Keeping koi out of the hornwort

[John O]

I have tried to transplant hornwort from one pond to the other and no matter how I repot it, the koi are digging it out and I find the plant floating in the water. This time I carefully used a wire tie wrap to tie a small weight to a spot just above the roots and buried it in clay and some stones.

Have any of you had a similar problem? I also planted some Anacharis and the koi ate it up already.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

I don't plant my hornwort, it just floats where it wants. Usually stays between my lily pots.

 

[Mmathis]

I don't think that Hornwort is intended to be planted.

And as far as the koi eating it, from what I hear, koi will decimate almost any type of plant in the pond. It's just what koi do.

 

[John O]

Actually I meant sagittaria or Vallisneria. My mistake.

 

[j.w]

Ok then get some Hornwort cuz @callingcolleen1 has that stuff in w/koi and even tho they eat it it comes back and grows really big and yep you don't even plant that stuff. I think you will lose w/the Sagittaria cuz they will just pull at the leaves now.

 

[callingcolleen1]

The Horn wort needs to float freely in the water like a forest of floating beautiful grass, and yes the koi will eat lot's of it in early spring. Horn wort is good food for all the fish, but in the early spring it can seem like almost all the horn wort is gone, but little bit will remain in pond and when the weather gets hot the Hornwort should outgrow what the fish can eat. When you get a snip of hornwort, put some in a jar in the window with water to grow, or in a well lit fish tank. Always have reserve hornwort just in case the fish were extra hungry and eat it all in the spring, until it gets well established in your pond.

In the summer, when the sun is very hot and high in the sky, that is the best time for hornwort to grow, as it usually will outgrow what the fish can eat. If you have lots of fish and only one piece of hornwort, then they may eat it all before it has a chance to grow, that is why you need to grow a snip of hornwort in a jar or outdoor pool with no fish. Hornwort likes lots of sun but will not do as well in pea green water as that blocks too much light. Once you have a good amount of hornwort established in the pond, it will come back each year and does very well over the winter in ice cold running pond water with the fish.

This was the hornwort in January..

This was last fall...

This was last summer when the hornwort was growing at its peat...

 

[Mmathis]

@callingcolleen1 My hornwort all seems to get covered with pond scum and string algae and sinks to the bottom of the pond. Then I have to buy more every year. I don't think my goldfish are eating it. Is that normal? Does it have anything to do with the climate here in zone 8?

 

[callingcolleen1]

Don't give up on hornwort, cause one you have it growing good it really is just beautiful to see the very large koi swimming naturally in an underwater forest. Do not throw out bits of chewed hornwort in spring cause they look chewed, out them in another container of water and get them regrowing.
Do not let hornwort out in the wild as it can overtake local streams and ponds. It has been declared a weed in some parts of the country.... but weeds are good when you have big hungry koi as weeds grow fast!

 

[callingcolleen1]

@callingcolleen1 My hornwort all seems to get covered with pond scum and string algae and sinks to the bottom of the pond. Then I have to buy more every year. I don't think my goldfish are eating it. Is that normal? Does it have anything to do with the climate here in zone 8?

yes, it is very normal and that happens in my bottom pond where lots of fish hide under it. Right now it is dormant and may not look really appealing, but rest assured it will regrow once the sun and heat warm up the ponds. If you must clean out bottom of pond, be careful to not throw out the hornwort that is looking sad this time of the year, cause it will regrow fast once the sun is high in the sky (summer solstice)

 

[callingcolleen1]

Also spinning balls or lots of water movement will get the hornwort to regenerate quicker as well.

 

[callingcolleen1]

Also in the summer the fish will move on to a natural diet of high protein, like bugs and stuff, and then they will not eat as much of it.

 

[callingcolleen1]

and pick out the string algae in early spring as the string algae grows fast in spring when nothing else growing well. Think of it as "weeding" out the algae like a garden ... only in the spring do I find that necessary. In the summer it will grow too fast and will not need grooming anymore.

 

[j.w]

I am having the same problem as you @Mmathis cuz my Hornwort never really gets big and beautiful like @callingcolleen1 's. My pond is not as clear as hers and it does not get as hot here but the pond does get a lot of sun when we have sun. I notice the algae kind of clings to mine. The soft fuzzy short kind that falls off when you move it not the long stringy stuff. Or maybe it's not algae but some kind of scummy stuff. Heck I don't know. I will be patient and let it do it's thing and see what happens this year. Mine never really seems to float either, it just sits on the bottom. Last year it got wound up in my airline tubing by the falls and it seemed to like it there and it kind of was at the surface but man Colleens makes me so envious!

 

[callingcolleen1]

Thanks JW! Here in Medicine Hat we do have a lot of sunny days, more than you that is for sure. Right now the Horn wort is almost all gone in my ponds, except for bits of it here and there. The fish really ate lot's already. Not to worry, same as usual every year. It will regrow and in the bottom pond it looks pretty sad right now, laying at bottom and covered in pond decay. It will come back so don't worry too much about it right now. It have some that is tangled in weeds and strong algae as well right now, same thing every year. I will groom it soon and every day now we get closer to summer solstice !! I need to have party on summer solstice to celebrate the extra long day!

 

[callingcolleen1]

Not everyone has same conditions as me. Addy gets to grow fantastic bug eating plants and they won't grow for me. If horn wort not working to well in your pond, find another plant that will. Just like my yard, if conditions are not right and plant I bought will not grow, first I move it and see if that helps. If not, kick out that plant and there is 1000 others things to try!