today -5 days
Today
So it seems, for the initial rooting, putting the leaves in shallow water works well.
Well, its been about a week since I pulled some elliptica leaves and planted them. on the advice of Jim and with Aarons previous experiences, I had taken a couple of the leaves out of the pot and put them on a folded paper towel right in the crypt tank so that they were sitting in 3-4mm of water. I took some new pictures today..
This leaf already had a fairly significant plantlet on it. However, look – not much has changed in the 1 week.
The ones in water have been there a couple days LESS than the ones in the soil, take a look here….
New roots are clearly visible and growing! It appears to have a 2nd ‘leaf’ as well.
Both leaves I put in water show similar results and both potted leaves are exactly as they were when I potted them. Comparing these, I’ve taken the rest of the leaves from the pot and added them into the water.
There are enough leaves on my single plant of Cryptocoryne elliptica to try my hand at propagating this species. This is the only known species of cryptocoryne that is known to be able to propagate via leaf cutting – or IS it? Read on!
The mother plant…
So the first step was to harvest some of the leaves. With a new razor blade, I cut off one of the older leaves. It was a little tricky to get that leaf cut without damaging the rest of the plant, so I decided the pull off the next leaf. To my surprise, the leaf came off with a tiny plantlet at its base. A little annoyed at myself for not noticing the plantlet earlier, I pulled off another leaf. Woah! What’s that? Another ‘bud’ at the base of this leaf too. I pulled off a total of 5 leaves, and almost all of them have a very noticable little bud a their base.
You’ll notice that in some cases, the bud is fairly well developed. In other cases, its just a little bump at the base of the petiole. The last leaf in the picture (bottom right) is the only one I cut off with a razor. All the rest were pulled off.
click on the picture to get a larger version
I potted up the leaves in 100% Amazonia and drizzled a little rooting hormone around each leaf.
So, the question now is – Does C. elliptica really have the capability to grow a new plant from just the leaf, like African Violets, or is it this little bud the the base of the petiole really the reason behind it all? The leaf in the middle of the pot is the only one that was cut – it doesn’t have a ‘bud’. I’ll bet that little bud is the real reason why elliptica can propagate from a leaf. It also explains why Aaron Talbot’s attempts at this failed – he was cutting the petiole. Take a closer look at pictures available online of others who’ve grown elliptica from leaf cuttings (Google) and you’ll notice that the plantlet always grows from the same ‘bud spot’. In anycase, I’ll post some pictures in a week or two of any success or failure.
..another 14 days later…
Thats a six week time frame from bottom picture to top. Wow! Also notice that the leaves are now enlongated. Hopefully this plant will flower soon.
What a difference in 14 days….
What have I done in the last 14 days?
1) Sphagnum sp.
2) Rooting Hormone
3) Mycorhizzal fungus
4) Laterite
5) Big water changes to bring the water down to 200 microseimens from 1200.
Which one made the difference? I don’t know.
Cryptocoryne elliptica is the only crypt known to be able to propagate from a leaf cutting – similar to African Violets. I received this plant from Aaron talbot a few months ago. After a short period of growth, the plant melted – I thought I’d lost it. But it came back – here’s a recent picture.
Once it has a few more leaves, I intend to try and propagte some out via leaf cuttings. Should be fun!