[James From Cali]

Well I just got my Mosquitofish and my new plants for my outside tank. But before right now the plants are in a bucket and I am wondering how to plant them:

Water Lettuce
Water Sprite
Bannana Plant
Parrots Feather

Now I know the Water Lettuce floats but the other three is what Im wondering about. The water Sprite has roots but it actually has no stem to place in the gravel. The Parrots Feather is a bit tricky to plant, any tips on keeping it down? And should the Bannana Plant be attached to something?

 

[danepatrick]

water lettuce = floats
water sprite = just like any other stem plant
banana plant = bury 2/3 of the base down
parrots feather = just like any other stem plant.

 

[James From Cali]

Okay thanks!

 

[medicineman]

Water sprite (ceratopteris) can also be planted in the substrate, just with a weight or left floating (and it will form into a floating plant).

 

[James From Cali]

Water sprite (ceratopteris) can also be planted in the substrate, just with a weight or left floating (and it will form into a floating plant).

I wanted it to form behind this rock and hang over it. So planted is what I was looking for.

 

[CampCreekTexas]

I've been a ponderer for years and never planted my parrot's feather. It did just fine on it's own, growing and floating around the ponds. One year, some rooted itself in a pot and really took off! So you can do it either way. If you find it grows too fast, just uproot it and let it float.

 

[James From Cali]

I've been a ponderer for years and never planted my parrot's feather. It did just fine on it's own, growing and floating around the ponds. One year, some rooted itself in a pot and really took off! So you can do it either way. If you find it grows too fast, just uproot it and let it float.

Actually if it grows fast I have extra stems to plant(I have 2 stems) and sell

 

[CampCreekTexas]

There ya' go! If that's your goal, then you might want to fertilize, too, if you haven't planned on that already. That'll make them JUMP up out of the pot!

I've used chunks of Jobe's fruit tree spikes, broken up with a hammer, stuck in the dirt in the pot with it ~ a piece about half an inch long in a gallon pot, one inch in a three gallon. That's what I feed my water lilies since the extra P & K help with blooming, so I just put some in all my pond plants' pots since I have them already. I don't know if it's the best for the parrot's feather, but it works well enough for me.

This year though, I've been thinking about trying some house plant spikes in the pots of parrot's feather and other "leafy" pond plants (papyrus, reeds, water clover, etc.), the ones that aren't usually grown for their blooms. The house plant spikes have more N and that's what leafy plants need. That might cut back on the unused ferts in the water and help keep it a bit clearer, too.

 

[James From Cali]

Well Im nervous about Dosing Ferts in the tank because of the Mosquitofish. I hear they can have Copper in the water or they will die. I may be able to get away with using Nitrates, Phosphates, and Sulfates but not trace elements(which the flourite may give the instead).

 

[CampCreekTexas]

That's why it's better to use some sort of solid fertilizer, not a powder, and poke it down into the soil in the pot ~ less fert in the water column more in the soil around the roots of the plant.

But is this a pond, or more of an aquarium? Are your plants going to be in substrate spread out on the bottom or in pots with soil in the pot? If it's not a real pond, my advise might not be good for you since advise for a true pond might not be what you need. :icon_conf I'm definitely experienced with ponds and pond plants like the parrot's feather (been "pondering" for years), but not very with planted tanks/aquariums (yet! :biggrin.