Growth of 5 Aquatic Plant Species on Artificial Planting Materials

We carried out a growth experiment using 5 different aquatic plant species to test the effect of different environmental conditions. The species used were: Phragmites australis, P. japonica, Lithrum anceps, Potamogeton distinctus and Myriophyllum spicatum. Conditions included in the experimental design were: kind of planting materials used, the water depth at which the planting materials were placed, two levels of water quality (by either adding or not adding nutrients into the water) and addition of fertilizer to the planting materials. We could not detect the effect of different planting materials on the growth of the plants. All plant species except M. spicatum showed significantly more amount of growth by either adding fertilizer into the planting material or into the water. On the other hand, in M. spicatum, addition of the fertilizer had a negative effect on the growth amount.