Floating plant

[Turtlehead]

I have had duckweed and azolla in my pond and they grew like crazy but the fish and colder weather made them disappear. Now I have this new floating plant that I never stocked but must have come in when I introduced other plants or the one time I added some local water plants. Anyone know what this floating plant is?

 

[mrsclem]

Looks like frogbit.

 

[addy1]

Agree

 

[j.w]

Whatever, it's cute and I'd keep it!

 

[rubyduby]

I have had duckweed and azolla in my pond and they grew like crazy but the fish and colder weather made them disappear. Now I have this new floating plant that I never stocked but must have come in when I introduced other plants or the one time I added some local water plants. Anyone know what this floating plant is?

How do you keep it contained? I would love some of that but my skimmer would eat it

 

[rubyduby]

How do you keep it contained? I would love some of that but my skimmer would eat it

Just read back to your post and apparently you don't have a skimmer so you can have all of those fun little floaters

 

[j.w]

How do you keep it contained? I would love some of that but my skimmer would eat it

Maybe you could make a circle tube floating container? You might be able to use it w/o a net attached to the bottom.
Something like this below that I made and it was easy:

 

[rubyduby]

Maybe you could make a circle tube floating container? You might be able to use it w/o a net attached to the bottom.
Something like this below that I made and it was easy:

View attachment 145266

Good idea j.w…thanks!

 

[Mmathis]

Yes, maybe frogbit, but mine has already died back for the season.

 

[Turtlehead]

Thank you for your replies! I looked up frogbit and it looks a lot like that. I did look up close and saw that there were little ridges in the leaves so it may not be frogbit which appears to have smooth leaves. Looking up frogbit I found another plant that may be the plant I have in my pond. That plant is salvinia minima. It comes from South America and, unfortunately, is an invasive plant in Florida. Frogbit, however, is native to Florida. Whichever it is the fish eat some of it and I keep it in check with my trusty net each week when I clean the filters. I pile the excess next to the side of the pond so the little critters can slither back into the pond. I think the reason I lost all my azolla and duckweed is that the Florida summer was too hot for them. Salvinia minima can tolerate a water temperature of up to 89 degrees.

 

[Turtlehead]

You can see ridges on the leaves.

 

[Marck]

Indeed, it is a Salvinia. Your plant appears to be the Small Salvinia (Salvinia minima), rather than the larger Giant Salvinia (Salvinia molesta) tha tproduces thicker mats of foliage.

Your method of keeping Salvinia under control sounds very sensible. At some point you can move the piles of netted plant matter into your compost pile where they should break down quickly.

Also do admire the leaves with a handlens. The 'eggbeater' hairs on the leaf surface are remarkable structures.

 

[brokensword]

You can see ridges on the leaves.

if you ever want to divide/toss some of that, I'd be GLAD to try some. Just let me know and I'll pay the postage to get it here (Mi).

Neat floater and have never seen it before!

 

[Turtlehead]

if you ever want to divide/toss some of that, I'd be GLAD to try some. Just let me know and I'll pay the postage to get it here (Mi).

Neat floater and have never seen it before!

View attachment 145431

I am always tossing some! I haven’t decided if I am going to get more duckweed. The fish seemed to prefer eating the duckweed. I see you are up in Michigan so it would be too cold for you to try some now. It is a tropical plant so I don’t know how it would survive up there.

 

[Turtlehead]

Indeed, it is a Salvinia. Your plant appears to be the Small Salvinia (Salvinia minima), rather than the larger Giant Salvinia (Salvinia molesta) tha tproduces thicker mats of foliage.

Your method of keeping Salvinia under control sounds very sensible. At some point you can move the piles of netted plant matter into your compost pile where they should break down quickly.

Also do admire the leaves with a handlens. The 'eggbeater' hairs on the leaf surface are remarkable structures.

I looked up those “eggbeater” hairs and they are fascinating. I guess these little hair clusters all over the surface of the leaves are hygroscopic so they repel water which I believe makes them float easily. Some engineers were trying to utilize this concept for floating other things like boats.