The use of aquatic compost is becoming more popular, especially amongst beginning or inexperienced landscapers. Aquatic compost, typically consisting of peat, has been used for many years in the aquariums of hobbyists and in commercial fish tanks.
But what about using aquatic compost for regular plants? The short answer is yes you can. Aquatic compost contains nutrients, loam and peat that improve water retention and aeration.
If you’ve ever played around with a compost heap, you’ve probably noticed that the process is not a straight-forward one.
If the right ingredients aren’t used, or the heap isn’t turned regularly enough, all your efforts can be for nothing.
Compost is a very balanced food source, and as such can be used to feed plants in a number of different ways.
There are even more reasons to consider aquatic compost for your garden soil.
Here is why…
What is special about aquatic compost?
As you can imagine, composting is a huge topic that touches just about every aspect of our lives.
Composting is an easy way to improve the health of your soil, as well as the health of your plants.
Aquatic compost can be used for growing plants that will be submerged in water.
It doesn’t contain herbicides.
There’s no risk that it introduces to the pond or aquarium that will harm your fish and aquatic life.
However, it’s also unlikely to offer them any benefit.
The fertilizer in aquatic compost is formulated to help plants grow in the aquarium.
Can aquatic compost be used for non-aquatic plants too?
With the growing popularity of composting, homeowners have been making and using compost for quite some time.
However, with the progress of aquaculture, there has been an increasing demand of compost for the sea.
Because of this growing demand, the government has been going to great lengths to make this product accessible for aquaculture.
However, the question arises as to whether aquatic compost can be applied to normal plants that grow in the garden.
The answer is yes.
Here are a few reasons to backup this argument.
- No algae
- Contains loam
- Nutrients available for early growth
- Less water needed
1. Does not promote algae
For many years homeowners were told to use natural, garden soil in their landscapes.
The thought was that if it was natural, and if it was used in the soil, then the plants could not get sick.
Now it’s known that there are many diseases that can be spread by soil and plants, making a natural soil, without compost, a bad idea.
One of those diseases is called red tide, which is a kind of algae that is very harmful to plants and humans.
Red tide can be spread by water, like when a storm or heavy rain hits your area and drives it into your water supply, allowing the algae to grow.
A point to note is that aquatic compost can be used for normal garden plants because it does not promote growth and spread of algae that inhibit growth of roots.
2. Contains loam alongside peat and sand
The growing popularity of aquatic gardening is increasing the demand for compost mixing and compost bins.
Until recently, the water-retaining characteristics of the input materials, such as peat, have made it difficult to mix them with soil.
Currently, it is possible to use compost in the garden, however, the mix must not become waterlogged.
Everyone knows that compost is an excellent soil amendment.
It improves soil structure, provides nutrients, and has many other benefits.
However, not everyone knows that aquatic compost can be applied to normal garden plants, because many types of compost can contain peat.
Gardeners can apply aquatic compost to their plants to get the benefits of loam and peat, with minimal drawbacks.
The compost does not contain soil weed seeds, and it is easy to add extra nutrients to aquatic compost, so it is easy to get the correct balance of inputs from the loam and peat.
3. Provides essential nutrients for early growth
The most common way to grow food is through plants.
Plants take a lot of effort to grow and require a lot of water and nutrients.
Picking the right kind of soil for a new garden or landscape project can be an important part of the process.
In an effort to give plants the nutrients that they need, many people are turning to compost.
Gardeners often choose compost over topsoil because it has a higher nutrient content, keeping plants healthy and producing more.
Aquatic compost soil can be used for a variety of plants and sized gardens, because it has different needed properties, depending on the age and type of plant.
Aquatic compost can be used as a soil amendment to provide essential nutrients for early growth of plants.
It’s a great way to recycle, and the process releases valuable nutrients back into the garden, like nitrogen, sulfur, potassium, and phosphorus, necessary for growth.
4. Less water usage
Even though you can get a wide variety of composts at your local gardening center, it is a fact that some types of compost have been scientifically proven to be superior for use in landscaping.
For example, aquatic based compost are proven to help reduce the amount of water needed when watering your lawn, and that is because peat or peat moss that they contain has a good ability to retain water.
Did you know that a single watering of your garden can use up as much water as a shower?
If you are like most people, the thought of watering your garden on a daily basis can make you feel uneasy.
If you are feeling uneasy, you are not alone.
For all of us, the water supply is precious. We need it for cooking, drinking, washing, and cleaning.
Most of the time, we don’t consider the amount of water that our garden needs, even though it can end up costing us a lot of money in water bills.
The solution is to use aquatic compost that has peat moss to help you cut back on water usage especially when you are growing plants that need a lot of water.
This high retention of water can be wonderful to also deal with soil erosion.
Growing aquatic plants in the garden
The list of plants you can grow in soil or hydroponics is long, but the list of plants that require aquatic conditions is much longer, such as water plants, aquatic plants, and aquatic plants that float.
Think you’re ready to add one of these aquatic plants to your garden?
Here are a few things to consider.
1. Amount of plants to have
Aquatic plants are one of the easiest plants to grow in a home or office.
However, for many people, they don’t last as long as they would like.
The more aquatic plants you have in a garden or pot, the more stress they are put under.
Too many plants will weigh down the resources available to aquatic plants and lead to reduced nutrients and water intake.
You should make sure each plant is sustained by the resources that you provide.
2. Sunlight
Aquatic plants are becoming more popular these days.
There are many reasons for that, one of which is that aquatic plants are simple to care for and do well in many different environments.
However, when deciding to grow aquatic plants, it is important to take into account the sunlight that will be available to them.
This is because a proper lighting regimen will increase the rate of growth and reduce the chance that pests will become a problem.
Also sunlight is important for microbes’ activities to break down nutrients in the soil.
Having plants in areas that have less sunlight will reduce the amount of light your plants receive and, in some cases, can cause your aquatic plants to die.
A good rule of thumb when growing aquatic plants in an open garden is to have the plants at least six inches away from any walls, trees or other large objects that block sunlight.
3. Water level
Sometimes, you just can’t grow aquatic plants in the garden.
Where you might be able to get away with it in other parts of your yard may not work when growing plants in your garden.
Dry soil garden creates a dry environment, which restricts the amount of water that is absorbed by plants, and therefore restricts the amount of water available for them to absorb.
This means that you’ll have to increase the amount of water that is used in your dry soil open garden in order to successfully grow aquatic plants.
The first thing to begin with is a well-drained soil condition, which is ideal for growing aquatic plants.
Loam soil is ideal here as it has the ability to hold water and drain it properly at the same time, while allowing the infiltration of oxygen.
Then, you need to keep an eye on the watering schedule, since too much water can quickly cause problems such as root rot, which can kill your aquatic plants.
4. Soil substrate
If you’ve ever tended to your garden with any regularity, you have noticed that one of the most important components of any garden is the soil.
Whether it’s your backyard or a professional landscape installation, the soil is the foundation upon which everything else can be built.
And it is usually overlooked.
Maybe you have a small garden and you want to grow aquatic plants.
Remember to check the soil before planting.
If it is sandy and it is dry, you are in bad shape.
Soil that is too dry has poor drainage, which will lead to oxygen deficient water and plants that are less likely to thrive and grow.