"~ jan" wrote in message
.. .
Was: Filter plants starting to grow - any new ones to recommend?

On Sun, 8 Apr 2007 10:14:34 CST, "Peter Corser"
wrote:

Watercress is almost ideal - grows really rapidly even in a settlement
tank
with no substrate or in a tank which still has plastic Flocor! Here in
the
UK it can go almost dormant during hard winters, but usually restarts
growth
very early - I use it in all my filter tanks. We also like to eat
watercress ourselves (much better, fresher and cheaper than supermarket
stuff) and have an almost unlimited supply most of the year -

Watercress is really high is good stuff also, but I took a bite out of
mine
and quickly spit it out, very BITTER. Is that normal? Are there different
kinds of watercress types? Mine started out as a grocery store variety.
How
on earth do you eat it, I can't imagine having even a small bit of it in
anything?

Pond plants are a no-go with my Koi - even overturned a large plastic
washing basket (about 3 ft by 2 feet and weghted down with bricks!) we
tried
to use to grow water lilies! Peter

Now that's amazing. How big are your koi? ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

Jan

Watercress should be very hot & peppery - most of what you get from the
supermarket has probably lost a lot of its taste in transport! Having said
that, the only source of watercress I have used for the pond is from the
supermarket. There may be different kinds of watercress, but I have never
seen or heard anything about the subject.

I eat loads of it raw and often straight from the pond after washing in
clean water (maybe I just have the taste), but it can be used in salads or
cooking (watercress soup is a favoured by some). We are members of a UK
Folk Dance Club (although my own activity is now zero due to medical
problems) and we always take fresh watercress to our dances or party nights
(done on what is known over here as an American Supper - everyone brings
something along to share with anyone else who fancies it) and the watercress
always runs out, no matter how much we take! Several of our neighbours are
also happy to take as much as they can.

One method which might make it more palatable to you would be to keep it for
a few days to let some of the strength subside. Wash and roughly drain a
bunch (enough to fill whatever size of plastic bag you have available), fill
the bag ensuring there is some, but only a little, water in the bag - seal
and it will keep for at least a week in the fridge and may be more to your
taste. If the bag has any kind of breathing hole it does not seem to work
as well. I usually rewash the watercress after 3 or 4 days - being lazy I
just empty any old water out of the bag, partly refill the bag, swirl around
and drain from the bag until there is no longer a continuous stream (a few
attempts and practice should make perfect!) and reseal the bag.

If all else fails watercress is a marvellous natural activator for a compost
heap/maker!

The koi are not particularly large - some around 2 ft/2 ft 6 in - but are
large enough to trash anything when they are breeding. I have also decided
that it is inadvisable to have any containers within the pond since my koi
and orfe love "jumping" for insects above the pond and containers could
cause damage.

The pond was built 29 years ago and some of the koi have been with us since
then - I have not added any fish to the pond for over 10 years (and that
pair of koi are stunted at about a foot in length). There are also about 15
huge Golden Orfe - the remnants of 60 we put into the pond as very small fry
over its first two years. These are a similar size to the koi and are the
reason the koi are not growing in size - koi do not emit pheromones when
they reach maturity, which is why koi can grow huge in a koi only pond, but
do respond to the pheromones of other fish. My koi could start growing
again once the orfe have gone, but ..........

Peter
--
Peter & Elizabeth Corser
Leighton Buzzard, UK