"Pond in a Jar" Water Gardens kits for sale

Welcome to the "BucketPonds" blog! My name is Terry and I am the owner/operator of the BucketPonds YouTube channel and the BucketPonds Etsy Shop

Today we are looking at my Water Garden DiY Kit what's in it and what you can do with it. Let me start by saying that this kit is FULL of live plants and tiny aquatic animals. This isn't some sterile pet shop type of aquarium plant package. Hitchhikers are included intentionally!

My "pond in a jar" style Water Gardens are an all natural indoor aquaponic system. Using tiny aquatic animals to make natural fertilizers for the plants that grow within. Think of the aquatic animals like earthworms in your herb garden, making the soil more fertile.

The Freshwater plants in this Kit are chosen to cover all of the possible plant habitats in a "pond in a jar" style aquarium or water garden. Included in this kit are Emergent plants, Floating plants, Submerged plants + extras of each

1: EMERGENT PLANTS 

First, growing up out of the water are our emergent plants. Typically stem plants that are rooted to the bottom and stand above the water. The plants I've found best for this type of project are easy to handle and easy to grow. Included in this kit are several flowering plants which may grow and can include colors like light blues or daisy-like yellows. 

[Some of the emergent plants in this kit: Climbing Dayflower (Commelina diffusia) Creeping Jenny aka Moneywort (Lysimachia nummularia) and Creeping Oxeye (Sphagneticola trilobata)]

The flowering emergent plants in this kit are fairly easy to reproduce. Cuttings are simple to make and they have a high survival rate. These are warm or room temperature plants and they should not be exposed to cold conditions. You may also see utricularia (bladderwort) flowers. 

2: FLOATING PLANTS

Next would be floating plants. Growing on the surface of the water or just beneath the surface, they are always fun to see. I love Duckweeds personally and I include a fair amount of two different types in these Water Garden kits. Duckweed (Lemna minor) and The Florida Mud Midget (Wolffiella gladiata)

There are tons of live animals  that live IN THE DUCKWEED layer. Water mites feed on a few stray duckweeds, ostracods love it and roost upon the leaves and aquatic Annelids (worms) constantly crawl through this layer. 

The floating plants in the BucketPonds "pond in a jar" water garden kit are very easy to reproduce. You can turn a couple plants into a lush layer of Duckweeds in less time than you would think possible. Live creatures that live in the Duckweed layer are also included.

3: SUBMERGED PLANTS

Finally we have the submerged plants. These can be rooted or semi buoyant. I include several types of submerged plants in my water garden kits. Mostly the popular freshwater Nitella Macroalgae, along with Bladderwort (Utricularia) and a few other submerged plant varieties.

These submerged plants are fun to observe and typically easy to grow. The bladderwort in particular is an interesting species. Bladderwort can catch and feed on small creatures, like the aquatic animals that I include in this kit. This works as a predator and helps to control your populations of aquatic animals. 

Bladderwort makes this into a true ecosystem in a jar. A water garden like this is a great project for a science fair or nature observation. You have all the fun of a real pond, all the little life forms, right in your windowsill. I grow all of these items indoors, so there are no mosquitoes!

For written instructions on how to start your "pond in a jar" Water Garden check the next post or for videos on the water gardens check BucketPonds on YouTube