Our StayCation

[j.w]

Cool, did you just put it in a sealed bag?

 

[Event Horizon]

Her little digital camera is actually waterproof.

 

[j.w]

Ah ok thought it might be koiguys trick he used w/ his old camera. He put it in a baggy and it worked pretty good!

 

[Event Horizon]

Summer please!

 

[j.w]

Those Water Hyacinth flowers are so beautiful and I sure wish they would grow here. You need some hot weather for those babies and we have none.........well not much anyways!

 

[Event Horizon]

They did super well last year. Some that were near the grasses and were supported grew almost 2 feet high. I really should have started pulling them out of the pond as they started to encroach on the lilies.

 

[Event Horizon]

 

[j.w]

I can't even imagine having so many that I'd have to pull any out. I don't even try them anymore in my pond as they just turned brown, rotted and withered away into nothingness. My hardy water lilies do fine as long as I remember to give them some extra food to suck up. I see a little water lettuce in their next to that pretty water lily of yours up there. Do they do good in your pond also? Again those don't do well in my pond either. Kougs here on the forum is from Washington also and his Water Hyacinth or was it Water Lettuce? do good for him and he doesn't live too far from me. So I don't know what's wrong w/ my pond that they don't like it here.

 

[Event Horizon]

Our first couple of years they did not do so well, the last two years they have gone nuts. I wonder if the pond being more established helps? We tried the water lettuce and it just seems to burn here, and the raccoons seem to like it a lot too. The raccoons seem to like the Water Hyacinth too but they did not get into it too much last year. When I shut the pond down last fall I had a good 6 to 8 garbage cans full. I put as much into the composter but had to through the rest away. Once the house is renovated I plan on making a large compost bin up at the side of my house. The Water Hyacinth breaks down just lovely over winter, I never want to have to throw one out again.

 

[j.w]

Maybe it has to do w/ all the rain we get that exchanges the water and removes a lot of nutrients. My pond was fairly new I think many yrs ago when I tried the water hyacinth so you could be right and I do do partial water changes in Summer also. I just don't know. I have heard they like a lot of fertilization and I only had a few goldfish way back then. You have goldfish only right and how many and how big in gallons is your pond again?

 

[Event Horizon]

We only have goldfish, and it was 5,000 gallons before the river went in, that probibly added another 500. I would try them again. I think the goldies can do a number on them too. When I start the season i put them in a ring with a net to keep the fish away from them. once they grow outside of the ring i dont worry about it. When I open up this year I will take a picture of the net setup i start with.

 

[j.w]

I might just do that and I have a ring I made w/ an attached net(fiberglass screen door material) to the bottom to keep the fish out.................well all except the tiny new fry..........you can't keep them outta anything! So you don't add fertilizer to them before you put them in the pond right..........like let them soak in a tub before w/ it?

 

[Event Horizon]

Try the ring, I think it helped us. Last year we started with 9 plants and ended up with many. We did not fertilize just put them in the ring. Up here we can get two kinds, regular and a jumbo size version, last year we got the jumbo.

 

[Event Horizon]

I decided to stick the camera under the ice to see what it looked like. Well it looked like the top without the snow. lol

 

[j.w]

Makes me feel like Jacques Cousteau discovering a deep dark secret in the depths below :razz: