Nutrients in pond water

I'm new to ponds, and have a new pond.

The pond is roughly oval, 12 ft x 9 ft, varying in depth from 15
inches on the perimeter shelf to 3 ft at the centre, and with a volume
of roughly 1600 gallons. No pumps, fountains or filters. There's a bog
garden attached, of about a third of the area of the pond and the same
depth as the shelf, sharing the same liner and water. The pond was
first filled in the autumn of last year.

The water in the pond is more-or-less clear to the bottom, with a
slight olive-brown haze. It was much cloudier, earlier in the year,
with the same olive-brown colour, but went clear following some heavy
rain. From what I've read about new ponds, I've been expecting masses
of algae of one sort or another, but so far, nothing.

Plants in the pond are three water lilies and several as-yet small
oxygenators in the deep section, with several varieties of Iris Ensata
and a number of other marginals in baskets etc. on the shallower
shelf, their depth adjusted with bags of gravel under them. There are
no fish, but a friend gave me some toad spawn so we have plenty of
tadpoles, apparently thriving. Some ramshorn snails have been
introduced recently, and a few other unidentified bugs and beasties
have appeared from nowhere, as they do.

I bought the water lilies a couple of years ago, long before the pond
was built, as they were a very cheap offer that I couldn't resist. In
ignorance I planted them in commercial garden compost in ordinary
large plant pots, and put them into small water butts in a shady spot.
They grew well, with lots of green leaves and even a flower or two.
When the pond was completed, I replanted them in proper aquatic
compost (looked like light brown clayey subsoil) in larger baskets.
They have started to put up leaves, but they are rather small and red,
not the lush green of when they were in the butts. The marginal plants
aren't exactly flourishing, but they're mostly OK AFAICT, although a
floating myriophyllum is looking rather sickly.

I've recently checked pH and nitrogen levels. The pH was between 7 and
7.5, which is close to ideal, or so I read, and levels of ammonia,
nitrite and nitrate were all virtually zero, which probably explains
the lack of algae. I'm concerned that the bog garden, being freshly
established and with a lot of organic matter included in its soil, is
capturing all the available nutrient from the pond itself, and
starving the pond plants.

Questions: Is there a minimum nitrate level in pond water for plants
to flourish? I know that too much invites algae problems and isn't
good for fish either, but can it be too low, or is near-zero OK?
Should I consider putting some pellets of fertiliser into the soil of
the water lilies, and even the baskets holding the marginal plants? Or
am I just being impatient?

--

Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net

it is a very good idea to get food spikes for plants in a pond. water lilies are
pretty heavy feeders. be sure to bury the spikes under the mud. Ingrid

On Sat, 25 Apr 2009 11:25:36 EDT, dr-solo@wi.rr.com wrote:

>it is a very good idea to get food spikes for plants in a pond. water lilies are
>pretty heavy feeders. be sure to bury the spikes under the mud. Ingrid

Definitely. I always feed when I divide.

Chris, what is your water temp? ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

On Sat, 25 Apr 2009 14:36:28 EDT, ~ jan <Seewebsite@jjspond.us> wrote:

>On Sat, 25 Apr 2009 11:25:36 EDT, dr-solo@wi.rr.com wrote:
>
>>it is a very good idea to get food spikes for plants in a pond. water lilies are
>>pretty heavy feeders. be sure to bury the spikes under the mud. Ingrid
>
>Definitely. I always feed when I divide.
>
>Chris, what is your water temp? ~ jan
>------------
>Zone 7a, SE Washington State
>Ponds: www.jjspond.us

12C, or especially for you, 54F ;-)

--

Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net

On Sun, 26 Apr 2009 10:01:07 EDT, Chris Hogg <me@privacy.net> wrote:

>12C, or especially for you, 54F ;-)

That's another reason why you're not seeing much growth and why the leaves
are red. Ever notice roses when they first start growing in spring. The
leaves are red, cold soil. They'll change as it warms up into the 60's
(15.5C and up). ;-) ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

On Sun, 26 Apr 2009 13:08:39 EDT, ~ jan <Seewebsite@jjspond.us> wrote:

>On Sun, 26 Apr 2009 10:01:07 EDT, Chris Hogg <me@privacy.net> wrote:
>
>>12C, or especially for you, 54F ;-)
>
>That's another reason why you're not seeing much growth and why the leaves
>are red. Ever notice roses when they first start growing in spring. The
>leaves are red, cold soil. They'll change as it warms up into the 60's
>(15.5C and up). ;-) ~ jan
>------------
>Zone 7a, SE Washington State
>Ponds: www.jjspond.us


Thanks to you both. I'll stick a fertiliser plug into each container
and wait for warmer weather.

--

Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net