Water Chestnuts (forum)

au0rey starts with ...
Does any of you have had success growing water chestnuts?

I have tried this season, bought a pot, growing mine in a styrofoam box with garden soil & fertiliser. But weather warms up the water in the box gets all green, I think with algae?

What can I do to stop algae from growing? It covers the whole surface and the mud smells. WHen I dig at it, I do see corms, very tiny ones growing. Or can I just ignore the algae?
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Time: 2nd October 2011 7:53pm

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JUJUBE FOR SALE says...
Hi Au0rey,

I grown mine September 2010, harvested last July when the leaves all collapsed and yellow. I did have many little ones, just about 6 big ones.

I did have problem with algae (may be too much nitrogen in the water) I changed the water, added some little fish to the container (consume all those algae ? ). Everything was fine after that.

I hope this helps.

Good luck.

Time: 2nd October 2011 8:26pm

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Mike says...
au0rey, I do ok with mine in a round 200l tub.I got creek clay and mixed it with dry grass clippings and fertliser selection and put coarse sand over the top.When the water gets dirty I run it over until it clears.Before harvest I start to let it dry out and then dig them up.Last season I put guppies in to control mozzies and also planted limnophila.The lomnophila took over and choked out most water chestnuts but kept the water pretty clear.

Time: 2nd October 2011 8:30pm

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Thao says...
I grown water chestnut about 2 years ago. I used 2 small buckets, mixed potting mix soil with blood and bone and put 1 bulb in each bucket. The soil was always moist until the leaves grown higher than the buckets, then I filled them with water. I didn't fertilise at all but harvested lots of water chestnut, about 40 bulbs each bucket and they were the same size as the bulbs I ordered. I didn't have any problem with algae and mosquitoes. I think maybe I used small buckets.

Time: 2nd October 2011 10:09pm

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Mike says...
Thao, I haven't forgotten about the paw paw seeds and pepper vine.I will get around to it soon.

Time: 2nd October 2011 10:16pm

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John Mc says...
Mike, I have too many red's that have germinated. I could send Thao probably a dozen on your behalf, if that helps you out in the short term?

Time: 3rd October 2011 12:09am

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au0rey says...
Thanks everyone for the input!

Thao, did you use 10L buckets? My styrofoam box is only about 50-60cm by 40cm wide, but I used garden soil + blood and bone. I think I should revamp and use normal potting mix + bagged composted manure.

Wow I am so envious that your bucket was full from one corm. My corms are so tiny! I have been thinking and thinking, thinking of using smaller plastic pots, add the potting mix, put one corm in, then emerge the whole pot in a tub of water. Do you think that would work? How deep do you plant your corm?

Also, I really do not want to get a fish cos it is another life I have to take care of. Does anyone know if putting duckweeds in the water help with controlling algae?

Thank you!!!

Time: 3rd October 2011 5:57pm

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Thao says...
Mike,
Don't worry, whenever you have time. Thanks.

au0rey,
Yes, I used 10L buckets. I planted the bulbs with 5cm soil on top. I waited for the leaves to grow about 10cm high, then filled the buckets with water just about 5cm from the soil. I just filled full of water when all the leaves grown out of the buckets. I think it's ok to put the whole pot in a tub of water. You can change the water regularly, so you don't have any problem with mosquitoes.



Time: 3rd October 2011 10:20pm

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au0rey says...
Thanks Thao!

Another question for you guys. My corms are really small, perhaps about 1cm and 1.5cm the most. Does that mean the harvest will be that small too??? If so, I think all my efforts will be wasted. Feel so cheated by the nursery, the pot looked so good but after taking everything apart after foliage die down, the corms are so tiny and only about 5!

Time: 4th October 2011 11:33am

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Diana says...
I had a very successful water chestnut growing season this year (they got first prize for Asian vegies at last week

Time: 7th October 2011 8:18pm

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amanda says...
Well done Diana! Good info too :)

Time: 8th October 2011 12:00pm

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JUJUBE FOR SALE says...
Good work Diana! I will apply your hints to mine. Many thanks for sharing.

