Water Chestnuts

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.

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.

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?

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.

Diana says...
I had a very successful water chestnut growing season this year (they got first prize for Asian vegies at last week’s BOGI fair- I won $4 towards a book voucher!). I got about 1.5 kg of corms that were 2.5-4.5cm across. They are delicious. The previous year I had a small harvest of small corms. I think the reasons that they went so well this year are:

1) I grew them in a pond (about a metre by half a metre, half a metre deep), half filled with compost mixed with cow manure, with a layer of sand then pebbles to stop the compost mixing with the water: they like rich soil and space (especially depth of soil) to grow lots of corms. I heard that the ideal situation is a bath tub half filled with compost and manure. If you use shallow soil, you won't get many.

2) I planted them in about November last year, and left them for a very long time to grow (harvested ten months later in September, when all old leaves were dry, and some new sprouts starting).

3) they like warmth and full sun.

I did have goldfish in there to control mozzies, when the water settled down and plant started to grow.

I have replanted some corms, this time with pacific blue eyes to control mozzies, so we might get some frogs in the pond this summer.

I don't think planted corm size makes any difference as long as they have fertilizer, but that might vary.

Good luck.

No pictures sorry- camera on the blink :(

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

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.

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!

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.

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.

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...

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.

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!

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.

Pictures - Click to enlarge
Picture: 1

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.

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!