Koi pond plant suggestion

[Bardebarde]

Hello,
I have a pond with marble floor and when I put lotus or any floating plant the koi eat it within a day or so.it really weird and I am thinking to put the roots in a plastic bag because of the marble floor I am not able to put any mud into it.

Thank you.

 

[Lisak1]

So you are trying to grow them bare root? Most people grow lilies in pots in their pond to keep them under control. Floating plants are a different story - there's really no way to keep them safe if your fish decide they like them, unless you can keep them contained in an area where the fish don't have access.

 

[cas]

For water hyacinths and water lettuce, people have made floating rings and attached netting to it. Then when the plants are placed inside of the ring, the koi can't get to the roots. If the koi are just bothering the roots of the water lilies and not the leaves, people have put netting or rocks on top of the pot to keep the koi from getting to the roots. If you want to try a marginal plant, my koi do not bother the blue flag iris or yellow flag iris.

 

[Lisak1]

@cas - good suggestion on the floating ring! I was kind of alluding to that in my post, but didn't really give a good example of how they could be protected.

The only caution I would give is to be careful with a floating ring - a pond owner told us recently that one of his koi jumped into his ring of floaters and couldn't get out on it's own. It would have died if he didn't spot it in time. He's pretty sure it was after some food that had been tossed inside the ring by mistake.

 

[sissy]

Koi destroy everything when they are younger and now that mine are bigger and older seems they gave up on destroying plants .Koi are rooters and love to uproot every thing .That is the reason for my lily pond

 

[Faebinder]

You could try water hornwort. Fish seem to not mess with them as much.

 

[sissy]

I tried them and fish made a mess and it almost burned out my pump .It was clogged with broken pieces that got sucked in .Any plants they will destroy

 

[Bardebarde]

ya,i planted many times...every one of them had got chewed up and all that. what should I do if I want to plant lilies?

 

[Jhn]

I've used the floating ring idea in conjunction with pots of lily pads in a previous pond. Just needs netting that hangs down past the top of the pot then bungy cord the net around the plant pot. Any pad that goes past the floating ring will get shredded. Also it only worked for a little bit but the large koi eventually figured out how to get over it.

As was said short of building another pond dedicated to aquatic plants that feeds into the current pond there isn't much you can do to keep lilies in there with koi.

 

[sissy]

I made a upper waterfall pond to hold plants and also built a lily pond .

 

[Jhn]

I made a upper waterfall pond to hold plants and also built a lily pond .

I did the same thing as well at my previous house, putting in a pond dedicated to plants upstream from my koi pond.

At the current house, I separated one large pond into two, with large river rock, with a shallow marginal/bog area with a large planter dug into the pond in the middle across the whole width of the pond. This kept the larger koi in the deep end of the pond and out of the plants in the shallower portion. Opened up the whole pond last year to the koi as the shallower portion of the pond is completely over run with plants.

 

[sissy]

and the plants like that make a great filter for your pond

 

[Faebinder]

Sissy your koi needs to go to dog training school.... Hope mine doesn't turn out that way in another year.

 

[j.w]

You could try something like this but would be nice if you could hide the tube that goes around the basket somehow. Maybe it's not that noticeable when in the water?
Step 1: Materials and Tools

The only tool you need is scissors. And the material we'll use for the floating ring is pipe insulation. We'll also need heavy duty cable tie straps.

For the basket, I've chosen one designed for water loving plants. It's perforations allow for water to freely move through and for roots to grow outside of the basket.

Step 2: Attaching the Insulation

Using the cable straps, create very loose rings around the basket at the top.Space them out every two inches or so.

Now start threading the insulation. We want the insulation to be firmly attached, but not compressed or squeezed so that it's kinked or collapsed. Tighten the straps as you go.

When you get to the end, cut the insulation and trim it so that it's a clean joint. Use multiple cable straps to hold the ends in place.

Step 3: Add Plants and Float

 

[j.w]

Here's another version:

Versatile floating planter for ponds and water gardens
Great for showcasing houseplants or other plants that can't go directly into the pond
Protects pond plants from koi while enhancing pond aesthetics
Create a floating floral showcase while improving water quality. Heavy-duty, black polyethylene foam flotation collar fits snugly around planters, keeping your favorite bog plants, annuals, and houseplants afloat and protected from nibbling koi. Helps control algae while providing additional shade and cover for fish.