I’m trying to grow some Bonsai Lotus plants, and everything seemed fine until it rained last weekend, then I started getting algae in my pot. Need some suggestions to save my plants from the algae, without killing them!!!🫣 Oooorrrrrr, am I over reacting?🤷🏾♂️
It is a concern as it will A compete for nutrients and B can be suffocating if overgrown. You can use Algicides, either chemical versions or barley straw. If the pot is large enough, algae eating fish (even if you just pop them in temporarily to deal with the issue and remove them to a proper tank after. There's also certain traditional set ups that help prevent, like clay topping soil
1 like I bought something that got here today off Amazon that says it’ll help with algae and is safe and non toxic to the plant, but as a newbie 🤷🏾♂️ I don’t know what I don’t know…
Nerite snails are the single most effective algae eater I've ever had, but they're also escape artists
1 like It’s hot in AZ so I wouldn’t want to put snails in a boiling pot!🤷🏾♂️🤗
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Sooooo a super natural thing you can do is to black out your pot. Take heavy duty black plastic and cover the top. Make sure it’s sealed. Blacking it out for 48-72 hrs will kill the algae bloom without resorting to chemicals
2 likes That won’t hurt the plant I’m trying to keep alive!?🤷🏾♂️
0 likes No it wouldn’t harm your plants. Shade loving plants can tolerate up to two weeks (closely monitor them though) and stem/sunloving plants up to 7 days. You’ll want to check it daily and monitor the algae levels. Once the algae is dead you slowly reintroduce the plant to light. Do a 50% water change making sure to pull out the dead algae and do 20-25% water changes semi regularly.
0 likes So I took your advice, I went out of town last Sunday and just got back today. I blacked out the pot with a Black trash bag and a lid to seal it and I came back to the Lilly pads looking like this. I’m hoping that the color will come back with the sunlight in subsequent days
