Have you ever found 'accidental aquatics' in your water features?
I have a stream inside of a greenhouse that is a little over 30 feet long and ends in a small still pool. Plants grow in it, around it, and some hang over it.
I was recently cleaning around it and found some real hydroponic surprises.

1. Hoya growing IN the pond. A piece had wandered over from a planting I have near the wall, rooting across the ground as it went, and gone over the edge of the pool and rooted there. I cut it off and now that portion is growing as a bare root aquatic.

2. Ric Rac epiphytic jungle cactus. I have a basket of this over the pond. Apparently a piece fell out at some point into the pond. Instead or rotting, it ROOTED and is growing aquatically.

3. Costus woodsonii. I was removing some form the greenhouse to plant outside and accidentally left some stems in the pond soaking. They rooted. In the stream. They are growing there now as aquatic plants.

4. Alocasia odora. I've grown a lot of COLOCASIAS as aquatics, but not alocasias. Somehow a piece of the alocasia fell into the pond and now a stand is growing there as an aquatic.

5. Epidendrum orchids. Some keikis fell out of a basket into the stream and rooted there. Growing.

6. Chinese evergreen (aglaonema). Had an extra, threw it in the pond, it rooted and is growing there.

7. Dracaena. I have 3-4 species growing as aquatics.

8. Schomburgkia orchid. I have a big Schomburghkia orchid that sent roots down into the pond. They did not rot. They uptake water for the plant 24/7. I have a vandal that also did this.

These were surprising to me. DO you have any plants that have surprised you by doing this?

The pond is INSIDE a green house?
Lucky you.
None of that sounds odd to me. Lots of plants have a wide range of tolerance. I can "dry" garden water chestnuts until about late July - early August. They change their appearance, and they won't propagate as well, but they will survive on land.
I toss cuttings into my outdoor pond all the time. If they take, I plant them. If they don't, oh well.

Yes, inside. I wanted water features to provide extra humidity in winter and to grow tropical aquatic aroids and stuff. So I built a pond and a 20 foot stream.

I've seen many of these things growing in the water in my greenhouse ponds. Certainly hoya and gingers. Dracaena are famous for growing in water (e.g. lucky bamboo). This spring I found an aloe that had broken off as a pup, landed on an aquatic plant, and rooted into the water. If I toss fig cuttings in the water with part of it sticking out, they will grow there indefinitely with the roots floating in the water (I've gone as long as 12 months before removing the heavily rooted trees).

I like it when it happens. Gives it a more exotic look.

I found a Dace (minnow) in my pond of goldfish! No clue as to how it got there. It was tiny, but has grown to about 1.5" at last look. Was definitely not a goldfish. It had a blue stripe and everything! I think they grow to 4".

My goldfish have spawned and there are dozens of fish fry swimming around. I havent spotted the Dace in a few weeks. There is also a couple of resident Leopard Frogs that live in the pond. Only the strong fry survive, right? The Dace might not have made it.

I know this is an oldish thread-But I just couldn't help sharing! So I have many outdoor ponds and fish tanks, and my favorite thing to do is root cuttings in the hang on back filter!! You just stick the plant in, and it takes nutrients from the fish waste and they always do AMAZING!! I have one tank just full of minnows, and I just throw in random plant scaps into the tank its self, and it's a great "catchall" for cuttings I am not really that interested in growing but break off or are scraps from pruning. I have a HUGE tradescantia that started from a small cutting that has overtaken one tank, inside AND out!!!

I was a ponder 10-15 years ago and did the same thing! We only have wildlife and tub gardens here, I have a few unground tubs for the deer, raccoons, etc to utilize for water in times of drought, but I do that in there...I just throw stuff from the greenhouse in there and wait and see what happens. I currently have Costus ginger and Hoffmania growing as aquatic plants in tub gardens. The Aglaonema I put into he greenhouse pond and stream have done so well, really everything I threw in there is...I will have to take some new photos to show their growth.

People also do not realize that you can grow Hedychium gingers, brugmansia, Alpinia ginger and banana trees in a bog...I have a natural bog in a low lying area between my house and the start of the woods (which stretch for miles into a nature preserve) and threw some banana corms, ALpinia (shell ginger), brugmansia clippings and Hedychium rhizomes into it and now have a bog garden with those that I have to do absolutely nothing with, ever. It just grows.

I took a few new photos today of some of the plants I have trialed in my greenhouse as unexpected aquatics. All the plants in these photos are actually growing in water. And have been for at least 6 months or more

I LOVE the variegation on your peace lily!! I just moved mine into higher light a little bit back so it will color up more, and the leaves are starting to get more variegation. What types of gingers do you have? I have three but would like to get some more...

I grow a lot of ginger both outdoors and in the greenhouse. Outdoors I grow Alpinias, Hedychiums, Costus, Kaempferia, Shomburgkia and Curcuma off the top of my head.
In the greenhouse I grow Etlingeras mainly, and Alpinia purpurata. I do have some epiphytic Hedychiums in there too