Grow Aquatic Plants in Pond Plant Baskets

Why Use Pond Plant Baskets

The benefits a pond plant basket has over planting directly into the margins or pond substrate makes growing aquatic plants in pond plant baskets a preferred method among goldfish pond keepers. Planting aquatic plants into pond plant baskets is much easier than the alternative; it’s less messy and more convenient. In addition, many goldfish ponds contain a liner and don’t have the suitable substrate depth to even allow planting directly into it.

If by chance the pond has a substrate deep enough to grow aquatic plants, one would first have to dig a hole in it. This would no doubt make the water cloudy with debris from the substrate. There’s also the possibility of puncturing the liner if a shovel is used to dig the hole. Next the aquatic plant would need to be held in place with one hand while the other hand attempts to burry the roots. Bare roots have a tendency to float up and keeping them down while trying to cover them with the substrate is a challenge. If the aquatic plants are successfully rooted into the substrate, preforming any maintenance would have to be done wherever the plants have been rooted; perhaps that’s in the middle of the goldfish pond. The root system of certain aquatic plants can spread making it hard to uproot them for maintenance and division. The spreading of the roots can also be a cause for concern if the roots like to grow downward. If the roots are strong, they can potentially puncture a plastic pond liner. That would make goldfish care a disaster.

By using pond plant baskets to plant aquatic plants, all of those headaches are eliminated. Aquatic plants can be planted out of the water into these self contained baskets. Filled with aquatic planting mix, a pond plant basket will provide the needed fertilizer and substrate for an aquatic plant to thrive. The weight of the aquatic planting mix will help keep the plant anchored to the bottom and the plastic or mesh basket will keep the roots from growing out of control. In times of seasonal maintenance, pond plant baskets can be lifted out of the water where fertilizer can be added, dead leaves removed, shoots trimmed back or plants divided at the end of the growing season.

How to Plant in Pond Plant Baskets

Fill the pond plant basket with an aquatic plant mix
Dig an appropriately sized hole in the center of the basket
Remove the aquatic plant from its container and loosen up the root ball
Place the aquatic plant in the center and fill in the hole with aquatic plant mix
Throughly water the basket to help compact the aquatic plant mix
Add a layer of aquarium gravel substrate to keep the soil in place.
Water throughly one more time to completely saturate the pond plant basket
carefully lower the pond plant basket into the goldfish pond