I decided to take about 8 of the smartweed plants I posted about earlier and transfer them to our pond. I planted them very widely spaced around the shallow end of the pond. We have a little cove that the majority of the water flows into from the watershed. They are at the very end of this. I think it will create a great habitat for fingerlings and YOY fish. I should be able to control it fairly well on our pond. Right now all I have is a little primrose that never really does anything...and LOTS of FA. I'm also thinking the smartweed will help reduce my nutrient load. I'm going to document how long it takes the smartweed to grow/spread. This is water smartweed. I would have liked some penn smartweed from what I read, ducks like the seeds better. I enjoy the ducks in the fall, but we have only had them once. We had hay all around the edges of the pond...they loved it. Did not have that this year, so no ducks. Anyways, I'll be posting pics of the plants every day or so. If they grow like the FA, should not take them long. Its hard to see them in the second pic. They are there though. If you have seen any of my posts about my FA, you'll notice a reduction. I have not done anything except stock the tilapia. I do not know for sure, but its as if they have cut off the feed line to the floating stuff. There are clearing of spots on the bottom, but the biggest difference I can see, are the mats are shrinking, and I have not seen any new mats. We are also getting VERY dry right now...so I really expected an explosion of FA...but its been the opposite...(GO TEAM TILAPIA!!)
IIRC from your plant ID post, you have transplanted these smartweeds from a nearby location. If so, you are on the best path to success. I have found that local transplants have the best chance of survival. I have also found that the smartweed at my pond grows and spreads very well all on its own without competing with the rush grass and arrowhead. I hope the same for you. It is a nice plant that adds some color (my plants have reddish stems and small pink/white flowers),it does not get very dense or tall and stays in the very shallowest of water while living mostly on the bank. This makes me wonder if you will get much in the way of cover unless your pond level fluctuates...water goes down, smartweed grows at lower shore, then water level goes up covering the plants and giving temporary cover until the plant dies.
Look for some arrowhead, wapato, or duck potato (same plant just three common names) and see if it likes your area, I bet it does. This stuff can handle water level changes and mostly lives in 18 inches of water and less. It has a tropical house plant look to it and produces interesting flowers although not real showy. This plant would add diversity to your cover at the banks and takes up fair amounts of nutriets.
The best I can tell from your photos, you have dry-rooted your transplants. Meaning that you did not move any dirt with your plants from the previous location that kept the roots from being disturbed. Smartweed is pretty tolerant of being dry-rooted, but if you have trouble getting them to take in their new pond setting...try shoveling up a good wad of dirt around the root system when you dig them up and plant the dirt with the plants at your pond.
I did not bring any soil. The ponds are a couple miles apart. The smartweed in the source pond is very dense and goes out pretty deep. I did read of some growing as tall as 36". That would be perfect on the shallower side of my pond. I'm assuming yours does not go very far into the BOW? One reason I didn't take soil with me was the number of rhizomes already coming off the roots, it was crazy. Even if that main trunk dies I feel like I'll have a good chance of a good spread. I dug them up, placed in trashbag, went straight to our pond and planted. The holes I dug were more of soupy mud, so a few fell over. I would like to introduce some other plants also. After identifying this I wasn't scared of it, and it was free, on my uncles land.
Below is one that I removed when I was identifying. All the ones I planted had sprouts coming off the roots just like this. I'm anxious just to see how quickly they pop up when they actually get some sunlight.
The reason I wonder about it staying on the shore around here...or this particular variety, is what it has done in the pond next to the shop.
I know it goes at least 30 feet out into this pond. The pond drops quickly. I would like to get out there sometime and pull one on the edge and just see how tall they are. I do not know the depth of the pond, but I would say its growing in at least 4 feet of water. But like I said I do not know for sure. I would like for it to do something similar to this in my cove, and around the southern edge of the pond.
I've found myself looking at plants in all the ponds around my area, just in case something tickles my fancy or looks interesting. I wish my primrose would take off...I'm scared to try to fertilize it or anything due to my FA. I guess I could throw a little nitrogen on some of it just to see what it would do...no phosphorus though...think I have plenty of that. lol
With that type of Smartweed growth out into 4' of water, there will be plenty of cover. Holy smokes! If my smartweed does that, I won't have a pond left. lol Most all the smartweed on my place lives in wet environments, but not actually out in the water unless your talking up to 6 inches deep. Some actually grows away from the water near the house. I wonder if there is a dryer version (like mine) and a wet version (like your uncles)? I also wonder if your uncle's plants are actually rooted on the bottom or if they are growing from the bank and merely floating mats.
