Bog Question

[rubyduby]

Last night I pulled out a bunch of bare root mint from tucked in my stream and the roots were laden with black stuff that stunk to high heavens...Broken down mint leaves, ect...The mint looked VERY healthy though, so my question is "Don't the plants in your bogs get like this, and if so, doesn't this affect the water quality? Just curious..

 

[addy1]

They do a great job of collecting muck. My bog plants collect a fine brown stuff which does not stink.

 

[GBBUDD]

That muck that stink is caviar to plants and microbes. But to much is not a good sign as the bog should break it down to the light brown silt you'll see in the bog. and in time it will get better every day

 

[SarahT]

Last night I pulled out a bunch of bare root mint from tucked in my stream and the roots were laden with black stuff that stunk to high heavens...Broken down mint leaves, ect...The mint looked VERY healthy though, so my question is "Don't the plants in your bogs get like this, and if so, doesn't this affect the water quality? Just curious..

My bog plants have some of the black stuff, though not overly stinky ("low heavens", maybe). Could be a Florida "we've been over 80-90 degrees for the past 3 months" thing. All the plants look healthy (and huge). Do you test your water?
I've had a small algae bloom this past month. I think it's: bog is still too small for the size of the pond (it's 20% of the surface area), last year's baby goldfish boom (I'm working on catching and rehoming some), and the July-August Florida heat and sun. AND my pond-sitter overfed the fish when I was gone for 10 days (Sigh. He can't stop himself.) But overall, the water parameters look fine.
Good luck, "neighbor".

 

[rubyduby]

My bog plants have some of the black stuff, though not overly stinky ("low heavens", maybe). Could be a Florida "we've been over 80-90 degrees for the past 3 months" thing. All the plants look healthy (and huge). Do you test your water?
I've had a small algae bloom this past month. I think it's: bog is still too small for the size of the pond (it's 20% of the surface area), last year's baby goldfish boom (I'm working on catching and rehoming some), and the July-August Florida heat and sun. AND my pond-sitter overfed the fish when I was gone for 10 days (Sigh. He can't stop himself.) But overall, the water parameters look fine.
Good luck, "neighbor".

I was surprised that the muck would smell like it did but maybe you are right that it could be due to the hot weather...I do test my water and just did about three days ago with normal results, everything looks good...I have no algae problems at all. Water is crystal clear, normal carpet algae on rocks, fish vibrant, ect.. Just curious...The mint was in a corner of my stream so it accumulated a lot of "stuff" which probably did not help (the mint liked it though

 

[Mgessert]

Maybe there is a localized anaerobic area with some hydrogen sulfide production. I think a mix of aerobic and anaerobic areas is probably normal in “real” ponds.