Floating Hydrocotyle planter

evut · Feb 18, 2012

This is something I made for one of my tanks. The idea is that if the Hydrocotyle grows well, it should turn into a green floating cushion in a few weeks.
I carved the planter from polystyrene, poked some holes through the bottom so that it wouldn't need watering, and coated everything with silicone and coco coir. Then I put in some soil and cuttings of Hydrocotyle. It floats well and the soil is staying wet. I'm planning to make something similar with suction cups as well, so it can stay attached to the side.

Molch · Feb 18, 2012

sweet - great idea. You come up with the coolest stuff. Now I'm gonna have to copy that idea too

Azhael · Feb 18, 2012

Nice! I need to get some silicone.

I really like this idea of floating, plant islands and i´ve tried a couple myself, although not as aesthetically pleasing as yours, that´s for sure.
I hope you don´t mind if i add a couple of pictures of my attempts.

jewett · Feb 18, 2012

I did something similar to this as well for growing water cress but it was not so fancy! I used the styro foam trays blood collection tubes come packed in (they kind of look like this: Blood Collection Tubes Packing Tray-Blood Collection Tubes Packing Tray Manufacturers, Suppliers and Exporters on Alibaba.com) - these trays have little "cups" in rows all over the surface for the tubes to stay upright. I poked holes through the ends of the cups and stuck the water cress stems through. The water cress did great this way and I used them in my daphnia tub. I bet any medical office would give these used trays away - the vet clinic where I work goes through several every few weeks.
I was pleased with the outcome of my simple trays, but nothing as fancy or near as nice to look at as yours, Eva! Bravo!
Heather

evut · Feb 19, 2012

Thanks for your nice comments. I'm just hoping that the Hydrocotyle gets enough light to grow well.

Those trays look intriguing...how exactly did you use them, Heather? Did you fill them with soil?

Rodrigo, what's the plant in your first picture please? It looks great. And how does the planter in the second picture work? I can only see the plant.

Azhael · Feb 19, 2012

It´s Soleirolia soleirolii. It is a rather wonderful plant, i´ve always liked it very much (even the smell which some people find terrible). The planter in the second picture is a piece of dark foam. You can´t make out any of it in the picture, because it´s sunk below the surface. I was only using that foam (not the best choice) until i was able to find natural cork bark (which should be easier in europe´s top production region, but amazingly it´s not). I think i´m going to try and combine the awesome power of polystyrene and filter foam and create an hybrid that floats but sucks up water xD

Nettuno · Feb 19, 2012

beautiful idea, compliments.
of course, because not you try to do it to a form more lengthened, so that can seem a trunk.

evut · Feb 19, 2012

Nettuno, log shape is a great idea. This is just a simple "prototype" to see if it works at all :happy:

Rodrigo, if the polystyrene has even the tiniest holes, the soil inside stays wet by itself.

Azhael · Feb 19, 2012

I´d rather not use soil, so foam seems like an alternative and it does work so far. I´m just trying to get the hang of it, too. Eventually i would like to have several islands distributed around my tanks

One thing about the H.verticillata, at least in my case it rapidly spreads away from the "island", into the water and i have to reposition it every week, but other than that i love this plant.

Molch · Feb 19, 2012

now I'm thinking, what if you did a whole ledge-shaped one and fixed it to the back wall of the tank; that way, it could simulate an overhanging creek bank overgrown with plants...

evut · Feb 20, 2012

That would be great, Molch. I got the initial idea from the rock wall I made for my other tank - it has a planter built into the island section. I made a complicated irrigation system for it...only to find out later that the bottom of it leaked so the island was always well watered anyway.

The Hydrocotyle does spread far and wide, as Rodrigo says - it's the only plant I've had to prune so far. The newts enjoy the jungle it creates.

Andyj · Feb 21, 2012

I wonder if you could use a coconut shell cut in half and cleaned out.Im sure coconuts do float (i think :happy: ).Not sure if it would rot though ?

AaronK · Feb 21, 2012

Genius ideas everyone.
I'm looking forward to trying your ideas.
Thank you.

evut · Feb 22, 2012

Andy, I don't think coconut shell would work because the soil inside is quite heavy, especially as it soaks up a lot of water, so it probably wouldn't float. (?) I don't think it would rot, it's very durable and you can use it under water as far as I know.

Azhael · Feb 22, 2012

Yeah, it would probably get filled with water by capilarity and sink if there is a substrate inside. Even if empty, it eventually sinks on its own.

jewett · Feb 22, 2012

Eva, as far as my simple trays I used no soil but rather just let the plants grow hydroponically. I wondered about putting a substrate in the bottom of the cups but they are pretty small cups so wouldn't hold much, and the holes I created to place the plant stems through were fairly big so I think any soil used would have fallen through.
Molch, I love your idea about an over hanging creek bank - I am going to start taking home all the foam trays I can get my hands on!
Heather

froggy · Feb 23, 2012

I think I recognise those Hydrocotyles, Eva and Rodrigo! They grow well with moderate to high light and will adapt eventually to lower light levels. I have found that they rapidly deplete the nutrients in soil, so y9ou may need to fertilise them occassionally.

The log/overhanging bank idea is great, might try one myself....

by the way, what sort of foam do you use? The normal polystyrene doesn´t look like it would carve like that, as the little balls it´s made out of crumble too easily.

C

evut · Feb 23, 2012

Chris, what do you use to fertilise the substrate?

Regarding polystyrene, I've made lots of stuff from it recently and there seem to be many different types. I used Jablite from B&Q for this (as far as I can tell it's the same stuff but denser) - it's much better for carving but regular packaging polystyrene can be ok, too. Our local Homebase just leaves polystyrene for people to take. You can tidy up the edges with some heat, like a lighter or a heatgun, but you have to be very careful so that your creation doesn't shrink too much.

froggy · Feb 27, 2012

I use normal aquarium plant fertiliser, making sure it has micronutrients as well as NPK. If you have hard water it will go a lot longer, but in my Manchester soft water it depletes the minerals etc very quickly. The type of substrate also makes a difference - for me garden topsoil with a layer of sand works very well, while potting compost (peat based) produces initial rapid growth with huge leaves, whcih very quickly dwindles away.

H. leucocephala/is is even worse, but verticillata will start to look 'stringy' with smaller, more convex leaves that are not as vividly green after a few months without fertilisation.

I will give something a go when I have time with the polystyrene...

C

albear28 · Mar 18, 2012

This is an amazing idea and I think I'm going to try to incorporate it into my tank

Floating Hydrocotyle planter

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