Content
- Shell flower scores as a decorative floating plant with ecological value
- Plant shell flower properly
- care Tips
- Which location is suitable?
- Cut shell flower properly
- Fertilize mussel flower properly
- overwinter
- Multiply shell flower
- Is shellfish poisonous?
- Yellow leaves
- How is water salad cared for in the aquarium?
- Why does the shell flower prevent an algae bloom?
Shell flowers not only look beautiful, they are also useful!
Shell flower scores as a decorative floating plant with ecological value
In the finely balanced ecosystem of the pond and the aquarium, the shell flower proves to be a valuable component. The tropical floating plant filters the water, donates fish to shady retreats and graces the appearance with its gray-green leaf rosettes. Do you have any questions about the cultivation of water lettuce? Then read field-proven answers to frequently asked questions.
Plant shell flower properly
Do not expose the tropical swimming plant until the water in the pond has reached a minimum temperature of 15 degrees Celsius. If water from a warm environment settles in the open water zone, gradually accustom the plant to cooler water temperatures or set it at 20 degrees Celsius. Please note that only half of the water surface is covered with shell flowers and other plants.
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care Tips
Since water salad thrives as a floating plant, you will not have to think about a time-consuming care. After all, a few precautions are to be taken to give you much pleasure in a Green Water Rose:
If the temperature falls below 15 degrees Celsius, then you can clean up the water salad. In a hot-water aquarium, the tropical floating plant overwinters at temperatures between 20 and 25 degrees Celsius. Alternatively, a vat with a loamy soil layer and warm fresh water with a pH of 6.5 to 7.2 acts as winter quarters. As the shell flower does not slow down, continue to clear the plant regularly.
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Which location is suitable?
Water Salad fulfills its various tasks as a floating plant with bravura in a partially shaded place in the open water zone of your garden pond. A sunny position is tolerated, as long as the shell flower does not get under the blazing midday sun. Please do not expose the plant to currents or permanent water movement near a fountain.
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Cut shell flower properly
A pruning in the true sense does not get water salad. Instead, the vigorous floating plant is regularly lighted so that it does not completely annex the pond and aquarium. The shell flower tolerates a year-round cut. Use the netting to bring the plant to you to separate shoots, excess leaves and shoots with a sharp knife or pair of scissors. Take this important care regularly if more than half of the water surface is occupied by plants. In addition, if you are planning an increase, cut off off-shoots with fully trained adventitious plants.
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Fertilize mussel flower properly
In a well-balanced pond, nutrient intake is usually not required. Only with significant deficiency symptoms, such as stunted growth or yellow leaves, water salad is fertilized. Since not all living things and plants in the pond react positively to fertilizers, the shell flower settles for some time in a separate container. A soil layer on the ground and sufficiently warm fresh water create the appropriate conditions. Now you can administer a special fertilizer for floating plants according to the manufacturer's instructions.
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overwinter
The clam flower native to the tropics can not tolerate temperatures below 15 degrees Celsius. However, since she has a multi-year life force, get the floating plant in the fall with a landing net out of the water. In a freshwater aquarium or a separate tub with loamy soil you overwinter water salad:
If no adequate winter quarters are available, you still have to bring water lettuce out of the pond. Otherwise, in the course of rotting, all nutrients stored during the summer will re-enter the water. In the next year you can then plague yourself with a lush algal bloom.
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Multiply shell flower
Water Salad takes care of his own offspring. A vital mother plant produces numerous foothills in the form of adventitious plants. To win more specimens for your private water worlds, simply separate the fully trained subsidiary plants.
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Is shellfish poisonous?
The botanical classification of pistia stratiotes to the arum family suggests that the plant is not completely harmless. Since there is a lack of sound scientific evidence on toxicity, we recommend careful handling. Please do not be tempted by the name water salad to consume the green leaves. The contained substances, such as calcium oxalate cause even in small amounts nausea and vomiting.
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Yellow leaves
Yellow leaves indicate a lack of nutrients in a shell flower. A pond or aquarium does not always fully cover the needs of this heavy-drinking floating plant.Since the gift of fertilizer in the garden pond is always associated with the risk of algal blooms, get the suffering water salad with the landing net out of the water. Place the plant in a vat to add a special fertilizer for aquatic plants to the water in it. Once the Green Water Rose has recovered, it moves to its original place.
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How is water salad cared for in the aquarium?
In an open hot water aquarium, water salad feels in good hands under the following conditions:
An aquarium with cover is unsuitable for the shell flower. The increased heat and dripping condensation under a lid significantly affect the vitality and beauty of a green water-rose. Within a short time rot is formed and the floating plant dies.
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Why does the shell flower prevent an algae bloom?
When crystal clear pond water turns into a yellow-brown broth, algae found enough nutrients to grow. There is thus always a nutrient surplus behind the hated algae blooms. As a strong consuming floating plant, water lettuce prevents this deficiency. The long thread roots extract phosphorus, nitrogen, nitrate and excess fish food from the water. The lurking algae is thus deprived of their livelihood. Therefore, do not cut off the roots of the thread, as they play a key role in keeping the pond and aquarium clean and free from algae.
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