pond in progress started 4/21/10

addy1

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We have the ruby throated hummers, the boys have the pretty red chest and green. That is the only type that live here. In arizona we had tons of different types, migrating hummers, some decided to stay............
 

addy1

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We are only gone a week this time, I will survive!...............maybe............. We have tons of flowers in florida too, we walk the beach every morning at sunrise, it is a beautiful time of the day.
 
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The lotus is outstanding! Thanks for sharing the stages of it opening, Addy. I filed down 12 lotus seeds on Sunday, put them out in a very large pot on top of kitty litter, with about 2" of water. That way I can add water each day to freshen it up. I had lots of luck growing the seeds, but then the seedlings would die off slowly. Someone said not to grow them until they could be started outside, so we shall see how they do. And, if I get really luck, and have several to grow and come back next year, then I promise to add a Lotus pond! Probably a preform or watering trough of some type. But, something designated to just lotus. We shall see ... it's up to them! :blueflower:
 
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VERY important question! When people with ponds refer to using kitty litter, it is ALWAYS the Non-clumping kind, and no scents. In other words, the cheapest you can find, PURE CLAY. I've had a hard time finding it everywhere, but my Wal-Mart (and others say it is still available at their W-M) has Special Kitty, plain, pure clay, no scent. It's in a blue and red/pink bag. If you get the clumping kind, it gets really slimy. Yep, I messed up once and got the wrong stuff. Yuck! The pure clay is used because it is heavy (unlike most potting soils which would float and make a mess) and it stays in the pot. If you are planting something that is going on the bottom or on a shelf in your pond with fish, might want to put some rocks on top of the clay, especially if you have koi that like to dig things up! I never had problems with my koi until this spring, and they dug up one freshly planted lily. They didn't eat it, just either got caught swimming through it or simply yanked and it came out. Just repotted it and used more rocks to hold it in better.
 
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Thanks that helped a bunch. I have a plant I wanted to repot and I saw where people talked about kitty litter. I have bought the potting stuff at my pond store and kitty litter sounds a whole lot cheaper!!
 
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It's a bunch cheaper, I have to believe. Never planted in the pond in anything but kitty litter ... learned the best way from the beginning.
Hey, Addy, I just looked at the 11 lotus seeds I scraped on the weekend, and at least 5 of them have sprouted! I just hope they will grow enough to make it through the winter ... assuming they are hardy for her, that is. I got the seeds off of e-bay, pretty cheap, so who knows! I failed to think to ask when I bought them. LOL
 

addy1

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If mine ever make decent seeds, I will send you some. So far the seeds have always been skinny shrunken. Neat about yours sprouting! I have some I bought still have not started them, no real place for another lotus.
 
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Well, if all of these sprout and grow (I know, they won't ...) I will have far too many, as I know they take lots of space. How deed do you have your lotus, Addy? I'm going to start watching Craig's List for preform ponds. I'm sure people get them, use them a year or so, find out they are work, and then want them out. Better for savings for us!
 

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Hot humid luckily the tropical storm broke up. Still cranking on getting his dad's house done. We won't finish it this trip

CE my lotus are in a 300 gallon stock tank, each plant is in a tub (the big ones with rope handles from wally world) about 1/3-1/2 full of kitty litter. The tuber ends up being around 12-18 inches down in the water. I can measure when I get back home. They are deep enough the tuber won't freeze in the winter. They seem to be happy with how they are planted. Tads, rosey reds, algae slow moving water coming from the big pond (unfiltered) I have not fed them this year and they are doing great, must finally have enough fish poo in the water. The bottom of the tank is mucky, I have not cleaned that tank since it was set up.
 
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OK, great. If these babies do well, I'll be putting this whole pot into the goldfish pond, and probably putting some type of netting over it to keep the fish from getting into it and digging up the seedlings. Then pull it out in the spring again, or put the whole pot into the garage, I guess that would work, too. Looked today, and at least 5 of them had reached the water surface, which was only about 2" deep. LOL So, I raised the water level to 4". Want them to keep growing and reaching, can make the water 16" deep total, if need be. Nothing is moving the water, so figure I'll need to keep adding fresh water, or refresh the water every day or couple of days to keep them happy.
 
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This pond build is fantasically amasing, Love everything about the pond build you guys have done, everything from the Kubota, to the first visitor, and the buoyant fellow cooling off.
Nicely done.
I tried to view your cam to the pond, not working for some reason, do you have a youtube video of this pond in action? i would really love to see it.
 

addy1

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Thanks, have had a great time working on it.

Mr buoyant fellow has lost 60 lbs since getting married to me, he sinks now lol

The cam only works on IE and you need to accept the active x usually a small notice at the bottom or top of the screen. gpf is the user name no password.
I have u tubes, but only of fish and birds i.e. herons. I just looked at the pond today, so I know the system is up and running.

Sometimes you need to go to tools in IE and add myq-see.com to the compatibility view. The mobile q-see works the best, I loaded in on my finally updated phone, way faster than logging in via the computer, but then again our lappys are OLD lol
 

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