Floating frogbit
Floating frogbit
(1 rooted young plant)
The astonishing floating frogbit, a floating plant with spongy leaves, is unmatched. Huge roots, a record capacity for water purification, and easy maintenance.
The floating frogbit (Limnobium laevigatum) is a remarkable floating plant.
Its leaves (especially the younger ones) have a spongy internal structure, which makes them absolutely unsinkable. Their pulp is not solid, but hollow, forming a kind of very airy foam that can be observed by cutting a leaf.
If it thrives, its rapid growth makes it an excellent consumer of nitrates and other excess elements in the water. It thus has an exceptional purifying function, facilitated by its imposing roots.
"She is not very difficult, by the way. Her only limit is the cold, which she cannot tolerate (she is of tropical origin), and lids! Indeed, she can tend to suffer if a lid too close keeps her leaves in excessive humidity. She wants to have her roots in water and her leaves dry!"
The ideal for her is therefore an open aquarium, a poubellarium, or a pond.
"It can even quite easily bloom and even produce seeds. However, for the flowers to be fertilized and produce seeds, it needs to benefit from outdoor sunlight; otherwise, it will only have female flowers!"
Once it is established and acclimatized, its roots will quickly form a very long plume (often over 50 cm!). The spectacle is then superb, these roots seeming to form vertical vines connecting the surface to the bottom. Gouramis, for example, love to swim among this type of roots that reassure them.
"Don't be surprised by its appearance when you receive it: it doesn't like the darkness of the packaging. But once exposed to the light, it will quickly regain a magnificent appearance, with its smooth, almost 'glossy' green leaves."
"It easily multiplies by stolons that form new rosettes, and this infinitely."
Also available in packs of 2 or 3 rosettes, to more quickly occupy a larger space.