Mmathis
TurtleMommy
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2011
- Messages
- 13,928
- Reaction score
- 8,104
- Location
- NW Louisiana -- zone 8b
- Hardiness Zone
- 8b
- Country
This is the 4th season for my pond, and for some reason it's also the "season of plant mysteries," -- in particular, water lilies. And I'm learning, slowly but surely........
My water lilies were developing brown spots on the pads. After some research and innovative intervention (LOL), the conclusion is........ > drum roll <....... Water droplets! Yep, plain old water! Here's what was happening:
When ever I add water to the pond, I "spray" it in via a water hose sprayer. I have a de-chlor filter at the faucet, but unless it's a emergency fill, I still like to do it this way. What has been happening is that the little water droplets are settling on the pads, and if they remain on the pads when the sun is out, the droplets act like tiny little magnifying glasses, concentrating the sunlight on the leaves. I know we've all played with burning holes in things with magnifying glasses, right?
This is what was happening -- the sunlight was literally burning tiny little holes in the pads via the water-droplet-magnifying-glasses!
Any pads that were further away from the hose -- and the spray/splash --never developed the spots, plus, it wasn't happening earlier in the season because the sun's rays weren't as intense then. So when I read about this doing my research, it made perfect sense.
My intervention is that when I'm through filling the pond, I take my pond skimmer net and gently dunk the pads under the water surface. When I do this, and the pads come back up, the water is spread out more and dries quickly without leaving the tiny droplets caused by the hose. Kind of like wiping your wet car with a chamois, and how that lets the surface dry without spotting!
Now, I'm not saying this is the end-all solution to all brown spots on water lilies, but it seems to be what was causing these spots, and the solution is working in my case! Simple science, strikes again!
>
cue some of @j.w 's dancing, clapping, happy graphics! <
(Missing you JW, and think about you often -- sending healing thoughts & prayers)
My water lilies were developing brown spots on the pads. After some research and innovative intervention (LOL), the conclusion is........ > drum roll <....... Water droplets! Yep, plain old water! Here's what was happening:
When ever I add water to the pond, I "spray" it in via a water hose sprayer. I have a de-chlor filter at the faucet, but unless it's a emergency fill, I still like to do it this way. What has been happening is that the little water droplets are settling on the pads, and if they remain on the pads when the sun is out, the droplets act like tiny little magnifying glasses, concentrating the sunlight on the leaves. I know we've all played with burning holes in things with magnifying glasses, right?
This is what was happening -- the sunlight was literally burning tiny little holes in the pads via the water-droplet-magnifying-glasses!
Any pads that were further away from the hose -- and the spray/splash --never developed the spots, plus, it wasn't happening earlier in the season because the sun's rays weren't as intense then. So when I read about this doing my research, it made perfect sense.
My intervention is that when I'm through filling the pond, I take my pond skimmer net and gently dunk the pads under the water surface. When I do this, and the pads come back up, the water is spread out more and dries quickly without leaving the tiny droplets caused by the hose. Kind of like wiping your wet car with a chamois, and how that lets the surface dry without spotting!
Now, I'm not saying this is the end-all solution to all brown spots on water lilies, but it seems to be what was causing these spots, and the solution is working in my case! Simple science, strikes again!
>
cue some of @j.w 's dancing, clapping, happy graphics! < (Missing you JW, and think about you often -- sending healing thoughts & prayers)
