Order arrived from pond megastore

[MajorDan]

Here are some of my sunrise shubbies. View attachment 120975

I have heard of putting steel wool near the plants, under the gravel.

Mine were doing the yellow thing until the fish population exploded and now the plants do just fine.

Thanks, I did not know about the sunrise shubbies. Mine must be a mixed breed as they are not totally like yours. They are a lot different the the other three.

 

[addy1]

Is iron bad for fish? If not could we put a few grains of Ironite at the base of the needy plants. We use it in the garden and on evergreens and some years on the lawn so we always have an open bag around.

I can not answer that, it was a pond person that said they did the steel wool. I just didn't worry about the plants they were yellow the first year and since then dark green healthy and tremendous growers.

 

[Lisak1]

We used to use Ironite on the lawn to green it up - then I learned that it's high in arsenic and contains lead. That put a stop to that.

I've used aquatic plant fertilizer in pellet form for my pond plants (the ones that are not in pots but rather planted directly in the pond) but it was kind of tricky. I used a piece of paper towel and created little packets of the pellets that I could then just tuck into the gravel near the plants roots. That way it would stay a bit more contained rather than just get dispersed throughout the pond. Then I found some fertilizer that came in tablets - much easier. THEN I learned that you can save a whole lot of money and just buy plain old plant spikes - Jobes makes them - and use those. Same thing, just not the specialty marketing.

@addy1 I've mentioned the steel wool - we got plain old steel wool and put chunks in the gravel near the bog plants. That's an old trick my grandpa taught me that he used in his gardens. My plants got green - not sure if it was the steel wool or just time!

This makes me grateful to be past year one and two when I had to baby my plants! Now they take care of themselves!

 

[j.w]

I've used the steel wool in water lily pots before and no issues at all. Gets rid of the yellow on the pads. Don't do it anymore tho as my lilies are pot free now.

 

[Blueeyes]

Thanks guys I will use some steel wool around the plants that are having problems not all the plants are yellowing just a 2 of them and we'll see if that improves things for them. I did use koi clay and it does contain magnesium potassium and iron and a lot of minerals that the fish and plants need. So that doesn't work I will implement the steel wool. Great idea thanks