Hello,
First time posting here! I have a small pond of around 8' x 4' and 2'6" deep in the widest part (for wildlife, not fish), built in 2020 (lockdown project!) but am struggling with the leaves of plants turning purple, so I think there might be a deficiency of some type in the water. I planted 2 water lilies in 2020 and last year their leaves came up purple, but I just thought I must have bought purple-leaved ones in the first place. I bought a new, bright green one as a nice contrast and added that, and it looked great to start with but by the end of the summer all it's leaves - both old and new - had turned purple too. Photo below, showing the two original lilies at the front and the new one at the back (before it turned purple).
This spring all three water lilies (whose first leaves have just reached the surface) are very purple, as was the marsh marigold (photo below) when it started growing (although that has now greened up a bit). Both my water forget-me-not and water mint also have purple-tinged leaves too.
I live near Aviemore in the Highlands of Scotland so in pretty much the coldest part of the UK (UK H6 hardiness / roughly equivalent to USDA hardiness zone 7 I think), so my other suspicion is the very cold water temperature? In February 2021 the ice on the pond was 7" thick! Nothing like that this past winter, but it will still be far colder over winter than most gardeners' ponds on average (in the UK anyway), and liable to get a thin layer of ice overnight anytime right through May. But the water does get quite warm in the summer too.
The pH of the water is around 6.5 and our tap water comes straight off the hill so isn't treated in any way - but I only have to top up the pond very occasionally anyway so it is primarily rain water. I use a solar powered mini pump thing through the summer to keep a bit of water movement, so algae has not been a problem so far - the water is very clear.
Help! Any suggestions? Would be nice to have green waterlilies rather than purple ones!!!
First time posting here! I have a small pond of around 8' x 4' and 2'6" deep in the widest part (for wildlife, not fish), built in 2020 (lockdown project!) but am struggling with the leaves of plants turning purple, so I think there might be a deficiency of some type in the water. I planted 2 water lilies in 2020 and last year their leaves came up purple, but I just thought I must have bought purple-leaved ones in the first place. I bought a new, bright green one as a nice contrast and added that, and it looked great to start with but by the end of the summer all it's leaves - both old and new - had turned purple too. Photo below, showing the two original lilies at the front and the new one at the back (before it turned purple).
This spring all three water lilies (whose first leaves have just reached the surface) are very purple, as was the marsh marigold (photo below) when it started growing (although that has now greened up a bit). Both my water forget-me-not and water mint also have purple-tinged leaves too.
I live near Aviemore in the Highlands of Scotland so in pretty much the coldest part of the UK (UK H6 hardiness / roughly equivalent to USDA hardiness zone 7 I think), so my other suspicion is the very cold water temperature? In February 2021 the ice on the pond was 7" thick! Nothing like that this past winter, but it will still be far colder over winter than most gardeners' ponds on average (in the UK anyway), and liable to get a thin layer of ice overnight anytime right through May. But the water does get quite warm in the summer too.
The pH of the water is around 6.5 and our tap water comes straight off the hill so isn't treated in any way - but I only have to top up the pond very occasionally anyway so it is primarily rain water. I use a solar powered mini pump thing through the summer to keep a bit of water movement, so algae has not been a problem so far - the water is very clear.
Help! Any suggestions? Would be nice to have green waterlilies rather than purple ones!!!
