Common Duckweed (Lemna minor) in Rectangular Takeaway Container

Family: Araceae (the arum family: includes Peace Lilies (Spathiphyllum spp.), Monstera spp.)
Genus: Lemna (includes free-floating aquatic plants commonly referred to as ‘duckweed’)

Botanical/Binomial Name: Lemna minor
Meaning of Name:
Lemna, from Ancient Greek λέμνα (lémna, ‘kind of aquatic plant’); and
minor, from Latin minor (‘lesser, smaller’)

Common Names: Duckweed, Common duckweed, Lesser duckweed

Botanical Characteristics: Herbaceous | Creeping perennial | Evergreen | Freshwater aquatic | Frost tender
Propagation: Inoculation of water

Item Description:
PICK-UP OR ENQUIRE AS TO SAME-DAY COURIER to Sydney
IMPORTANT TO NOTE: This species may not survive exposure to high temperatures during long-distance transport.
I can pack in insulating material to minimise this, with all care taken, but you wear the risk.

For every one item ordered I will fill a rectangular takeaway container.

Please note: this is not a native species. Please never flush live plants down sinks or drains where it could enter waterways and become an environmental pest.

Plant Description:
Common duckweed is a creeping, floating freshwater aquatic plant which reproduces and covers still water surfaces quickly.

A plant may have from one to four leaves, each up to 8 mm long and 5 mm wide. Each leaf has a long, single hair-like root up to 20 mm long dangling in the water. Reproduction tends to be via asexual separation of the leaves.

I have this gorwing with my water lilies, whre it does a fantastic job of keeping the water clean. Fish enthusiasts grow it both to keep their ponds or aquaria clean as well as to provide shelter for, and to feed their fish.

The dense mat that forms on a water’s surface further prevents mosquitoes depositing their eggs and/or suffocates any larvae there prior.

Growing Information:
Lemna minor can survive temperatures between 6 °C to 33 °C, but the ideal range for growth is from 25 °C to 28 °C. Water at least 300 mm deep helps minimise temperature fluctuations. I grow this species with my water lilies in full sun (these too like a depth of about 300 mm) and the duckweed never skipped a beat during a long run of very hot summer days exceeding 35 °C.

Plants may enter dormancy at temperatures below 6 °C and sink to the bottom over winter. They will rise to the surface and regrow in spring.

This plant is very easy to propagate — simply scoop up a handful and add to water! So long as there are no fish or birds to eat it before it can become established, it will reproduce rapidly and cover a water’s surface very quickly.

I don’t and have never kept fish, but would imagine that once established in a fish-free pond, that then introducing fish in appropriate numbers will create a check on numbers and density. Enough fish to feed well on the duckeed without eating it to oblivion, leaving enough duckweed to sustainably replenish itself whilst simultaneously providing both shelter and cover for the fish and enabling sunlight into the pond.