Hydroponic Peace Plant with Beta Fish

When I was outside yesterday, my neighbor called me over to see what she made.  It was a Hydroponic Peace Plant.  Have you seen those?  I made one years ago, but had forgotten about them.  Hers was beautiful! I wanted one again.

I had a repair man here fixing my washing machine, and as soon as he left I went shopping to get the materials I needed to make one.  I already had the clear vase and rocks, but needed the male Beta fish and a Peace Plant. I had trouble finding a good plant, but finally found a gorgeous one at Home Depot.  I got the fish at WalMart.  They had quite a selection, most had beautiful colors.  The males are the most vibrant, females are more bland in their coloring.

Pretty with a turquoise ribbon 

 Isn't he gorgeous?

This would make a nice gift

I put a blue ribbon around the vase, but it should have a wide, wired ribbon with a big, pretty bow.  It's off to Michael's today.  They have tons of ribbon, and should have a good color that will match my new fish.

If you haven't seen these, there are a few plants that will thrive in water only, and don't need dirt.  (Although they are in pots with dirt when you buy them.) The fish gets what it needs from the roots of the plant, and the plant gets fertilizer from the fish droppings.   Betas are perfect for this, I don't know if other fish would work, but I know only one Beta should be in the water, because they will kill other fish and other Betas.  They are so beautiful and graceful. 

I think this would make a nice gift, but I would give a smaller one.  Minimal care - occasionally add water, once a day add Beta food.  I think after a while the fish gets all he needs from the roots and you can stop feeding.  That will become apparent if/when he doesn't touch his food.

If you are interested in making one of these, you can use a smaller vase and smaller plant.  If I ever do this again, I'll make a smaller one.   Mine is 38 inches tall, from the bottom of the vase to the top of the tallest flower.  Too tall for my dining room table.  It almost hits the chandelier.  

The only hard part - be prepared for this! - is getting all the dirt off the roots.  It took me forever, and I had to take the plant apart, break intertwining roots, used my kitchen faucet sprayer, pulled little dirt-embedded baby roots off, and finally got tweezers to reach spots my fingers couldn't reach.  What a pain!  A smaller plant would have fewer roots, and they wouldn't be so entwined.

This photo is from the link I found with materials/directions on the web.  I was going to add the link, but now I can't find it.  It had great directions, so if you're interested, you'll have to Google for it yourself.  I'm usually a good researcher, but this one stumped me when trying to find it again.

 Hydroponic Peace Plant with Beta Fish

I've heard during my lifetime how there is nothing new.  When I saw my neighbor's plant, I thought of that.  Once you get to be my age, there is little that's new.  Things just recycle - you enjoy them, you forget about them, then they come back.  Sometimes they are a little different, but you remember them, and they feel familiar.  This one was exactly like the one I made long ago, and it brought back some great memories of people and places.  I guess that's why I immediately wanted to put another one together.

From Me and My Dog, Katie, have a great weekend, everyone! : )