How I Plant my Azolla

In my previous post regarding Azolla, I briefly mentioned how I was introduce to it and how I got my starter kit.

This post will tackle on how I am growing them.

But before that....  An additional info first....

Azolla are also called mosquito fern, according to my research  (ehehe, yes I did some reading) this is because Azolla can grow so thick that it would cover the entire surface area of the water, and because of that, mosquitoes would not be able to lay their eggs on the water.  Also, this plant grow so fast that any mosquito larvae already in the water would not be able to reach its surface to breathe, practically choking and killing them.

So, this plant is also good in controlling the propagation of mosquitoes, just put some in places where mosquitoes can lay their eggs ☺

Now to the planting part.

I’ve tried a couple of ways of growing the Azolla, we know that they floats on water, so I tried different types of water and tested which will be best to grow them.

I tried clean water directly from the faucet, the result was, they grew a little, then, they suddenly just dried out and died, I think two weeks was the lifespan for that experiment.

I also tried the water from my fish tank, this did a lot better, combined with a great deal of sunlight, they have grown pretty well.

But the best water that I have tried is the one that I have put some cow dung.  The color of the leaves became very green and the population became three times as many in just less than two weeks.

This is the growing media that I have been using ever since.

Another thing that I noticed is that the water also needs to be replaced once every month.  I did try to use the same water for a longer period but the production became slower.  So I think it best to replace it every month for a better yield.

This is my step by step process in growing the Azolla.  I have modified it again this time, because I saw a post from the FB page of Azolla Pilipinas that they have been adding soil in their tank, so let me also try that.

First is the tank. 

Picture taken Jan. 21, 2017 at 8:37 am

I am using an old refrigerator body as my tank.  My father welded and patches the holes so he can put water in it.  I think he was using this before as a container where his cows would drink from.

Wee need to remove all the Azolla first.

Then transfer them to a bucket.

We then need to clean the tank, remove the old water and any sediment that was left.  Just rinse the tank with some water.

There we go, now the tank is all clean, we are now ready to put the water mixture in.

This is the additional part that I have added to my process, I have included putting in soil to the tank.

Twelve shovels full!

We need to put our water now.  I have used two and a half bucket of water.  Unfortunately for me, at the time when I was cleaning the tank, I had to stop because we had a water interruption.  But since I could not wait for too long, I used the water from my fish tank.

I have used two full buckets of water from the fish tank and half a bucket of clean water.

Now, the cow dung.

This much is good enough.

Just stir a little to mix the solution ☺☺☺☺

There were some floating leaves and stems, so I took them out.

And there you have it, the soil dung solution.

The last step is to add the Azolla, maybe as many as could cover one third part of the water's surface.  We need to distribute the plant, do not let them bunch up in just one part of the tank.

(All pictures have been taken January 21, 2017, from 8:37 am to 11:38 am)

We will then just have to wait for about two weeks, and we can harvest half to two thirds of it.  Then we can wait for another two weeks and harvest half to two thirds of it again, and then, we need to replace the water and repeat the cleaning process.

I will take some pictures and show you the progress is a few days.

There you have it, this is the way I plant my Azolla.

If you have other information regarding this plant, please feel free to impart you knowledge, give comments or suggestion in the comment section below, thank you.