Algae root

Oh no, we have algae root! Our plastic potting bags, being transparent, allow our roots to be soaked in light. That does not particularly bother us but it allows for some freeloaders to make their home in the dampness of our aeroponic bags. So our planter bags are now turning green with colonies of algae. Gardener inspected a green drop of water under a microscope and saw single celled elongated free swimming algae with at least one flagella. They make many tiny bubbles of oxygen that stay suspended in the surrounding water for a few days but eventually move to the surface and pop. The extra oxygen makes my roots happy. How these stowaways got here is a mystery. Gardener says they probably came from the compost. In any case we now have some new friends. I am not certain if I should call them plant or animal.

Algae root; we have algae growing in our potting bags; they tickle my roots.
Algae root; we have algae growing in our potting bags; they tickle my roots.
Our algae makes lots of oxygen bubbles but even in weightlessness, they will move to the surface and go “pop”. Because algae grow so fast, they actually produce more oxygen that we do.
Our algae makes lots of oxygen bubbles but even in weightlessness, they will move to the surface and go “pop”. Because algae grow so fast, they actually produce more oxygen that we do.
In spite of being single cell algae, after a few days they form clumps resulting in a coherent structure of living plant tissue.
In spite of being single cell algae, after a few days they form clumps resulting in a coherent structure of living plant tissue.