floating planter rings

[addy1]

How neat nova, I have lil fish, so know there must have been eggs in the pond somewhere.
No clue how it happened, maybe a fish egg attached to a frog leg. But found a tiny fry in the bog, and I mean tiny, just wandering among the pea gravel.

 

[taherrmann4]

I am befuddled!!! I made one of these rings for my water lettuce early last week, and upon me showing my wife what it did and the purpose I noticed a small mosquito fish stuck between one of the small net squares that are only about 1/2" square, the sucker got himself stuck real good. Once I got him free he swimmed away slowly but got stronger after several minutes, not sure how long he was in there but it left a white stipe around his whole body so he is easy to spot. Once he was free I noticed three other goldfish inside the planter ring, so I got them out. I looked for how they could possibly get in there and still can't say for sure, except for a very very small opening between the two bottom and sides. If they got in there why can't they figure out how to get out?????

 

[koiguy1969]

taherrmann4...theyre fish..not the brightest of creatures!!!!

O.k made an accessary ring for my watercress...added a top grid and tucked the watercress down in the mesh holes...any roots are guarded and the plant can develope as an island look.
pic#1 ziptieing the top mesh on
pic #2 completed ring
pic #3 tucking in watercress stems (some have rooots starting)
pic #4 ring in pond....
*****question should i add more watercress or leave it alone or trash the whole idea?

 

[taherrmann4]

Nice idea. Almost reminds me of those islands you can buy for several hundred dollars.

Do you anchor your down to keep from floating around your pond?

 

[koiguy1969]

someone here said that watercress likes moving water..so i may tie it off near the waterfall at least for a while, until it gets going good!...but it didnt look all that great when i bought it...but they only had 3 bundles left and for $3.00 i thought, what the heck?

 

[j.w]

Koiguy is that the same black tubing on the bottom that's on the top and I assume you put holes in the bottom tubing. I like it........very cool

 

[koiguy1969]

i just took one of the rings i had and put a layer of the mesh across the top of the ring. then stuck in the watercress into the mesh. does it need moving water?...you can see in my video update (if you watched) i now have a 4&1/2 foot ring for hyacinths.

 

[Bruddaman]

Built a planter ring this weekend. Works like a charm and looks great. Thanks for sharing your good design.

 

[koiguy1969]

well my 4&1/2' ring is almost full of hyacinths now. and my watercress island is really starting to take off....i should have went elsewhere to buy the watercress tho..when theres only 3 bundles left on the shelve you know your choices are marginal at best. but i was lazy and didnt feel like running around. and like i said,$3.00, no big deal. but i could amagine where this would be if i started with some good stock...yeah the watercress really stsrted to yellow up and die off, so out of the sun, and in the moving water by the falls it went. and that seems to have perked it up...how about a few pics?....O.K............
pic #1 ...starting to green up and look good
pic #2...today...after a week
pic #3...today closer up
pic #4.....hyacinths after 9 days...ring was about 1/2 full

***********GLAD TO HELP BUDDAMAN !!!!!*************

 

[j.w]

Koiguy, coming along nicely w/ your water cress plants. So you think they need shade eh? I passed on getting some at the store here as they looked really bad. My falls are in full sun but I'm up here in Washington where we don't get real high temps. Wondering if it will grown near the falls in full sun? Guess I'll just have to give it a try :regular_waving_emot

 

[koiguy1969]

i put them beside my iris' so they get get shaded for 1/2 the day...i read online that they will accept anything from full shade to full sun. but the ones i bought were pretty bad as well...full sun they went downhill, but seem to be doing pretty well now, i will move them out in the sun again when theyre looking really healthy.

 

[ComputerGuy]

I made some of these this weekend. This is a better design than any of the floating baskets that I've seen. They look very professional after they're finished if you use the black zip ties and trim them closely. I have a zip tie gun and it trims them as closely as they can be. A+++ to Koiguy's design.

 

[taherrmann4]

I bought some watercress last wednesday, took the rubberband off and threw some in the koiguy planter ring that I made that I have my waterlettuce in, and threw some broken pieces off in my creek and it has just taken off. Will this stuff take over and is it hard to keep under control if not contained?

 

[j.w]

Anybody notice if the fish eat that water cress plant at all?

 

[gdal]

Thanks for the idea. I made two rings today. They look awesome.