They are rooted from what I could reach with the shovel. I know from what I have read, I have "water smartweed". Two others that I read alot about the past few days were swamp and pennsylvania (sp?). One of those could be what you have. Seems there were over 30 different varieties of smartweed. The pond next to the shop is pretty intense. That is why i spaced mine like I did...maybe it won't get ahead of me. lol. We shall see. Do some google searches on it and look at the images. Seems ducks like the penn the best. Something about the waxy coating on the water smartweed like I have...its tough for them to get through.
Maybe my "smart" weed won't end up being a "dumb" weed for my pond...lol
Love to see some pics of what you have though and the other two you spoke of.
Here are couple pics of the Arrowhead (Wapato or Duck Potato). The small leafy stuff near the rocks is not part of the arrowhead plant..
And a close-up of the smartweed. It's the only pic I have of this stuff, but, like I said, it really stays mostly on moist land with some living in the shallows of a few inches. My pond is only a year old since it filled after renovation and this year could be a new experience for the plant life...we'll see.
Oh wow. I like that. How does it reproduce? Can it root from the nodes?? Or do you have to plant one at a time and wait for seeds? What are your goals with that? I'm new to the pond plants, not to horticulture as I worked in a greenhouse for 5 years, then taught it in high school ag. Greenhouses are alot of fun.
Wonder if anyone onsite is growing out any aquatic plants in greenhouses to transplant to their ponds? Would like to know about that.
I'm guessing being in MO you have access to the rock in the pics. Love the look of that.
Sagittaria latifolia (broadleaf arrowhead) reproduces by seeds and can be divided at the tubers. The tubers are also edible and are said to strongly resemble potatoes. I have not eaten any, mostly because my source for these plants is a cattle pond and it's pretty nasty. I'll get my buddy, who eats anything, to try some from the fishery this year as they are multiplying well and there will be plenty to go around.
I moved 10 of these from the cattle pond last year to get things going in the newly filled pond which was unnecessary as 100-200 babies popped up on there own from seed I presume. The cattle pond is only 200 yards away. My goal for the plants is beautification and erosion control. And, if I had one more irregular shaped rock on the place, I wouldn't have any dirt!
I like arrowhead/bulls tongue - it does a great job of stabilizing some soft soils in the wetland/marsh between my pond and my neighbors pond in the summer time. Once it is established you really don't have to do anything with it - it doesn't spread too badly in around my pond, and it seems fairly hardy year in/year out
I wonder if the tuber would able to be stored similar to a potato? Allow roots to form, then slice and plant. If so you might could market those. lol. Really like the looks of the plant and bloom. As you can see from the pics of our pond...well, we have some grass. lol.
Arrowhead is native to North America which helps its reputation here, but the folks in Australia and Europe consider it to be invasive (it's not native to their countries). It's like anything opinion related, if you are trying to get pickerel weed to grow and the arrowhead chokes it out , then you despise the arrowhead. In my case, the pickerel weed that I bought and planted didn't take and I am grateful for the arrowhead. I even have left a couple cattails (I think) in the pond for diversity. Don't hate on me yet, they have not gotten out of control by no means and will be easy to eradicate where they are located.
Overall, Arrowhead has got a good following. Be Aware that there is a similar plant called Arrow Arum that looks very similar, but is poisonous. There are also several Arrowhead house plants that look similar, but are not native and should not be planted in the wild.
Ducks like the seeds, but it is debated whether they eat the tubers or not. Water mammals, like beaver, will eat the whole plant.
The only downside for me is that after they bloom and fade, the stalk is rather ugly without flowers and I get temped to trim the stalk back, but I have been too lazy/busy for that.
I have Yellow Iris, which I *thought* was good and now I am discovering otherwise. I am in a quandary as I like it better than cattails, and it will crowd them out and is pretty, but it is causing problems in native waterways. I have about 20 plants now where i had one before.
I wish the purples were a little more prolific, but I have problems keeping just the one going.
liquid, I wonder if the pH has something to do with the coloring. You can change the color of some blooms by changing the acidity of the soil. Azaleas are this way. Just a thought.
.gif)