Time: 8th October 2011 12:49pm

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Julie says...
I have thought about putting fish in with water chestnuts to control mozzies, but as the plants like full sun, I thought it would get too hot for them. I have a big steel tub I can use, but it's only about 30cm deep - and w. chestnuts usually grow in fairly shallow water.

Diana, did you find that?

Time: 8th October 2011 7:45pm

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Diana says...
Thanks Amanda and Jujube.

Julie- yes, you need a fairly big volume of water to buffer the temperature changes, and tough fish. Part of my pond is shaded by overhanging other plants and wooden boards, and there is shaded shelter for fish (a small artificial hollow log). It's better when the water chestnuts grow up, they shade the water too.

Shallow water seems OK for the plants, as long as they have deep enough soil. Shallow water isn't so good for fish.

Diana.

Time: 9th October 2011 8:59pm

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au0rey says...
Diana, congratulations! What size corms did you start your first planting with? I certainly don't have pond or bath tub (Though I almost picked up an old wheelbarrow but hubby disallowed me to bring it home haha). The seller told me I can just grow in most regular tubs. The mozzies and algae issues are such pain in the neck.

Time: 10th October 2011 8:46am

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Diana says...
Thanks, au0rey.

I think they were fairly large, but it was a couple of plant generations ago. Algae issues in mine resolved when the water chestnuts grew up and shaded out the algae. Until then, shading the rest of the tub or putting a bit of barley straw in would work (barley straw is harmless to other things in the tub, but expensive).

Re grapes: I haven't pruned grape bunches, just the whole plant in winter before it fruited. It's great if you if you have so many that you have to cull some!

Time: 14th October 2011 1:04pm

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au0rey says...
Thanks Diana!

Time: 14th October 2011 4:44pm

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au0rey says...
Hi Diana, now I have about 10 water chestnut plants taking off as the weather warms up which is so cool.

But...I dont have space and time to take care of of many.

I have chosen the largest ones and replanted each plant into a strong plastic tub about 50cm wide, using heavy clay soil + composted mixed manure. The water was very clear and I added two goldfish to control mozzies. I hope by giving more soil and space they will give good size corms even if it meant fewer corms.

But the next day the water started to turn murky again due to hot weather. I think maybe I have added too much manure. I had to rescue the goldfish or algae's going to fill up again. I think I have buy some aquatic floating plants such as duckweeds or water hyacinth to help with purifying the water. Then I can place the fish in again.

Also to share with everyone, goldfish is hardier to put in ponds here in Melbourne than guppies cos guppies will die in winter...too cold...i bought each for $1 and they are still alive after more than a week.

Diana, btw when you say compost, do you mean those from your compost bin or do you mean the commercial bagged potting mixes?

I read about the barley straw but it is useful for large water volumes and may not control string algae. I dont even know what algae i have.

Time: 19th November 2011 9:49am

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au0rey says...
Here's the picture of how a tub of one water chestnut plant looks like. I hope this method works...cracked my head to come up with this...
Pictures - Click to enlarge

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Time: 19th November 2011 9:52am

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Xiem says...
I have found this thread interesting because I like water chestnuts in stir fries and chopped with mince in dim sims, etc. Algae is a worry and of course it thrives in sunlight and nutrient. Shade and scarce nutrient will keep it under control. The aim is to shade the water while keeping the plant in sunlight. Duckweed will help, as will some kind of physical cover over the water, like bamboo slats. For mozzies the little fish sold as White Cloud (Chinese Mountain Minnow) are very efficient and they are also hardy. In extreme cold they will "hibernate" but mild Melbourne winters are easy for them to endure.

Time: 19th November 2011 3:19pm

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Julie says...
Sounds like azolla would be a good idea to shade the water. It does grow fast in warm weather, so its not suitable if you don't have time to rake it up every week.

It makes a useful, nirogen-rich mulch.

