The Great Water Flower Pot Experiment
and How it Ended
by Vicky Fannaly
The EBay ad said 10 lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) seeds for $1 - I was intrigued. There was a detailed description on how to file through the hard seed cover, soak in a glass and have a leaf or two in a matter of a few weeks. There was the slight flaw in the plan - I did not have a pond!
I got the idea of putting plants in flower pots filled with water. Then I thought how water lilies (Nymphaea nouchali) would be lovely, and oh! there were water hyacinths (Eichhornia crassipes) and water willows (Justicia americana) and such. Soon I had six pots filled with water growing plants including Louisiana iris (Iris brevicaulis), water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) , duck weed (Lemna minor), pickerel (Pontederia cordata) and the dreaded wiggle tails as my great aunt used to call mosquito larvae.
I went bust on the lotus seed notion as things kept happening to the germinated seeds and ordered a lotus root section from an EBay'er in California. The first leaves were enormous - bigger than the flower pot opening! Out came the galvanized tub that I used to fill to wash the dogs. Soon I had it filled with glorious exotic lotus leaves. I thanked the lady who sent the lotus, and she told me to be sure to get some special fertilizer or they would not bloom. This comes in six month dosages, and very reasonable.
I wanted to put fish in the flower pots to eat the mosquito larvae. Gold fish sounded like a good plan, but they were too expensive at $6 each. I tried the Alabama fish service that comes monthly to the feed store, but they only had minnows that ate algae. Back to EBay, where I found a man selling mosquito fish (Gambusia). He boasted that he lived in the California desert where the temps were over 100 degrees and the winters so brutally cold that the ponds froze. His adult fish could eat about 65 mosquito larvae a day. Price was right!
I tracked the fish until they were posted as delivered. Then I pestered the post office until they found the package. It was a tiny 4x4 inch box lined with Styrofoam and a breathable plastic bag with 35 plus tiny fish! They looked like ditch minnows and hard to see in the flower pots, but every now and then I see a group of tiny babies. They are live bearing!
Then I learned what pond scum was on a first hand basis. This is a green film that traps the fish and kills them. The solution was skimming the surface of the pots and removing the film, then reducing the water by 20 per cent and adding fresh water.
Soon I was enjoying the lovely water hyacinth and water lily blooms. They were exotic and beautiful! Like anything you are proud of, something happens to turn things around. My something was a delightfully cuddly fuzzy puppy of St. Bernard mix. Katy, the puppy, found it delightful to wade in the galvanized tub of lotus to cool off on a summer day. Working her way to the 200 pound St. Bernard limit from a mere 10 pounds takes a lot of eating, so little Katy decided to eat her way through the water hyacinths, and things that she did not like to taste, she just removed from the water. She has not found the fish yet, but then she isn't three months old. I'm sure that will come next.
I plan to dissuade her from her penchant for aquatic plants and hope she grows out of it. There are still some pots that Katy hasn’t found, and lots of undistinguished looking fish. Meanwhile so much for the great water garden experiment.
Bibliography
Brown, Clair A., Wildflowers of Louisiana and Adjoining States, Baton Rouge LA, Louisiana State University Press, 1972.
Coon, Nelson, The Dictionary of Useful Plants, Emmaus PA, Rodale Press/Book Division, 1974
Hay, Roy & Synge, Patrick M, The Color Dictionary of Flowers & Plants, New York NY: Crown Publishers Inc., 1974.
Rodale, J.I., Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening, Emmaus PA: Rodale Books, Inc., 1976.
Macoboy, Stirling, What Flower is That?, New York NY: Crown Publishers Inc., 1973.
I got the idea of putting plants in flower pots filled with water. Then I thought how water lilies (Nymphaea nouchali) would be lovely, and oh! there were water hyacinths (Eichhornia crassipes) and water willows (Justicia americana) and such. Soon I had six pots filled with water growing plants including Louisiana iris (Iris brevicaulis), water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) , duck weed (Lemna minor), pickerel (Pontederia cordata) and the dreaded wiggle tails as my great aunt used to call mosquito larvae.
I went bust on the lotus seed notion as things kept happening to the germinated seeds and ordered a lotus root section from an EBay'er in California. The first leaves were enormous - bigger than the flower pot opening! Out came the galvanized tub that I used to fill to wash the dogs. Soon I had it filled with glorious exotic lotus leaves. I thanked the lady who sent the lotus, and she told me to be sure to get some special fertilizer or they would not bloom. This comes in six month dosages, and very reasonable.
I wanted to put fish in the flower pots to eat the mosquito larvae. Gold fish sounded like a good plan, but they were too expensive at $6 each. I tried the Alabama fish service that comes monthly to the feed store, but they only had minnows that ate algae. Back to EBay, where I found a man selling mosquito fish (Gambusia). He boasted that he lived in the California desert where the temps were over 100 degrees and the winters so brutally cold that the ponds froze. His adult fish could eat about 65 mosquito larvae a day. Price was right!
I tracked the fish until they were posted as delivered. Then I pestered the post office until they found the package. It was a tiny 4x4 inch box lined with Styrofoam and a breathable plastic bag with 35 plus tiny fish! They looked like ditch minnows and hard to see in the flower pots, but every now and then I see a group of tiny babies. They are live bearing!
Then I learned what pond scum was on a first hand basis. This is a green film that traps the fish and kills them. The solution was skimming the surface of the pots and removing the film, then reducing the water by 20 per cent and adding fresh water.
Soon I was enjoying the lovely water hyacinth and water lily blooms. They were exotic and beautiful! Like anything you are proud of, something happens to turn things around. My something was a delightfully cuddly fuzzy puppy of St. Bernard mix. Katy, the puppy, found it delightful to wade in the galvanized tub of lotus to cool off on a summer day. Working her way to the 200 pound St. Bernard limit from a mere 10 pounds takes a lot of eating, so little Katy decided to eat her way through the water hyacinths, and things that she did not like to taste, she just removed from the water. She has not found the fish yet, but then she isn't three months old. I'm sure that will come next.
I plan to dissuade her from her penchant for aquatic plants and hope she grows out of it. There are still some pots that Katy hasn’t found, and lots of undistinguished looking fish. Meanwhile so much for the great water garden experiment.
Bibliography
Brown, Clair A., Wildflowers of Louisiana and Adjoining States, Baton Rouge LA, Louisiana State University Press, 1972.
Coon, Nelson, The Dictionary of Useful Plants, Emmaus PA, Rodale Press/Book Division, 1974
Hay, Roy & Synge, Patrick M, The Color Dictionary of Flowers & Plants, New York NY: Crown Publishers Inc., 1974.
Rodale, J.I., Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening, Emmaus PA: Rodale Books, Inc., 1976.
Macoboy, Stirling, What Flower is That?, New York NY: Crown Publishers Inc., 1973.