How fast does duckweed multiply

It is, therefore, a source of high quality protein to be exploited for domestic animal production. Duckweed grown on nutrient-rich water has a high concentration of trace minerals, K and P and pigments, particularly carotene and xanthophyll, that make duckweed meal an especially valuable supplement for poultry and other animals, and it provides a rich source of vitamins A and B for humans.

A major limitation to fish farming is that meals high in protein with high biological value are expensive and often locally unavailable. Fresh duckweed is highly suited to intensive fish farming systems with relatively rapid water exchange for waste removal Gaigher et al and duckweed is converted efficiently to liveweight by certain fish including carp and tilapia Hepher and Pruginin ; Robinette et al ; Van Dyke and Sutton ; Hassan and Edwards A duckweed lagoon with a standing crop of duckweed is harvested and placed fresh into a second lagoon containing a mixed size tilapia culture.

The pond is harvested twice weekly and the fish sorted into various groups for return to the lagoon or sale. Under these circumstances the average yield of fish per hectare of lagoon is estimated at around 10 tons annually using only duckweed as the supplement to the naturally available fish feed Skillicorn et al In recent more detailed studies in Thailand, Hassan and Edwards have grown tilapia in static-water concrete tanks and fed them on two species of duckweed, Lemna perpusilla and Spirodela polyrrhiza at levels of 0, 25, 50 or 75g duckweed DM per kg wet weight of fish.

The Spirodela was poorly consumed whereas Lemna was rapidly ingested by fish. The growth rate and feed conversion rates for Lemna-fed tilapia are shown in Table 5. Duckweed is a convenient feed for fish. Its attributes are: It can be readily grown locally often in waste ponds that are polluted. It can be fed fresh and since it floats, by judicious setting of the rates of application it may be totally used by fish.

It is used very efficiently by fish such as tilapia and carp but other species might well cope with duckweed as a component of the diet since it is particularly low in fibre and high in protein when grown under ideal conditions. It is relatively inexpensive to produce or may be regarded to have no cost where the opportunity costs of family labour are not taken into consideration. Use of duckweed in pig and poultry production.

It seems reasonable to assume that village pigs, horses or ruminants could be fed on freshly harvested duckweed. For most applications with poultry, dried duckweed would be preferable. Research with ducks has been surprisingly lacking but it could be expected that duckweed would provide an ideal wet supplement to any high energy diet. Research on using duckweed in the diets of domestic animals has been surprisingly scarce, perhaps because of the difficulties of growing sufficient duckweed under experimental conditions.

Thus there are major opportunities to grow duckweed as a crop for animal production purposes, but research on preparation and drying is needed to facilitate the uptake of the technology particularly in the poultry industry. The potential nutritional value of duckweed in poultry diets has long been recognised Lautner and Mueller ; Musaffarov ; Abdullaev Dehydrated duckweed has been used to replace alfalfa lucerne meal as a protein source in conventional poultry diets.

Recent studies have demonstrated that the growth of very young broiler chickens may be retarded with increasing levels of Lemna gibba dehydrated meal in the diet Haustein et al b whereas layer hens produced effectively Haustein et al a and older broiler birds had excellent growth when fed relatively high levels of Lemna gibba meal.

Thus there is a need to be conservative when using Lemna protein meals with young birds. This indicates that duckweed of known chemical analysis can be used in least-cost ration formulation for both poultry meat and egg production. Little work appears to have been done on the feeding of duckweed to pigs perhaps because of the difficulties under experimental conditions of obtaining sufficient meal for such studies.

Growth rates of pigs on different levels of duckweed meal are shown in Table 7. Further research is needed to show how duckweed can be used as the protein source in diets for pigs. Studies using wet and dry duckweed and conventional grain-based or non-conventional feeds eg: sugar cane juice or molasses are urgently needed.

If systems based on non-conventional feeds were to be successful they would support small farm enterprises of great significance see Preston and Murgueitio Very little literature is available on the utilisation of duckweeds by ruminants. Duckweeds grown on nutrient-rich waters have the potential to be of high nutritional value particularly for the young or lactating ruminant and preliminary observations suggest that they might form the basis of a supplement to diets based on mature biomass such as crop residues, mature grass or pasture.

