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Uses for discarded floating plants

5K views 9 replies 9 participants last post by  thedeep 
#1 ·
Hi everyone!
I thought it would be interesting to start a thread on what people use their discarded floating plants for.
I put my excess duckweed on my pot plants as a fertiliser. I've also heard of people blending it up and using it as an ingredient in home-made shrimp foods which I might try in the future.

What do you use your discarded plants for?
 
#3 ·
I had a big plastic box where i was used to throw duckweed and they had minimal light, i used snails hoping they would survive and they barely spent 2 days in there. The duxkweed covered the surface but at one point i had no more space at home for a box of plants...

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#4 ·
You could try whipping up a tasty salad or soup with your excess duckweed! :wink2:

"But the best thing about duckweed is that it is also edible for humans. Duckweed resembles in taste to watercress or spinach. The wolffia genus has traditionally played a role in Asian cuisine, where it is used as a nutritious vegetable by the Thai, Burmese and Laotians. Duckweed can be mixed into soups and salad, or used in sandwiches as a substitute for alfalfa, lettuce, watercress or spinach."

From here: https://www.permacultureinstitutethailand.org/duckweed/
 
#5 ·
I have Salvinia minima (water spangles) and have been astounded how quickly that stuff multiplies. I am serious considering setting up a time lapse photography because I would swear it doubles in size in 2-3 days. I have been removing significant amounts at water change and tossing out on the lawn (which I know probably should not do due to invasiveness).

It does feel like a waste whenever I do that but I don't know what else to so. I have a local school that has a turtle pond, that I donate some fish stuff too, was thinking of donating some excess plants.
 
#6 ·
In the past when I had worm bins I used to just compost it in there. Now I throw it out most of the time and feel kind of bad about it. But it seems to multiply so fast that if I don't frequently remove it, it covers the entire surface and blocks light to my bottom plants. I have water lettuce, amazon frog bit and duck weed so they all contend for space and cover the surface fast. The water lettuce is nice looking but eventually it grows incredibly long roots that get tangled up in my moss or other plants if I don't frequently trim off its roots.
 
#8 ·
The floaters are a triple threat. They take light, nutrients, and reduce gas exchange. They also do not give back much if any O2 and do not uptake much if any CO2 from the water column. None of those things are necessarily bad, great in some situations, bad in others. They are good natural tools where they work, for example I had a full canopy in a 20GL mainly breeder style tank. They kept the water clean, gave cover to fry, and dimmed lights naturally so that algae would not form anywhere. In my now high tech tank, they serve an ornamental purpose and give my shrimp and fry some interesting habitat but affect the lighting, nutrient, and gas exchange in a way I would consider negative, mainly because the floaters cause those three things to change too quickly. Going from covering <1/8 to >1/2 the tank in a week is a substantial lighting change, nutrient drain, and is concerning as far as maintaining consistent CO2 levels. I've just cut them back much more substantially than before to a very sparse presence.

It would be good to know if there are any floaters out there that do not multiply so fast. The problem is they are so close to the light and get max energy. I've tried to keep them at the edges of my tank where they both won't block light to anything below and they won't get so much light. But it's not perfect and at the whims of my water currents.
 
#9 ·
I have salvinia auriculata in my 10g office tank. Whenever I do a shrimp cull, I pull a bunch of the salvinia out and throw it in with the shrimp so they have something to hide in/hold on to. Then I sell the culls/floaters on kijiji. I've actually paid for the initial cost of the flora and fauna in the tank by doing this over the course of a few months. These days my shrimp colony has dwindled a bit, so whenever I have to thin out the floaters, I just toss them on the soil of one of the many potted plants in the office.
 
#10 · (Edited)
Usually, I get rid of it. It is essential to keep your garden clean, and by clean, I mean getting rid of discarded plants in time because they can damage other healthy plants. If the spent plant material was restorative, it should be composted. If the plant material showed signs of disease, it should be disposed of in the trash or burned. I use a weed puller bought on Choosing the Best Weed Puller Is Easy with Our Top 5 Reviews! for performing these actions. So, it might be handy for you too.
 
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