# Mounting Cryptanthus



## boogsawaste (Jun 28, 2008)

I know that cryptanthus are supposed to be terrestrial plants, but can they be mounted? Or is there any other way to mount them to say my great stuff background (possibly bore out a hole in it and use some sphagnum)? Here's what I have:

Cryptanthus Giancarlo

Cryptanthus pink starlight

Cryptanthus black Mystic

Also, should I try and keep water out of their cups? I have a bunch of these and don't want to plant them all on the bottom. Any guesstimates as to what size they attain will also be appreciated!


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## littlefrog (Sep 13, 2005)

They will need to stay fairly moist at the roots, if you can manage that in a mounted environment that would be fine. Most tanks are humid enough that you should be able to get away with mounting them in a smallish pocket of loose sphagnum moss, for example.

I don't know the first one.

Pink Starlite is a little one. Mine never get much more than 6" across, and that would be big for those.

Black Mystic tends to get fairly large, on the order of a foot across.

I wouldn't worry about water in the cups. Crpyts don't seem to hold much water anyway. I think the leaves are too loosely packed to allow water to accumulate in large amounts.


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## onefstsnake (Jul 31, 2008)

I have my crypts mounted directly in the substrate. Just make sure it drains well.


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## boogsawaste (Jun 28, 2008)

I figured the black magic gets fairly large. I have a 44 gallon corner tank that I was going to put one in. When I ordered a bunch of bromeliads I specifically asked for species that stays 8" or less across and for some reason I got those. The ones labeled giancarlo, I tried to search for them but nothing came up. I can post a pic up later and see if anyone can identify.


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