Uses for Duckweed
This list of over seventy uses for duckweed is by no means final, but is meant to give you an inkling of what is possible. I can’t lay claim to developing all of them. A big thank you goes out to all my fellow duckweed enthusiasts from around the world who have been kind enough to share their experiences with me.
Disclaimer: As this is only a list, please exercise common sense and safe practices in any application.
Uses for Duckweed
Indoor Pets
- Hamsters and Gerbils
- Mice
- Goldfish, Bettas, Koi
- Turtles
- Aquarium water cleaner
- As a fish laxative
- Frozen duckweed treats
Organic Gardening
- Compost
- Soil amendment
- Green mulch in vegetable gardens
- Green mulch in fruit orchards
- Green mulch for potted plants
- Green mulch for flower beds
Animal Feedstock
- Ducks and geese
- Chickens- layers and brooders
- Pea fowl
- Rabbits
- Sheep
- Hogs
- Goats
- Cattle
- Fermented feed for livestock
Aquaculture
- Tilapia
- Grass Carp
- Koi
- Catfish
Pond Health and Management
- Measurement of waste nutrient loads in ponds
- Algae suppression
- Frog haven
- Water health of pond
- Suppression of mosquito larvae
- Minimize evaporation of water
- Cooler water columns
- Suppression of underwater vegetation
- Burning duckweed to drive away mosquitos
- As a cover to protect fish from predators
Vermiculture
- Material for worm beds
Soldier Fly Propagation
- As breeding ground/compost medium
- Closed loop system
Bioenergy
- Biomethane
- Ethanol production
- Duckweed pellets for home heating
- Electricity
Wastewater Bioremediation
- Wastewater remediation of nitrogen and phosphorus
- Polisher of heavy metals and biological pathogens
- Interplant with wetland plants for prolonging season
- Waste nutrient recycling of duckweed into animal feedstock, bioenergy, etc…
- Retaining pond or canal around agriculture fields to collect fertilizer leachate for bioremediation (thanks for the reminder, Ken Carman!)
Integrated farming
- Farm animal/biomethane/duckweed semi-closed loop systems
- Aquaponics- tilapia/hydroponics/duckweed semi-closed loop systems
- Combined fish/duckweed systems
Art
- Photos
- Waterscaping Outdoors
- Waterscaping Indoors
- Chlorophyl Art
- Dried duckweed applications
Social Inter-relations
- Neighborhood duckweed pond recycling
- Bartering duckweed for goods or services
Health
- Chinese medicinal uses
- Homeopathy
Human Food
- Lemna recipes
- Watermeal recipes
- Protein tofu and refined powdered source for protein additives
NASA
- Space travel research
- OMEGA project research
Research
- Gene manipulation for wide variety of applications
- Indicators of variances in research testing
Education
- Duckweed science experiments for kids
- Lessons in sustainable aquaculture
- Promotion for sustainable wastewater reuse
Commercial Uses
- As large-scale protein feed supplement
- As large-scale bioenergy feedstock
- Bioplastic raw ingredient (Thanks Ryan Hunt!)
© Tamra Fakhoorian 2012 No portion may be copied or used without express permission of the author.
13 Comments
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Hello,
I’m creating an Aquaponic Garden for my school and would love to get some duckweed! If you could ship me some I would be really appriciative. Please send to Po box 145, Windsor Colorado, 80550, and email me at kissthevegan@gmail.com
I have a method of harvesting Duckweed that could provide a constant and free stream of it through a floating pipe. Several of my Bossy units placed in series could provide an industrial supply, if it were available. Anyone have a supply? I have a friend in Louisiana that is looking into it now.
WHAT DO WE FEED DOCKWEED IN AN ADQUARIUM ENVIROMENT?
If you’ve got fish, then you are in luck as far as nutrients go as the duckweed utilizes fish waste. Keep an aquarium light lite up for 8-12 hrs a day or more. Thanks for reading!
its all very well growing it yourself in a garden pond – but please, please be very carefull not to spread it into the wild! its highly invasive and chokes out native plants. Its a persistent and expensive problem here in the UK
Hazel, you are absolutely right. Duckweed’s very nature of being the fastest-growing protein-packed vascular plant in the world doesn’t mean it should be introduced into natural waterways. Far from it. I advocate man-made ponds dedicated to just duckweed with provisions for overflow control. However, if it IS a massive problem in your UK canals, I hate to say it but it isn’t the duckweed that is the problem, it’s the human element that is causing the excess nutrient leaching. I know you can only do so much about that, given your situation. A clear surfaced canal doesn’t mean a healthy water body. Nature is trying to balance an excess of nutrients with duckweed. If killed off or allowed to overpopulate and die, it sinks to the bottom and the excess nutrients just go through the cycle again. Perhaps we can discuss a program of seeing duckweed as a positive and encourage canal residents and neighbors to see duckweed as a free fertilizer/compost for their garden. Win/win.
Now you know why duckweed is like green gold in sustainability efforts.
You could feed thousands with the amount of duckweed in Regent’s Canal!
Clifton, duckweed is so easy to harvest, local farmers could do just that. Just be sure that the runoff into the Canal is not from an industrial use. Then I’d check the biomass first for heavy metal contaminants, etc… Municipal waste is usually perfectly fine for duckweed use and then on to ducks, hogs, chickens, etc…
Hi, thank you so much for all the useful information! I’v been looking for information about this amazing plant, and here i certainly found some!
I live in Finland and so far have spotted no natural Wolffinia in here. Nevertheles i collected some on my trip to Italy. now i’m growing a tiny collection of it on my window board.I would be really interested in growing it as human food for my family. The question is can i use it just like that as an addition to salad, smoothie etc. is there any danger in eating self grown Wolffia arrhiza just like that? I tasted it and the taste was surprisingly neutral.
Emma, thanks for your interest in duckweed for human consumption. This is a relatively unexplored application in the US. I have been in contact with leader researchers around the world and are designing a growing method. The challenge is growing it in a relatively germ-free environment to assure a clean, safe product. According to Dr. Lewis Landesman, people in Thailand and Burma eat it or have in the past, calling it “water eggs.” There are recipes on the Net for using it as a salad with onions, lemon juice and oil, salt and pepper. I’ve seen it incorporated into muffins and quick breads. I hesitate to advise eating it raw due to possible issues with E. coli, etc. Will keep you posted on this.
Thanks! If you come up with any more, please let me know and I’ll add them to the list and give you credit.
Thank you for all the info tamra