Water primrose?

[Brian B]

Hey all, I am a new aquascaper here...

Does anybody use water primrose in their pond?

I pulled some out of my father-in-law's 1 acre pond, and put it in my 35 gallon barrel pond. The stuff has taken off.

It roots in the substrate to an extent, but most of the roots spread out into the water, and the plant grows like mad. My nitrates are always near zero.

It is just now starting to flower. This stuff is native to the southern US, and it chokes up waterways pretty good here in northern California (not as bad as the hyacinth).

I can't believe how fast it grew just pulling nutrients out of the water. Also, it seems to tolerate trimming of the roots without any reaction at all.

I wonder how it will react to winter.

Anybody else use this plant?

 

[Brian B]

Here is a pic

 

[Mmathis]

Hmmm, be careful with it — it’s labeled a noxious invasive weed.

This is from Wikipedia:
The Ludwigia species cause dense mats which form a perfect protective habitat for mosquitoes. This cause higher rates of the West Nile Virus and other diseases that mosquitoes commonly spread. They are also a serious nuisance for human activity. Leisure activities such as hunting, fishing, and boating can be extremely difficult. Flood risk increases due to the decrease in channel carry capacity. The rapid and uncontrolled growth of water primrose dominates native population and are damaging irrigation and drainage networks of water bodies. Fish can have a hard time moving through these dense Ludwigia populations, which then in turn effect the habitat of surface animals such as birds.

 

[Brian B]

Hmmm, be careful with it — it’s labeled a noxious invasive weed.

This is from Wikipedia:
The Ludwigia species cause dense mats which form a perfect protective habitat for mosquitoes. This cause higher rates of the West Nile Virus and other diseases that mosquitoes commonly spread. They are also a serious nuisance for human activity. Leisure activities such as hunting, fishing, and boating can be extremely difficult. Flood risk increases due to the decrease in channel carry capacity. The rapid and uncontrolled growth of water primrose dominates native population and are damaging irrigation and drainage networks of water bodies. Fish can have a hard time moving through these dense Ludwigia populations, which then in turn effect the habitat of surface animals such as birds.

Ha well...yeah. That's what it does when allowed to grow uncontrolled in a waterway.

I have it in my tiny pond, where I can sculpt it however I want it to grow. Not gonna tangle up my boat propeller LOL.

Seriously though....lots of folks use water hyacinth here, which is arguably worse. At least the primrose dies off in the winter.

I had read that before....thanks for the response.

 

[Lisak1]

All the good stuff has to have a bad side, doesn't it? It sure is a pretty plant!

 

[Brian B]

It only takes two minutes to reach into the water and rip the roots back when they get too thick. The plant doesn't seem to notice.

All of the stuff in the canals and irrigation ditches pushed out little yellow flowers two weeks ago.
Mine is just starting to push out tiny little buds.
A faint algae fuzz grows on the floating roots, and the fish seem to like to peck at the roots too.

 

[addy1]

All about control! I yank out buckets of plants off and on to control them.

 

[Mmathis]

@Brian B I think the point I was trying to make is to be responsible and not let your plants/clippings get into natural waterways.

 

[Brian B]

@Brian B I think the point I was trying to make is to be responsible and not let your plants/clippings get into natural waterways.

Noted. Thank you

 

[Brian B]

Hey all,

A little update.

Got my first flowers this week. Seems to be two buds per stem. The flowers bloomed, and within two days, the petals had all fallen off. Then I got two more a day later in a different spot. And that pattern seems to repeat itself.

The stuff that has taken over the local (slow-moving) waterways seems to grow in tighter, smaller clumps and produces more flowers as a result.
The plant growing in my barrel seems to want to spread out a bit more.


The roots on these plants are interesting. They push out a lot of fan-like, delicate roots out in to the water column that seem to be feeding directly from the water. Then, you will see thick, white spear-like runners shooting downwards, towards the bottom of the pond. I guess these are "searchers" looking for substrate to root in to. These "searchers" found the substrate in my horsetail pot and rapidly latched on to that.

Anyhow.....I will keep posting updates, since there is virtually zero info online about cultivation and gardening of these plants.
Thanks for reading!

 

[Brian B]

Another update......


The primrose is spreading even more rapidly in this heat. Although it seems to enjoy as much sun as possible, I have moved an umbrella over to partially shade the pond, since it is well over 100 degrees today and the last couple of days.

I went on vacation for a week, and the wind blew the long-growing piece into the water. By the time I returned home, the portions that had leaves sprouting had already begun growing roots into the water, so I let it be.

Initially, the roots were long, white and thin with no fan structure. Once they got about 5 inches long and didn't find any substrate to grow into, the roots transformed into fan-like structures. I am assuming this is how the plants feed when they are too deep to find substrate.

I have also been taking cuttings and growing them in a plastic container on my patio table. I add a bit of cycled water every week. I put yard dirt and gravel in as a substrate.

Here is how the roots start out (very rapid growth)

Here is how they look after a week or two

Here is the long streamer, laid out in the water, a few weeks ago:

Here is it now....notice the amount of growth once it formed more roots.

Yes that is a dead frog in my birdbath. I keep finding dead ones there, I don't know why. My fish are fine and water checks out OK. I have found frog egg sacs on the back of some leaves....maybe they die after laying eggs? Who knows?


Here is the cuttings in the container a couple of weeks ago:

Here they are two days ago. Notice the rapid growth. These cuttings get zero sun (don't want to fry the roots) and the leaves are somewhat wilted as a result. Still flowering. The flowering seems to come in waves, with none appearing for a week, and then a week of flowering. Go figure.

 

[Brian B]

I would also like to address those who have concerns about this stuff "escaping" into the local waterways.

I drive all over a 2 county area for my work (I fix home appliances). Since I have been growing this stuff, I have been taking notice of every waterway that I drive past.

Well....this stuff is in every waterway except for the big, fast-moving rivers. And I mean EVERY waterway. Ponds, creeks, irrigation ditches, you name it. It is choking up the drainage canal behind my house. It is in every slough. It is ubiquitous. The big rivers are linked to all of the sloughs, so apparently if the water is moving fast enough, this stuff won't grow. It doesn't seem to grow in areas with 100% shade.

 

[Tara]

This is very interesting, I have a new pond this year, been late getting plants in for spring this is one of the plants I got. I love it, it has grown from a few cutting to large plants down the side of my pond, it has not flowered yet though. I'm interested in its winter capabilities and it's survival. I am moving some to another end of my pond also, to fill a bare end.

 

[Brian B]

This is very interesting, I have a new pond this year, been late getting plants in for spring this is one of the plants I got. I love it, it has grown from a few cutting to large plants down the side of my pond, it has not flowered yet though. I'm interested in its winter capabilities and it's survival. I am moving some to another end of my pond also, to fill a bare end.

Did you actually buy it? Or did you collect some yourself?

 

[Tara]

I bought it. I have not seen it growing anywhere around where I live.