Water Lettuce (Pistia stratiotes)

Water Lettuce (Pistia stratiotes)

A striking floating pond plant with soft velvety rosettes, perfect for adding shade, improving water quality and creating a tropical summer look.

Water Lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) is a beautiful floating pond plant known for its soft, velvety leaves that form attractive rosettes on the water’s surface. Resembling small open heads of lettuce, this plant brings a unique tropical feel to garden ponds while also delivering real functional benefits for water quality and wildlife.

Each plant forms a compact rosette of pale green leaves, typically growing between 10 cm and 20 cm across. The leaves have a slightly ribbed texture and a soft, almost furry surface that helps them repel water. Beneath the surface, long feathery roots hang down into the water, where they play an important role in absorbing excess nutrients.

Water Lettuce is particularly effective at improving pond health. Its trailing roots absorb nitrates and other nutrients that would otherwise contribute to algae growth. By reducing these nutrients and shading the water surface, it helps keep ponds clearer and healthier during the warmer months. This makes it an excellent natural solution for controlling green water and maintaining balance in your pond.

The floating rosettes also provide valuable shelter for pond life. Frogs, newts and fish often gather beneath the plants where they can hide from predators and strong sunlight. The shaded areas created by Water Lettuce also help regulate water temperature, which is especially beneficial during hot summer periods.

As a tender floating plant, Water Lettuce thrives in warm, sunny conditions and is best used as a seasonal addition to your pond from late spring through to early autumn. It prefers still or slow moving water and should be kept away from splashing fountains to prevent damage to the leaves.

Water Lettuce will not survive frost outdoors. It is normally treated as a seasonal pond plant, although healthy plants can be overwintered in a bright, heated aquarium or greenhouse. Keep the water warm, ideally at 16°C or above, and only return plants to the pond once settled warm weather has arrived.

With its soft texture, attractive appearance and practical benefits, Water Lettuce is a fantastic choice for enhancing both the look and health of your pond during the summer season.

🇬🇧 UK-grown aquatic plant: Grown at a dedicated aquatic plant nursery in the South of England and carefully prepared for delivery across the UK.

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Key Benefits

• Attractive floating rosettes with soft velvety leaves
• Helps reduce algae by absorbing excess nutrients
• Provides natural shade to keep water cool
• Creates shelter for fish, frogs and pond insects
• Adds a tropical look to garden ponds
• Fast growing in warm conditions
• Easy to use and maintain
• Ideal for improving pond water clarity

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Reasons to Buy

• One of the best floating plants for summer pond health
• Perfect for reducing algae naturally
• Enhances pond appearance instantly
• Great for wildlife friendly ponds
• Simple to introduce with no planting required

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Care Instructions

• Place directly onto the pond surface and allow it to float freely
• Best grown in full sun or partial shade
• Keep in still or slow moving water
• Avoid splashing fountains or strong water movement
• Thin out regularly to prevent overcrowding
• Remove before frost and overwinter in bright, heated conditions, ideally at 16°C or above

Water Lettuce is listed in Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 in England and Wales. It must be kept within a contained garden pond and must never be planted in, released into, or allowed to spread to natural waterways. Remove surplus growth carefully and dispose of it through household or controlled green waste rather than placing it in the wild.

Responsible Use

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Flowering Period

June to September

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Size and Growing Conditions

Important Information

Harmful if eaten
May cause skin or eye irritation

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Dispatching Your Pond Plants

Your Water Lettuce will be carefully packed to protect the foliage and roots during transit.

Orders received by 11am Monday to Wednesday are normally dispatched on the following working day using a next working day courier service. During busy periods, dispatch may occasionally take an extra day.

To avoid plants being held in depots over a weekend, we do not usually dispatch on Fridays. Highlands and Islands orders using a two day service are not normally dispatched on Thursdays.

Available pack size:

• Pack of 5 Floating Plants

Floating plants do not require an aquatic basket. Place them directly onto still or slow-moving water after unpacking.

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Similar pond plants

For another plant that adds cover at the water surface, compare Smooth Frogbit (Limnobium laevigatum) and Water Soldier (Stratiotes aloides).

Explore more floating pond plants or browse our complete pond plants range. Need baskets, aquatic soil or planting essentials? Browse our pond plant baskets and aquatic planting supplies.