Free: Potamogeton alpinus plantlets

[Tristan_He]

I have a tank in the garden with some shoots of Potamogeton alpinus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potamogeton_alpinus free to good home(s). This is easy to grow in a garden pond provided it gets a reasonable depth of substrate to grow on (I grow it in a mix of peat, sand and aquatic compost in no particular ratio). Makes an interesting change from most submerged pond plants on offer and much less invasive than the ubiquitous Canadian pondweed.

I also have other unusual British native pond plants I'm happy to share.

PM me if interested.

Hope this isn't off topic! 

Tristan

[Tristan_He]

Good grief you lot are a hard sell aren't you! OK let's try a different tack.

I have a unique opportunity to share some plants of Potamogeton alpinus with members of the SRGC forum. This is an exclusive offer for connoiseurs such as yourselves who are able to give this rarely seen and challenging plant the exacting growing conditions it requires. P. alpinus needs to grow in a 50:25:25 mixture of peat, aquatic compost and sharp sand with a small amount of dolomitic limestone added to neutralise the pH; it dislikes being in a pot. It needs clear standing or ideally slow-flowing water with a total phosphorus of between 10 and 25 microgrammes per litre, a pH of 6.5 to 7.5 and an alkalinity of between 200 and 1000 microequivalents per litre. If you can fulfil these conditions it will reward you with a fine display of olive-green to reddish broad, translucent leaves with a scattering of floating leaves later in the season. It dies back to resting buds in winter.

If you would like to take advantage of this limited offer please send me a cheque for 5.99 per plantlet. I'm sorry about the high price but this reflects the slow growth of this difficult plant*

*Only joking, they are still free to a good home. But seriously, this is a really cracking pond plant.

[brianw]

I think it might be the 2.4 metres that is putting us off. My current pond is smaller than that. Maybe a larger one next year.
Now if you had offered Water hawthorn or Fringed water lily (Aponogeton distachyos or Nymphoides peltata) I could live with them, temporarily at least. They would encourage me to get the large pond up and running.

[Tristan_He]

Fair enough. But like most water plants they grow as far as they need to to get to the light. Mine are in a pond about 60cm deep and have not reached the surface yet. In a river they tend to get bigger as there is a more plentiful nutrient supply. Compared to Nymphoides peltata (which is pretty but a thug) they are not at all invasive. Likewise they won't cover the surface of the pond with floating leaves like Nymphoides or the best known pondweed, P. natans.

Clearly I need to work on my marketing skills! 

[Maggi Young]

Beats me, Tristan - perhaps you could describe it as having white flowers with little green bits and charge £300  each ..... works for some plants!!!