COUPLE OF NEWBIE QUESTIONS

[fishin4cars]

A small kitty pool at wal mart / dollar store will work great for the submerged plants as well as some marginals and small lilys depending on depth. for $10-$20 its a cheap holding container that can be used later for other pond puposes as well.

 

[sissy]

I used oyster shells to plant my lilies with a topping of a few rocks so koi would not dig as much and used planting bags not pots so I can use fishing line to sew the basket together in a few spots .I also soak my plants a little so the water is not to cloudy but also found the cloudiness goes away in an hour or two and I would guess helps clarify the water .Seems the koi stay away from the oyster shells but go nuts over the kitty litter as they seem to like clay .

 

[Mmathis]

I got my 100 gal. Rubbermaid container and have it set up to hold my plants until the pond is ready. Have a small pump and added a few goldfish.

Using a crate and some flat rocks, I put my 2 little lilies in about 6 inches lower than what they were previously (since the tank is deeper than the other container I had them in) and put my 4-leaf clovers in (they're a couple of inches deeper than the stem length). It's been amazing to watch how the stems are growing in order for the leaves to reach the surface! I never knew water plants did that: adjust to water depth. And the lilie pad-leaves are getting larger, too!

Another interesting thing I did was put some water lettuce in the 2 plant saucers I'm using as water bowls for the turtles. The water bowls have to be emptied, rinsed,& refilled anywhere from 2-4 times a day (that's why I wanted a pond for the turtles!). I added the plants yesterday, and either the turtles are scared of the plants and haven't even been in the bowls, or the water lettuce is filtering the water already! I added some water this afternoon, but didn't have to empty them.....

 

[buckry]

When I dug out my pond the last foot was pure clay so I have a small mountain of the stuff next to my large mountain of top soil. I just get a trowel full of it and put this in the pot then get it wet and add my plant. I got a bottle of free plant tabs the last time I ordered lilies so I've been using those, so far no ill effects to the water and I guess it's working, not really sure about that.

 

[j.w]

Clay is fine to use for soil as long as the koi keep their mitts off of them. If they dig in the pots it might muck up the water a bit.

 

[buckry]

Yeah, the first one I lowered into the water made a small upside down mushroom cloud of clay. I made sure to do a better job rinsing the 2nd and 3rd ones. To keep the koi out I've put a piece of small flagstone covering as much as I could of the pea gravel. There is just one spot for the lily pads to emerge.

 

[sissy]

They smell out clay, believe me been there done that and only thing I can plant my pond plants in is the crushed oyster shells and some lava rocks on top .Now that my koi are getting bigger they seem to be rooting less