Even the high water content, softening the straw, let alone the nutrients they provide would facilitate the use of straw by ruminants. However, unlike the case for monogastric nutrition where feed analyses are indicative of nutrient availability to the animal, the compounding of diets for ruminants needs to take into account microbial activity in the rumen which can alter the availability of nutrients from duckweed when consumed and digested. Ruminants fed mature biomass such as straw are generally deficient in a range of minerals and ammonia for efficient fermentative digestion of the straw in the rumen and in addition for maximum efficiency of feed utilisation they require supplements containing proteins that escape the rumen environment to be digested in the intestines.

With ruminants, therefore, it is necessary to describe the nutritional role that is required of the duckweed before assessing its feeding value. There are some preliminary attempts to use duckweed as a supplement to ruminant diets, however, there is a major research need ahead. A duckweed:maize silage diet produced higher growth rates in Holstein heifers about kg LW than a maize silage:concentrate:grass diet, without any detrimental effects Rusoff et al Depending on the nutrient level in the culture medium, duckweeds may be an important source of trace minerals and phosphorus, but if the protein is readily fermentable in the rumen the dietary amino acid supply to the animal will be minimal.

In recent studies, Smith and Leng incubated duckweed meal in rumen fluid where it was rapidly fermented with the production of ammonia, indicating the extensive degradation of duckweed protein. Eutrophication of a body of water can produce these conditions and encourages the growth of duckweeds.

As they grow, duckweed plants absorb these nutrients from the water. Moderate conditions of temperature and light and a liquid medium with the necessary nutrients are essential for good growth. Fortunately, duckweeds adapt well to a wide range of conditions and are easy to grow.

Duckweeds can be grown in the pond water from which they were collected in open containers. My Duckweed Keeps Dying.

The only thing that kills duckweed is not enough light or to much current in the water. If you can't get anything to succeed, the plants probably don't have a good food source.. Try liquid nutrients, or add some fish for bioload. Use of dried duckweed as a fertilizer has potential. It decomposes quickly and provides organic matter, nitrogen and other nutrients to the soil. Coverage of a pond with duckweed and watermeal they're often found together can cause significant problems for a pond.

That's all bad. Duckweed loves muck. Things You'll Need. Related Articles. Method 1. Buy some duckweed at a pet store or harvest it from a pond. You might be able to buy some duckweed from pet stores in your area. Otherwise, you can take it from a pond it's growing in. Fill your container with some water from the pond. Then scoop some duckweed from the pond with your hand and place the duckweed into your container.

Between duckweed pods will be enough as they will grow and multiply quickly. Disinfect the duckweed with potassium permanganate. You'll need potassium permanganate to disinfect the duckweed. Mix one teaspoon of this chemical in 12 gallons 45 L of water. Place the duckweed into the permanganate solution for 30 seconds or so. Disinfecting the duckweed will make sure that it is free of pests and bacteria. Place the duckweed in a plastic tray with 12—14 inches 30—36 cm of depth. This will help you create a suitable environment for the duckweed to thrive in.

Fill the tray with freshwater and add the duckweed to it. Use freshwater from a pond for best results but you can also use tap water. This is why they only grow in ponds and not at sea. Salt water will kill the duckweed. Position the tray so it receives 10 hours of sunlight daily. The best place to put the tray is right next to a window that receives at least 10 hours of sunlight each day.

Like many plants, duckweed will thrive in direct sunlight. If you see duckweed in a pond, notice how the pond is almost completely without any shade and receiving plenty of sunlight. If you can't put duckweed near a window that receives 10 hours of sunlight, you can also use fluorescent light bulbs to help them grow. For best results, place the light bulbs 15 inches 38 cm above the tray. The duckweed won't grow under these light bulbs as well as it would with direct sunlight. Change the water in the tray after 1 week.

Check the tray a couple of times a day and remove damaged duckweed from the tray. Replace the water in the tray with more freshwater. Use a net to transfer the multiplied duckweed to your desired location. If transferring the duckweed to a pond in your garden, make sure that the pond is receiving plenty of sunlight.

If you're moving the duckweed to an aquarium, make sure that the aquarium lid has a light source attached to it. You can get a suitable net in your local garden store.

As each frond matures, it begins producing new buds in the meristematic zone near the center of the frond. These buds grow into new fronds while still attached to the parent frond. When they mature, they break off. At this point, they have likely already begun producing fronds of their own. This cycle of reproduction allows duckweed to have a very fast rate of growth.

It is capable of doubling in biomass over the course of 16 hours. Although duckweed does produce flowers, they are not required for reproduction. Amelia Apfel is a freelance journalist currently living and writing in Seattle, Washington.