Awesome the Best and Easiest Koi Pond Plants and How to Plant Them

What is the best Koi pond plant? In my opinion, the number one plant for fast growth and powerful water filtration is the water hyacinth. It is a very beautiful  plant that will enhance any water garden as well.

The jumbo's are probably the best ones to get. Many cities in the United States use them to prefilter the waste water in their water treatment plants.

Floating pond plants are the "backbone" of what Koi pond plants are intended for. They filter contaminants out of the water and produce oxygen.

Be careful with them when you first bring them home If you put them in direct sun the first day the leaves have no fluids and the sun will burn the leaves. Once they are acclimated you can place them anywhere you choose. 

All of the floating plants are especially good as Koi pond plants but none have quite as high powered cleansing properties as the water hyacinth.

However,  Koi love to nibble on hyacinth root tips. Always keep some in the top of your waterfall box to replace the ones the koi tear up!

Also, occasionally the hyacinth will get their root masses entangled and it is suggested that you pull the root masses apart to encourage new growth.

Floating plants such as water lettuce, water hyacinths, frog bit, azolla and duckweed do not actually need to be planted. Simply place them in your pond to float.

As with water hyacinth, when you first remove your water lettuce from the bag it is wise to float it in a container of pond water in the shade to rehydrate its leaves before putting out in the hot sun. It has used the moisture stored in its leaves on it's trip home. If it is simple tossed into the pond in the hot sun, the sun will fry the leaves, turning them brown and crispy.

Floating plants are the easiest to plant. Just lay them in the pond! Then shade them for a few days before exposing them to full sun.

If you want to contain them so they don't float into your skimmer you will need to make a floating fence for them. Just take a few sticks and form them into the shape you want and tie the ends together with fishing line. Lay the stick fence into the pond and lay the floaters inside of it. If you anchor the fence it will keep them safely in one place.

You can anchor the fence with a big fish sinker. An old Hula Hoop spray painted flat black, with a large fishing weight anchoring it in place, works very well too.

You can see that the floating water plants are very efficient at creating a healthier pond environment and are extremely easy to plant and care for! That's why I find them to be the best and easiest Koi pond plants.

Best of Become a Tea Gardener - Grow, Harvest and Brew Your Own Choice Organic Tea Plant

Become a tea gardner and grow your own loose leaf tea! It does not require much space, a container on a porch or balcony will do just fine for a tea plant. Of course, Camellia sinensis is the tea plant that produces those delicious teas we have grown to love. This one little plant is responsible for providing us with white tea, organic green tea, as well as black and oolong tea. The difference in them is the oxidation process they go through after harvesting and drying. The various processes are responsible for giving each tea a different flavor, scent and appearance.

Growing Camellia sinensis is not difficult, but does take patience. It takes about three to four years for a plant to start producing those precious tiny buds that we use to brew tea. A typical tea plant will result in over one pound of dried tea after processing. The tea plant is a beautiful and ornamental bush that is pruned to constantly encourage new growth. This pruning helps to maintain the spreading shrub between two to five feet high.

There are 2 times each year that tea is harvested. Early spring yields the fattest and tender buds that are best for white tea. Summer is the time for the second harvest. Each harvest is considered a "plucking" or "flush". The tea plant has beautiful white and deliciously fragrant flowers that bloom in the late fall and winter months. This is truly a plant that can give each of your senses pleasure year round.

So what is oxidation and how does it affect your newly harvested tea? Oxidation is the process that changes our fruit we cut brown when it is exposed to the air. The oxygen molecules in the tea react to the air and a "burning" process occurs.

More On Grow, harvest and brew your own choice organic tea plant

Black tea is picked and then allowed to wither for a few days. The green tea leaves turn to a copper color. The leaves are then exposed to hot air to take the remaining moisture out and the leaves change to a dark color. Black tea is the most common of teas; the most popular black teas are "Earl Grey" and "English breakfast tea". English Breakfast is known for its strong bitter taste and is usually enjoyed with milk and sugar!

It is hard to image that loose leaf green tea is grown from the same plant as black tea. Black tea when brewed has such a pretty copper color to it when you drink it. Organic green tea has a yellow to a green color to it. Green tea tastes and smells of natural grass. Green tea is allowed to wither just as black tea. The next step is very important. The leaves are steamed or pan fried to stop the oxidation process. This allows the leaves to stay green. The leaves are then dried with hot air and prepared for storage.

Oolong tea is the tea that goes through the oxidation process that is somewhere between green and black tea. Oolong tea is only allowed to be partially oxided. It is allowed to wither for just a short period of time in the sun, before it is brought indoors an allowed to return to room temperature. It is then air dried under high heat before preparing it for storage.

White tea is the rarest and most special of the teas. This tea is picked when the buds have not opened yet. Harvesting for white tea is done only 2 days a year. This was considered only for Chinese royalty and is just now becoming more available in the past few years. The buds of the plant are placed out in the sun for 3 days then air dried before stored. White tea is pale in color and has a smoother flavor than green tea.

Becoming a tea gardner takes time, patience, an adventuresome and creative spirit. You can learn to make your own choice organic tea. Using these plants and herbs you can infuse your tea with you favorite flavors for a one of a kind tea experience.