How to Start Parrot Feather Indoors

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Parrot Feather is a wonderful fern-like pond plant that resembles a parrot's feather. It grows long stems that can reach 2-3 feet long. This is a cold climate pond plant, growing zone 6. Parrot feather can be planted in a shallow bog in-soil or can free float. After establishing, it will resemble a tiny forest in your pond. It is a perfect container pond plant and looks lovely in bathtub ponds too.
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Starting Indoors

What You Need

1. An aquarium with fresh water.
A pump and filter is not needed.

2. Goldfish, Guppies, or Minnows.
Do not add any fertilizer or other chemicals. The fish will act as natural fertilizer for the plants!

3. A sunny window

4. A florescent light or Aquarium Light
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Parrot Feather is simple to start and propagate indoors. This aquarium is actually filled with baby water lotus, floating frogbit, and parrot feather too.

Other plants you can start this way are primrose creeper and frogbit!


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1. Place aquarium in a sunny window. Fill with fresh water and at least 2 fish. Do not add too many fish as they will compete for food and may eat your plants!

2. Peal the leaves off the parrot feather. This will promote new growth and roots. But, do not peal back the parrot palm on the top.
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3. Break the parrot feather stems into 4" sections. Allow the stems to float. The palm-top stem will grow new roots, and the other stems will grow new roots too.

4. Hang a florescent light directly over the aquarium close to the plants. Light each day for at least 4-8 hours per day.

.....After 1 Week: You should begin to see new roots appear.

.....After 10 Days: You should see new growth appear!

A Great Head-Start on Spring
While everyone else is scrambling for a beautiful pond in the springtime, yours will be all ready to go! Other plants you can propagate indoors are: water lotus, frogbit, water lettuce, and water hyacinth too.

Find out more about wintering over ponds and pond plants at: http://www.pondplantgirl.com/
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