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permaculture - Re: [permaculture] Growing algae in irrigation water?

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  • From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Growing algae in irrigation water?
  • Date: Sat, 19 Nov 2011 23:14:19 -0500

On 11/19/2011 6:18 PM, Dieter Brand wrote:
Thanks Lawrence,

The shading from plants may reduce evaporation but that is probably
more than offset by transpiration via the leaves.

Dieter, my impression is that it might be good to look into that further, transpiration figures for duckweed as opposed to direct loss through evaporation, ratios and comparison with water conservation figures for other schemes. Also the duckweed with reduce water temperature thus reducing loss through evaporation. Google it.

"reduced evaporation in pond when surface is covered with duckweed"

Duckweed - San Juan Islands Conservation District
www.sanjuanislandscd.org/Information/Articles/assets/Duckweed.pdf
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - Quick View
surface of a 0.5-hectare pond in less than 50 days. ... It can even reduce evaporation loss from a pond. With optimum conditions duckweed can grow expo- ...

duckweed (lemnaceae): info fact sheet, photos
www.naturia.per.sg/buloh/plants/duckweed.htm
It floats on the water surface in a bright green layer. ... survives the winter by producing buds (called turion) that sink to the bottom of the pond. ... nitrates and phosphates), the surface area covered by duckweed can double in less than 2 days. ... And by covering the water surface, it minimises water loss through evaporation. ...

Lemnaoideae - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemnaoideae
Some duckweed is introduced into freshwater aquariums and ponds where they may spread rapidly. ... of water because a cover of duckweed will reduce evaporation of water when compared to the rate of a similar size water body with a clear surface. ... Duckweed-covered water edged with several bald cypress trees ...

Facts on Duckweed | eHow.com
www.ehow.com › Plant Care
Have you ever looked out at a pond and noticed the surface was covered in something ... Duckweed also reduces water evaporation and keeps water cool. ...

DUCKWEED - FAO
www.fao.org/ag/againfo/resources/documents/DW/Dw2.htm
A considerable proportion of the world's surface is covered by saline waters, ..... low in the pond and splashing to reduce surface temperature of the duckweed matt. ..... Duckweed was seeded onto the "ponds" so that half the surface area was ...... The only major water loss from the system being by evaporation if ...

The Pond Report > Duckweed Control, Lemnoideae Removal ...
www.thepondreport.com/duckweed.shtml
Duckweed is a small delicate plant that drifts on the pond surface, filling in ... the duckweed helps reduce evaporation which can be a problem in a clear pond ...


I hit on the idea of trying to encourage algae growth in my
irrigation system because of something I read about high fertility in
some of the ancient cultures in which irrigation was used. It was
assumed that part of the fertility was due to the algae that would
form in the extended network of irrigation channels.

It sounds like a great idea. If you can grow azolla where you are then that would be the aquatic plant of choice for accomplishing nitrification of irrigation water.

DUCKWEED: A tiny aquatic plant with enormous potential for agriculture and environment
http://www.fao.org/ag/againfo/resources/documents/DW/Dw2.htm
"Azolla, which is a member of the fern family grows extensively in association with nitrogen fixing bacteria, which allows it to produce on waters low in N but containing phosphorus. Azolla has been comprehensively discussed by van Hove (1989)."


Dieter




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