~Wings in Action~

[havalotta]

One I've always wanted to try in my pond.
I see it in the wild sometimes submersed, sometimes not so wonder which is best if I ever get my hands on any...In the water or alongside of it. Hmmmmm

[dapjwy]

It seems to grow most thickly in a few inches of water. I did see one or two in the mud closer to the shore, but I think one of those is one I found decapitated but with roots growing from the green stem that I put back in the water earlier this spring.

[havalotta]

So it needs to be submersed?

[Equilibrium]

Put them in pots and set them on a 12" shelf. Pontederia Cordata is a marginal plant not an aquatic and you don't even need to take it out over winter. It can freeze solid and it'll come back.

[havalotta]

So the pots submerged and the plant is not?

[Equilibrium]

Most aquatic pots are only 10" high. If you set your black basket on a 12" shelf..... you'd have 2" of water above the medium your plant is potted in. These aren't floating or submerged plants.... they're emergent plants... you can actually drown them. They like shallow water.

[dapjwy]

Originally Posted by havalotta

So it needs to be submersed?

I see Equil already answered you...but I will add that they are plants that "like their feet wet". That is how I've always heard it said--I think I read that in various places. I think two inches of water sounds right to me...they could probably handle a little less or a little more...seeing that water levels don't normally remain constant year round. I'm guessing they can handle a bit of fluctuation.

[Equilibrium]

They can for sure handle fluctuations.... they're natives!!!! We had a 500 year flood a coupla years ago in the spring followed by a 100 year drought and the water in our naturally occurring pond rose then dropped to levels I've never seen before. Ours were completely under water when they began active growth then they cooked and dried out. The area where they were growing was so parched it cracked and they still came back the next year. They freeze solid every year too.

[dapjwy]

Originally Posted by Equilibrium

They can for sure handle fluctuations.... they're natives!!!!

~smile~

Originally Posted by Equilibrium

We had a 500 year flood a coupla years ago in the spring followed by a 100 year drought...

I'm assuming you mean "once in a 500/100 years"...or you are a lot older than I think you are!

Originally Posted by Equilibrium

...Ours were completely under water when they began active growth then they cooked and dried out. The area where they were growing was so parched it cracked and they still came back the next year. They freeze solid every year too.

Good to know! ...and great for you that you didn't lose them...and will never lose sleep worrying about losing them if anything like that happens again.

[Equilibrium]

Ha ha ha.... I'm old... not that old. I didn't lose those plants but.... the 500 year flood followed up by the 100 year drought combined with the brand spanking new peeker plant that wasted our water tables using millions of gallons of water daily cost us our well. We had to re-drill deeper and we'll probably have to re-drill again sooner or later and.... I lost about 1000 native woodies I'd planted the year before when our well went dry. I think the saplings would've made it if they hadn't approved the peeker plant under the guise it was going to create jobs for the community.... it did create jobs.... 3 of them. It didn't lower our utility bills though since ALL of the electricity being generated goes over the border to Canada. What a joke.... hundreds of our wells went dry around here... houses without water were condemned and no federal assistance re-drilling our wells and Canada got all the benefits of the cheap energy generated at our expense. Those floods we were hit with a few years ago were "dubbed a "500-year flood," not because it happens every 500 years, but because the chance of a flood of this magnitude occurring in any year is approximately one in 500. It is thus quite conceivable, although highly unlikely, that this could occur again next year", After the 500-Year Flood: An Early Look at the Return to Normalcy. Same thing with the 100 year drought we were hit with. Fight any peeker plants with everything you've got if 1's ever proposed anywhere near where you live. Let the countries benefitting from the energy they produce build them in tbeir own countries.... water's too precious.