Aquaponics - Duckweed growth rate

I hadn't noticed my duckweed growing, because I tend not to notice such things. But when you compare two photos taken a week apart, it becomes difficult for even the most stubborn unobserver to ignore.

Duckweed grows really fast.

This is what it looked like on the day I bought it.

And this is what it looked like a week later. And I'd given some to the fish!

I only noticed it a few days ago when I was sorting photos.

It does grow only in two dimensions, but it is still amazing.





Duckweed is known for choking river systems, but it's only because the water is far too nutrient rich from fertilizer runoff and other intensive farming and industry. The single leaf with the insect on it still looks the same after a week. I was expecting to be able to show it dividing, but its growth is slow, probably because the water it's in isn't saturated with nutrient.

It's interesting to note the small root system the photo at the top of this post shows. I couldn't see those roots without the aid of the camera. I thought each leaf had a larger white root, but it looks like there are many on each section that will one day become a plant on its own, although its possible that those fine green roots are actually algae or some other type of bio string.