Floating Pond Plants
Some Helpful Tips About Floating Pond Plants
The most wanted addition to any water-garden are floating pond plants. They cover the surface, shading the water of the pond and allow your fish to have something to escape under during those hot sunny afternoons.
Floating pond plants are grown using water nutrients and they compete with the algae to keep the water of the pond as clear as possible. The root of the plant feeds off the water so they do not require any planting and they grow quickly so after only a few weeks your pond could be covered in plants. Floating pond plants are so incredibly important to a water garden because they remove nitrates and ammonia from water and help keep the pond healthy can clean.
It is important to note that if you own a Koi, it can be a bit challenging to grow the plants quickly as the Koi will destroy them. They tend to enjoy nibbling on certain floating pond plants as a snack.
Floating pond plants are easy to plant. For most, you will just simply put them on the surface of the water. If you are planting Red Stemmed Parrot's Feather or the original Parrot's Feather, they need a weight added with a rubber band. You will just tie it around the plant stems and attach it to a sinker. The plants will the spread across the pond surface.
Ideally, you will have about half of the surface of your pond planted. In deep water you can plant lilies or lotus. Marginal plants, floating oxygenators and submerged oxygenators are ideal for shallow water. The easiest way to figure out how many floating plants you need is dividing by four. Take the square foot figure of your pond and divide by four and that is how many plants you need. So, an 80 square foot pond would require 20 plants.
Jumbo Water Hyacinth is rapidly growing popularity among floating pond plants. This plant was recognized by NASA more than 30 years ago for its amazing ability in water purification. Today, places like Disney World clean their water waste with these plants. You should know that this plant is very invasive and you must dispose of any extra plants very carefully. These floating pond plants should be floated in your pond starting in the shade and you will help them find their way into the sun. These plants will burn if they are started in the sunshine. Its root system needs to grow first and then they can thrive anywhere. Your pond also must have nutrients for the plants to survive. If you pond is new, you will have to add a little water-soluble fertilizer for the plants to feed on.
Other popular floating pond plants are water lettuce or shellflower, whichever you prefer to call them. It does well in Northern climates, has pale green leaves and it is a fast grower. Parrot's Feather is a lime-green, feathery plant that grows fast and is beautiful. An additional variety to this plant is the Red Stemmed Parrot's Feather that is a smaller version of the original and has brilliant stems that are red. A plant really worth checking out is the Sensitive Plant and the Large Leaf Sensitive Plant, they are a fern like plant with a yellow flower on top but the leaves close when they touch each other.
When purchasing floating pond plants it is helpful to know that a “bunch” is the standard terminology for many floating plants. One bunch is equivalent to a generous handful. Make sure to pick floating pond plants that are right for the location and depth of your pond and check that your pond has enough nutrients for your plants to grow.