Time: 19th November 2011 7:52pm

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au0rey says...
I find it hard to shade the tub cos i read that sunlight is very important for water chestnut formation. Yes i love fresh water chestnuts which is never found around here.

I dont mind raking up the extra growth cos i can throw them into the compost. Main thing is to balance the nutrient level so that algae wont grow yet enough for corms to form...and the aquatic plants can be shelther for the fish too on super hot days...



Time: 20th November 2011 4:32pm

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snottiegobble says...
Au0rey, I once grew W Cs in Vic. using silage plastic laid in a trench to make a long trough. I used potting mix mixed with rotten cow manure in the bottom then covered the whole lot with a good layer of gravel & made sure that this was not disturbed during planting of the bulbs & filling with water. The trench was in full sunlight & I was able to introduce zebra danios & Rosy barbs during the spring till harvesting period to control mozie larvae. The plants grew big & strong into a continuous reed bed so I was convinced I would reep rich rewards. Disappointingly though the water chestnuts were few in number & the labour intensity to retrieve them from the now very muddy bed was simply not worth it because the roots were all intertwined together in one long nightmare! Maybe if I had planted them further apart I would have had more success. I would certainly have used Whitecloud minows instead if it was to be ongowing because they survived the Vic winters in my ponds OK & here in WA they breed like mad as well! All they need is good waterplant growth & dry fish food. Good luck!

Time: 20th November 2011 7:02pm

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au0rey says...
snottiegobble, oh I hope I wont have this nightmare can imagine the labour intensive work of harvesting just to reap a few. I think the small tub i am using shouldnt be so hard work but hopefully that one plant can produce decent corm and good size. Whitecloud minows...breeding like mad is not what I want haha...or I will have a fish farm and not knowing what to do with them (re-sell to shop?:P And too many fish will make harvesting tough job too. I plan to put just one or two a tub.

Time: 21st November 2011 3:07pm

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au0rey says...
snottiegobble, what corm size did you get eventually? Yes i think each plant needs ample space cos there is a lot of growing underneath water level.

Time: 21st November 2011 3:10pm

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snottiegobble says...
au0rey, what corms were there were reasonable in size just like those tinned. Diana seems to have hit the jackpot with her growing methods & maybe her warmer Brisbane water plays a big part too!
The minnows will adapt to the size of their environment & breed accordingly, but if youre not sure ask in the petshop for just males or females! Males are slimmer!

Time: 21st November 2011 7:01pm

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au0rey says...
Thanks snottiegobble!

I bought some duckweed yesterday. Hoping it will control the algae problem. Having loads of duckweed beats having green pea soup.

When it is confirmed no algae will grow, I will add the fish.
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Time: 24th November 2011 4:42pm

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au0rey says...
Also potted two plants into pots with drainage holes, plunge them in rectangular blue tubs and add water and duckweed...shall see if this two tubs will yield corms at the end of the season.
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Time: 24th November 2011 4:44pm

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au0rey says...
And lastly I bought some mineral mix which is safe for aquatic plants, pH neutral and safe for fish...saw it in bunnings...I use a pot without drainage holes, filled in mix and planted one plant and fully filled with water. Another experiment...
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Time: 24th November 2011 4:50pm

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Xiem says...
Don't forget the water snails Audrey, they eat the slime and dead plant material. And while you're at it, you could throw in a couple of yabbies, some frogs, reeds, perhaps an eel, efts, newts, dragonflies etc. Plenty of room for them in your little tub.

Time: 24th November 2011 5:41pm

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au0rey says...
Water chestnuts update :

So far I have not have any algae anymore with using duckweeds. And the cheap goldfish ($1 each) are still alive and well. The plants have become larger and produced new plants at the sides. Hopefully I do get some water chestnuts. Otherwise, it was a good experiment and the plants are so pretty to look at.
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Time: 7th January 2012 11:50am

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Sharonp1953 says...
My water chestnuts seem quite fibrous, but still juicy. Is this how they should be? Canned ones are not, but then they also taste nothing like these babies!

Time: 18th June 2015 8:46am

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