How to Produce Duckweed
If you are looking for an easy-growing aquatic plant that feeds many freshwater fish, look no further than duckweed. Duckweed is a free-floating aquatic plant that resembles lentils. In fact, duckweed is also known as water lentils. The plant reproduces extremely fast--often covering the entire surface of a
pond in a short amount of time, according to Iowa State University Extension--and does not need much in terms of care and maintenance.
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Instructions
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Purchase duckweed from a garden store, an online supplier, an aquatic center, or from a catalog that sells common aquatic plants and supplies.
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Choose a spot in your pond that receives partial sunlight. If you intend to plant the duckweed into an aquarium, position the aquarium in an area that receives partial sunlight. Make sure that the aquarium is freshwater; duckweed is a freshwater plant.
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Add the live duckweed to your pond or aquarium by putting a clump of it into the water. Duckweed grows fastest in nutrient-rich pond water. However, if you add duckweed to an aquarium, ensure that the plant receives plenty of light. According to petfish.net, no specific nutrients are required for it to grow; it mainly just needs light.
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Allow the duckweed to grow. Provided the duckweed has moderate water temperatures (nothing close to freezing) and plenty of sunlight, the duckweed will grow on its own with practically no care.
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Tips & Warnings
Do not let the duckweed completely take over your pond or aquarium. Because of the speed at which this plant grows, it is easy for a pond or an aquarium to be completely taken over by duckweed. If this happens, remove some of the duckweed population. If duckweed overtakes your pond or aquarium, your other aquatic plants and fish will be harmed because of a lack of food.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit duckweed image by Oleg Tarasov from Fotolia.com
