6 replies to this topic

[Trickplay461]

Hello all

Just bought a new house and inherited a Koi pond with it....needless to say I love it and have experience with Aquariums so I've taken minimal lumps crossing over to ponds.

My question has to do with a Lily I bought at HomeDepot. It came in a bunch...looks like a coconut, lol, with a mesh around it to contain the contents. The instructions say to just toss into the pond....which is exactly what I did and it sunk like a rock! Now I'm not sure if this is what its SUPPOSED to do...it had a small string in the package so I fished it out of the bottom and tied it off to the side of my pond so that its almost fully submerged. I already have a plant in the pond which is sitting in some kind of gravel and a pot on a ledge underwater....the previous owner did a nice job tho I must say Im gonna take it to another level, lol..

ANYWAYS......just need some direction on how to proceed with the Lily. No photo at this time but in the future will do.

FYI:

My pond is round, 5 x 5, with a depth of about 2 ft in the center..I believe it can probably be filled more but I had some problems early on with filtration so I kept the depth as is until I got the situation under control...had algae and such giving me headaches....anyways....sorry to get off the subject but all help will be greatly appreciated.

P.S.

I have 4 fish...I believe goldfish and koi mix...not exactly sure....I moved the single plant and exposed the roots and the fish have been going nut over it! They have been dining (I assume) on the roots......is this ok or will it kill the plant? The plant is outgrowing the pot so the root chowing is ok with me at this point....thanks all who reply.

[thejetskiqueen]

The lillies that I bought at Home Depot came in a small plastic pot with a lid and already had leaves sprouted. I did buy a cat tail that came in a ball of dirt and the instructions said just toss it in and it will grow and it grew algae. That thing came from Walmart and I will never buy one again. The plants in our pond are in the pond baskets with aquatic soil in them and the lillies have done great. Is what you bought seeds, or an actual plant? If it is an actual plant, then you need to plant it in a basket and use either aquatic soil or pea gravel or some use larger stones to hold the tuber in the water. But when you put it in the basket, point the end of the tuber up diagonally and leave it exposed a little.

[Andre]

I bought one of the same plants last summer at Walmart. I tossed it into my pond and did not get much to happen with it. I pulled out what was left of the mesh ball this spring and found a very tiny plant trying to grow. I repotted it and it is doing well. I will go back to buying more mature plants.

[TailorMade]

Always make sure you pot the lilies in at least a two gallon container hith heavy loam or clay soil and fertilize once a month during the summer. Lilies cannot grow properly if they are not planted well. Also big box stores sell crappy plants, they are usually boring varieties and take 2 years to begin performing if they grow at all. Spend a few bucks and get adult sized plants that come back strond year after year. Many national distributors have dozens of extra nice water lilies most people have never seen before. I order mine from pond megastore along with my floating pond plants. There are plenty of other stores too. The only other one I have ordered from is Treasure Island Aquatics pond plants and water lilies. They offer many fish as well as water lilies and bog plants. Also they dedicated an entire page to teaching you haw to grow each type of pond plant.

[Trickplay461]

Just getting to think about my pond again and happened to look back at this site. Thank you for the replies and I'm looking into buying adult plants.

[pondlady]

I buy plants a walmart as well some do fine others do nothing at all. The lilies are small I replant them and they do well most of the time. they way they are preplanted is not a good thing, redo the potting and they have a better chance.

[lovinglife]

I agree with pondlady, they need replanted. I like to order discount lilies on line, they come bare root and I plant them in large rather shallow tubs. The roots grow sideways so put the growing end pointed towards the middle of the pot. Then I will take an evergreen tree spike, break it up some and add several chunks in the planting medium. Lilies love food, you will get more growth and bloom than you ever dreamed. Be sure to add gravel on top to keep it planted, sometimes I add larger river rocks on top of that to keep the fish from unplanting them.