Our mission

Pond plants

S

sfsuphysics

Supporting Member
BARcard
anyone have any recommendation for outdoor pond plants, and where to get them? My RO runoff is currently a 300g rubbermaid "bucket", that I occasionally use to water various parts of my yard. I noticed wigglers (mosquito larva) so I tossed in some cheap goldfish, then I noticed the local raccoon(s) (or skunks.. probable coons) enjoyed the free buffet I was offering, so I put a net covering on the tank, reintroduced more fish, they seem to be safe .. however I can't see the bottom any more because the its completely green (algae)... so I figured some floating plants would be a nice addition, maybe even give a tad of color as well rather than a dark gray bucket with pea soup in it.

Now I know the algae isn't harmful to my plants I water, but still its the principle of the situation.

I've checked the local big box home improvement stores as I've seen them there in past years, but I guess the season is already gone for those.. so any other ideas? I've seen duck weed in puddles up near Muir Woods, and I know how much Gresham loves that stuff :D
 
Mike the problem is a lot of those plants (ie. water hyacinth, water lettuce) are illegal in california, therefore you will not find them in any stores. Water lilies might be nice but you would have to put a pot in your "bucket".
 
Oh yeah? Wow, wasn't too long ago my father had those in his pond (which was this bucket), he picked them up at a local store too.. oh well, maybe I can try lilies, although will they be able to form at all if they can't get light to start with? If not I'll live with the soup
 
They should be able to send up leaves with out the light. That is what their bulbs (energy reserves) are for.
 
For mosquitoes, get mosquito fish. You can usually get them for free from vector control. They control they breed on their own and handle a wide range of temps.

http://www.smcmad.org/mosquito_fish.htm

For plants, you can use water lilies as Ian mentioned. Cabomba carolina (hornwart?) is also a good one and I think it is legal here. It is a free floating stem plant (no roots)
 
Oh wow Tony that's cool, however I don't live in SM County, wonder if there is an SF version of that, as I'm guessing they'll want to release the fish themselves ... maybe I can bring a small 30g tank or so over to my parents house and fill that up to get the fish :D
 
I have no idea the counties there :p Just search your county name with vector control and mosquito fish
You should get a site for free fish
 
vector control + mosquito fish + mosquito abatement + SF and I don't get any real hits. You have to be kidding me, SF HAS to have a Vector control.

Mike I can probably get you some plants, let me ask a buddy of mine.
 
We went over to T's mom's house last weekend and her pond had the wiggles too. We also bought goldfish. We'll have to see what it looks like when we go back. We've also had coons in the yard though.
 
back when I had my other pond (proper, in the ground, etc) I had some nice water irises, raccoons did away with any fish.. then they finished it up and ripped the plants to shreds as well.. I swear I wanted to shoot those bastages.

This time I put a net above the "pond", seems to be working, if I find any iris like plants that grow vertically, I'll simply cut a small hole for them.
 
I would recommend anacharis.
My grandpa put some in his giant pond on his farm, and it's thrived even since my dad was a kid (like 40 years ago). He lives in Tennessee so in the summer it's over 100F and in the winter it can be below 0F, which causes the pond to freeze over.
And use guppies for the mosquito larvae. They love them. And the anacharis would protect them and their many fry from the raccoons/skunks, plus if they ran out of mosquito larvae they could eat the anacharis. :bigsmile:
 
Pretty sure anacharis is a no no is CA. I know it has been deemed a noxious weed by CAL AG

Here's some good reading for safe ponding

http://www.fws.gov/answest/Projects/updated%20outreach%20materials%20for%20Master%20Gardeners.pdf
 
Yes, many of the old standard plants are a no-no here. And while I don't miss the lemnas, I sure do like azolla as a floating top cover. And no water sprite?!
 
Yeah, that anacharis (isn't that the same crap they used to stick in FW tanks?) wouldn't be good since no light would get to it.

Thanks for the read Gresham, looks quite a bit more readable than the Invasive Plant Inventory.
 
It could very well be legal to sell for food only ;) Jim would know...
 
sfsuphysics said:
I swear I wanted to shoot those bastages.
Click to expand...
My dad shoot one in the face with my Red Rider and it just stood there then walked away. The raccoons haven't come back yet. If you are looking for pond plants Caesar's Tropical Fish Factory has a pond section.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top