I grew some houttuynia Cordata from root cuttings last year in a pot and I planted them pretty much bareroot in pea gravel in my pond as marginals this past May and has 2 in of water over its crown. I see a lot of red on them which I don’t know what’s causing. They are in full sun. Anyone have experience with these plants as marginals and want to tell me what may be wrong?
Chameleon plant not doing well in pond
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mrsclem
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The red leaves are natural, it's also known as rainbow plant.
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dayum: thought the OP had found a way to kill houttuynia. Been trying for 30 years now. Short of digging up the whole garden and flame throwing every little piece of root left...
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Mine gets more red leaves on the areas of the plant that are in the sun than the parts that are in shade. I always assumed that lots of sun means more red leaves.
I’m actually more worried about the speckles than the red itself, it looks similar to some fungus disease. I know several of these plants that grow in the ground in full sun but none have these reddish color and speckles. I’m almost wondering if they are in water too deep? Or just adjusting to transplant?
@brokensword I would never dare to grow this plant in the ground unless I install a root barrier with clamps
@brokensword I would never dare to grow this plant in the ground unless I install a root barrier with clamps
i found it doesn't like being submerged but prefers just having it's feet wet and when it gets that not the first year but the second year it sends out thousands of shoots very invasive
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yeah, tell me about it! I was both young AND dumb back then...
mrsclem
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Try moving yours up out of the water a little
It's too deep.
But if I were you I'd drop it to the bottom of the pond and walk away.
But if I were you I'd drop it to the bottom of the pond and walk away.
So I pulled them up and noticed alot of its roots were mush, even though there were plenty of new growth emerging. Are these really true aquatics plants? Why would an aquatic plant start rotting in water? I did add more gravel to elevate the surface more and replanted the plants.
Sources do say up to 2 inches of water is fine for them and mine was at around 1-2 inches of water. So I don’t understand why they wouldn’t thrive.
Sources do say up to 2 inches of water is fine for them and mine was at around 1-2 inches of water. So I don’t understand why they wouldn’t thrive.
It's one of those boggy type marginal plants that can handle marshy soil, but doesn't actually grow in water.