Pennywort

[12DM]

I have a small pond, probably 800 gallon or so, with water iris and 2 small koi. I was given a plant I thought was a water lotus in a cloth pond pot with pond soil and gravel. And let the pot sink to the 30 inch depth of the pond. I just found out that it’s actually pennywort.

The water is too cold to go in after it. Should I be concerned that there’s now an invasive plant at the bottom? Or will the planting medium contain it?

 

[GBBUDD]

It will Not get out of control before temps get to where you can go after it but yes I would not allow that in a small pond. Try watercress it to grows very rapidly does not need soil. But is easy to control while it helps to out compete algae

 

[JRS]

Welcome!

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome!

So, how did you find out it was pennywort and not a lotus? Do you have a net? You can always net it out. My pennywort floats on top of the water, so not sure how it will survive 30” down.

Where do you live?

But I will avoid the elephant in the room.

 

[12DM]

Hello and welcome!

So, how did you find out it was pennywort and not a lotus? Do you have a net? You can always net it out. My pennywort floats on top of the water, so not sure how it will survive 30” down.

Where do you live?

But I will avoid the elephant in the room.

Hi! I weighted down the planter so a net won’t do the trick. Guess I’ll wait a few months till the water warms up (I’m in NJ)...right now it’s hovering between 45-50 degrees.
So the story of the mistaken identity is I responded to a seller on Facebook marketplace. He wasn’t home when I went to pick up the plant, and he told me he was leaving several lotus out. Turns out he also left out pennywort for other buyers and nothing was labeled.
I thought the leaf didn’t look like a lotus, but since he had recommended a depth of 24-30 inches I sunk it to the bottom of the pond. That night he contacted me to tell me he thought I’d picked up the wrong plant.
I can go back to get a lotus, but meanwhile I now have a pennywort at the bottom of my pond!

 

[GBBUDD]

Neither of those plants are kind to a small pond. If lotus takes it can be just as uncontrollable as penny wart but should do great to out compete algae

 

[Tula]

Love the leaves of penny wort, but it completely took over my bog last year so I removed all of it.

 

[addy1]

It took over a small pond I have, I yanked it all. It was also heading out into the yard.

 

[brokensword]

so, elephants in the room...okay, I'll go there. What MMathis is intimating is that koi need a lot of room, like 1000 gallons for ONE. Your koi, if they are indeed koi, are probably going to overwhelm your pond and create water problems as well as possibly get themselves killed. Koi are a heavy burden on your pond equilibrium and demand very good filtratiion. Having such will give you a chance of keeping the koi alive and not having your pond crash re water health. Search for 'bog' threads here and see if the idea can be incorporated into your pond as this is an almost maintenance free filtration system, once you get it established.

I have pennywort too and it did get out of control in my bog last year too. I'm going to limit it now to a pot of it's own on the patio. I'd get that pot with pennywort out of the pond if you want to have it this summer as I don't think it'll survive long at that depth. Pennywort is a marginal and grows in the shallows/marginal areas. Not to mention, your fish may well chew it all up.

And, I'd be very careful re putting a lotus in your pond; it gets very large/tall and will overwhelm the area. Unless it's a dwarf variety and even then, will still take up a goodly amount of space.

 

[addy1]

And, I'd be very careful re putting a lotus in your pond; it gets very large/tall and will overwhelm the area. Unless it's a dwarf variety and even then, will still take up a goodly amount of space.

I had a small lotus in my big pond in a pot, next thing I knew it had tubers going everywhere. So I moved it to a small pond and it took over, I removed it. Stuck it in the 300 gallon lotus tub. Their own pond

 

[brokensword]

I had a small lotus in my big pond in a pot, next thing I knew it had tubers going everywhere. So I moved it to a small pond and it took over, I removed it. Stuck it in the 300 gallon lotus tub. Their own pond

heh, so, the lotus won?

 

[addy1]

heh, so, the lotus won?

for a brief amount of time.................they spread faster than lilies do