Submerged macrophytes play an important role in maintaining the ecosystem balance of lakes and are used widely in the remediation of contaminated water and sediment. Electric field provides a new technological approach to enhance the restoration of submerged plants. In this study, the growth performance and physiological response of Vallisneria natans under different voltage intensities were investigated. The results show that the voltage ranging from 0.2 to 1.0 V can stimulate the growth of Vallisnera natans, while the voltage ranging from 1.5 to 3.0 V can inhibit the growth. The obvious stimulation was observed under the voltage of 0.5 V. Compared with the control experiment, the obvious increase in the aspects of biomass, average stem length, average leaf length, the number of root tips, the number of buds and the content of total chlorophyll were observed. The plants grew worst under the voltage of 3.0 V, and some of them ended up wilting even death. The content of total chlorophyll in their leaves strikingly decreased but the content of MDA markedly increased, which showed the plants suffered serious stress. The temperature of overlying water did not change obviously among different voltages. The pH of overlying water dropped remarkably under the voltage of 1.0, 1.5 and 3.0 V, close to neutral. The content of dissolved oxygen decreased markedly under the voltage of 3.0 V. The redox potential of 5 cm under the sediment surface decreased sharply when the voltage was raised, and finally inhibited the growth of Vallisnera natans. Thus, these findings show that the voltage ranging from 0.2 to 1.0 V will contribute to the growth of Vallisnera natans and enhance the restoration of plants, while the voltage ranging from 1.5 to 3.0 V will damage the tissues of Vallisnera natans, resulting in worsening the living condition and inhabiting the growth of Vallisnera natans.