went overboard with hornwort

[HelplessNewbie]

Got a little carried away with my local fish club auction and ended up with too much hornwort. What can I do with the extra to use around the house or garden? Would rather not sell it, as I am pretty much house bound and I don't think it will ship well.

Is it safe to just put some on the top of my potted terrestrial plants' soil?

[Zac]

On 9/11/2023 at 10:23 AM, HelplessNewbie said:

Got a little carried away with my local fish club auction and ended up with too much hornwort. What can I do with the extra to use around the house or garden? Would rather not sell it, as I am pretty much house bound and I don't think it will ship well.

Is it safe to just put some on the top of my potted terrestrial plants' soil?

I think it should be able to grow on the soil as long as it’s damp and humid. You might be able to put some outside as well

[TOtrees]

It won't survive out of water, but I sense you're asking more about an organic top-dressing like mulch or compost, yes? Personally, I'd compost it first. Or at least dry it out. Maybe chopping it into bits will also help it to break down faster. 

A couple concerns: 1) Soils need to breathe. A heavy layer of damp hornwort could raise humidity to the point where rot or fungus get in. 2) When organic material or broken down, the organisms that do that need nitrogen (and other nutrients) for their biological processes. So it's not uncommon to see nitrogen drop when very fresh mulch is added to landscape or potted plants. Of course it then rises as the material is broken down and released. 

If you have a compost, I'd send it there rather than put it on your house plants. 

[HelplessNewbie]

Thank you @Zac @TOtrees

I was thinking as mulch or compost. I know nothing about gardening, so am glad I asked before putting the hornwort in my household plant pots. I wasn't thinking about mold and fungus, so yes, I guess I will dry out the stuff beforehand.

[JettsPapa]

On 9/11/2023 at 9:23 AM, HelplessNewbie said:

. . . and I don't think it will ship well.

I've shipped it a number of times without any problems.  Put a folded up wet paper towel in the bag with it so it doesn't dry out, and blow some air into the bag before you seal it so the plants don't get crushed.

I've shipped all over the continental US from Texas using USPS Priority mail.  They say three day shipping, and while it occasionally takes longer, it often takes only two.

[JoeQ]

Just a point of intrest, hownwort usually is a first plant that shows nutrient deficiencies in the planted tank. If your hornwort isn't looking too healthy I recommend adding an extra squirt or two of fertilizer as a first step.

[beastie]

I had good experience just chucking it in a vase and leaving be

Sometimes changing water like every few months, or toping off, nothing, no nutrition, light from the window. It never died, it didnt grow much either, so is usable. Just the needles will get hard and they scratch, the older it is.