Holding place for fish while pond is reconstructed

[addy1]

I just stick mine in walmart oil pans, full of kitty litter, with a 1/4 cup or so of osmocote tossed in the bottom of the pan below the litter.

Great I hate throwing them away, it is sitting in a pan in water, tons of new leaves on it, will get it into the mail tomorrow You want the whole thing? it will probably fill a medium or large priority box.

pull your email addy, i have it now.

 

[gardenlady]

That's what you put your Lillie's in, in your pond? Walmart oil pan...have to go look at that! We buy from a place called Nelson Water Gardens in Katy texas and they have them in plastic containers and they sell a Lilly repotting mix. Sure ill take the whole thing since I don't have any Lillie's. can I split it up and make two? What is osmocote?

 

[addy1]

I am cheap, walmart oil pans, think were 2 bucks or so, kitty litter 25 lbs around 3 bucks, they grow great in the kitty litter. Osmocote is a granular fertilizer, slow release for the plants. During the summer, every now and then I stick in a tab, but not often.

I will trim up the tuber, it is darn heavy, you might get 3-4 plants out of it. I have not really looked at it, pulled it out, stuck it in some water, then got sick. It has been on my list of things to do.

If the lily really goes crazy the kitty litter will be basically gone at the end of summer, the oil pan will be full of roots. those I trim, repot add litter.

 

[gardenlady]

Wow..love learning something new! I could save a ton of money if I could keep the Lillie's growing. Remember when my pond looked like mud had been thrown into it? I went to Nelson water gardens before I found this site and they had me spending money on products that weren't giving me results. They told me that it took time for them to give me the results. I found this forum and was instructed on how to use the quilt batting and I had nearly crystal water in no time. They like to help but they also want to make money.

 

[addy1]

They grow well without a ton of care, mine just love the pure clay, fish poop and sun. If you need new lilies I have an never ending supply of them, don't pay for any.

I shipped out boxes of them last year, have not looked at mine this year, yet, I am sure some will need to be groomed.

 

[gardenlady]

Yeah...the stuff I buy from the pond place seems to be clay. Hopefully I wil=
l learn to make them grow year after year, but at least I know where to come=
if I'm unsuccessful.

 

[addy1]

Some are easier than others, I have some that bloom constantly with a ton of buds, some push one just now and then, but they are pretty enough to hang on to. Some are pond hogs, some are small. I have too many, really need to purge, but need to wait for the colors my marked tabs did not make it. i.e. colors.

The one I am sending you was in a preform, alone, so I know what color it is.

I am too lazy to go back and see how deep your pond is, start them out shallow, I start mine at around 1 foot deep, let them soak in the sun, heat, then push deeper as they grow.
The deepest I put mine is around 3 feet, I float some in the 5 foot part of the pond.

Georgia peach, colorado (blooms a lot / light pink) unknown white/yellow and mayla (bright pink/red)

 

[gardenlady]

I think the ledge he did about two foot. Center is 4 ft so won't put them
there. Is five foot your deepest? I tried to get him to go 5' but since the
bog is only about 4' from the house he was concerned it might cause a prob
lem.

 

[addy1]

Our pond and bog are at the base of our slope down from the house, the worse that could happen with any water issue is the water would run out and go further down the hill away from the house.

 

[gardenlady]

Well fortunately that's not a problem for us

 

[gardenlady]

Algae in the bog.........had it before but now I want to find out if it's normal and supposed to be there or if I need to be doing something that I'm not doing.

 

[addy1]

Mine always grows it this time of year, warm sun, shallow moving water, plants just getting growing. As the bog plants grow the algae in the bog decreases quickly. If it gets too thick I just pull it and toss in the pond, the fish love to eat it.

 

[gardenlady]

Well that's great to hear...it's been raining and I looked out of my bedroom window and it's washed it away into the pond I guess. I do take it out but normally throw it away. I'll toss a bit to the fish next time. I went and bought another 10 last weekend so have 18 now, but the pond is so deep and they have more hiding places so I never get to see them all. Before we redid the pond...I had some awful algae that was thick and if I pulled it piece it brought more with it. It was gross and just all over..seemed to be seeping from inbetween the pavers in the bog though. Hope that doesn't happen again. We did haven't had a chance to flagstone around the perimeter of the new pond, but once it's done I'll be able to post some pics of it completed.

 

[addy1]

The algae in the bog is slimy, not string, it falls apart if you even try to touch it. I leave most of it alone, it goes away as the bog grows.

 

[gardenlady]

View attachment 54065View attachment 54065yes it is but the algae in the prior pond was thick..ugh! Woke up this morning and saw a floater in my pond "(. I took some water up to Petsmart and she said the PH is 8 and the alkalinity is 250. She didn't seem very concern with the alkalinity level and thought that the fish might have died from stress since I just got him a week ago. Any thoughts? As I've said before, I never test the pond water but if I loose another maybe I should start. If I do..what do you all test for?