Pond problems

[romulus]

Hi,
In May 2018, I have started a small container pond for my water lotus (dwarf). Initially I had them in bowls as it's described as bowl lilies and moved them to the container.
The problems didn't end with the move.

1. The edges of the leaves appear to be burn.
2. The leaves are changing color from green to grey.
3. no flowers. It was advised to place a couple blue salt in water with a pin hole and bury it in the clay soil. I used a bottle with a drop of 20-20-20 in a 20oz water and buried it in the clay.

Any advice help for this newbie to water lilies, would be appreciated.

 

[sissy]

What is blue salt .They are heavy feeders and need fertilizer

 

[Panzer13]

Fresh water plants don't like salt it will kill them. Change your water and put a fertilizer spike under each plant one a month. They should grow well.

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome. I have to also ask what “blue salt” is, as well as agree that salt isn’t good for this type of plant.

Where do you live and what is your climate like?

 

[romulus]

What is blue salt .They are heavy feeders and need fertilizer

Fresh water plants don't like salt it will kill them. Change your water and put a fertilizer spike under each plant one a month. They should grow well.

I did change the water. Using rain water and tap water.
and the blue salt isn't table salt etc. it's a local name for a fertilizer.
But I will change the water again just a precaution and check ph.

Hello and welcome. I have to also ask what “blue salt” is, as well as agree that salt isn’t good for this type of plant.

Where do you live and what is your climate like?

The climate is tropical. It's trinidad, west indies (caribbean) so sunny and rainy.
Day temp is around 31-33 degrees Celsius. Not Fahrenheit.

For all:
Sorry for the local name ie. blue salt. At the time I was rushing and thought that was a common name. Sorry.
I had to search for the scientific or universal description for this.
Fertilizers like harvest more, 10-55-10 or 30-10-10 or 20-20-20 which is a NPK ratio fertilizer. Because it's commonly blue and looks like salt / sugar, it's locally called "blue salt."

20-20-20 which I used - is a all rounded fertilizer.

10-55-10 is a root developer fertilizer commonly used in nurseries.

30-10-10 is a foliage developer fertilizer.

Harvest More is one of the brands for this fertilizer. It's a water soluble, foliage spray fertilizer.
With many more ratios. http://www.growmore.com/products/type/water-soluble-fertilizer.html

It works wonders for my nurseries - growing hibiscus, frangipani, jasmine, butercups - yellow, purple, morning glory, lantana, etc.

 

[j.w]

@romulus I have water lilies not lotus but I have used lily tabs and fertilizer spikes and both worked well. Now mine are free of soil so they are just using the fish poo as fertilizer.

 

[romulus]

View attachment 114654@romulus I have water lilies not lotus but I have used lily tabs and fertilizer spikes and both worked well. Now mine are free of soil so they are just using the fish poo as fertilizer.

Lily tabs? First time I heard off it.
I heard of fertilizer spikes but that's for trees....?.?

Can you give me some more information. Any particular brand recommended etc? I might have to import if the pet shops don't have it.

 

[addy1]

Some use tomato spikes

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Jobe-s-50-Count-Vegetable-Food/3083145
I see them on Amazon

I put osmocote in the bottom of the pans, also you can wrap it up in a napkin and stick into the pot.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=osmocote

 

[j.w]

Actually I believe they are called aquatic plant tabs. Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/PondCare-Aqu...1534113727&sr=8-7&keywords=aquatic+plant+tabs
I think the Jobes Tomato spikes work even better tho: https://jobescompany.com/product/jobes-tomato-fertilizer-spikes/

There was a lady on another pond forum once that told me about this method and it worked great!

WATER LILY FERTILIZER RECIPE

Use pots w/o holes (or you can line pots w/ black plastic garbage bags) and throw in about a half cup of Osmocote Pellets (Veggie Formula) per 18" pot on the bottom of the pot before adding the soil. Osmocote will last for about 4 months. She used composted cow manure for her soil. She said it was the next best thing to natural pond muck. She also stuck a walnut sized wad of plain steel wool (non soap kind) on the bottom of the pot. She said it kept the lily from getting chloritic (yellowing from lack of iron). She also mixed in Mosquito Quick Kill Granules into the compost to inoculate the soil w/BT to kill caterpillars that try to eat the pads. When mixed into the soil it seems to "time release" and last all Summer. She mulched the top of her containers w/ pea gravel and if in w/ koi she used bigger rocks or broken flagstone fitted together like a puzzle to keep them from digging around. She said keep the rocks away from the crown so as to allow the plant to grow.
P.S one word of caution: Compost should smell like high quality compost and not cow poop! It should not be moldy,stinky or nasty in any way.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I tried her recipe for several years and I got wayyyyyyyyyyyy too many blooming lilies that covered my whole pond! So if you have the room give it a try.
I had mine planted about 18" deep and in full sun all day long.

 

[romulus]

Some use tomato spikes

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Jobe-s-50-Count-Vegetable-Food/3083145
I see them on Amazon

I put osmocote in the bottom of the pans, also you can wrap it up in a napkin and stick into the pot.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=osmocote

Actually I believe they are called aquatic plant tabs. Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/PondCare-Aqu...1534113727&sr=8-7&keywords=aquatic+plant+tabs
I think the Jobes Tomato spikes work even better tho: https://jobescompany.com/product/jobes-tomato-fertilizer-spikes/

There was a lady on another pond forum once that told me about this method and it worked great!

WATER LILY FERTILIZER RECIPE

Use pots w/o holes (or you can line pots w/ black plastic garbage bags) and throw in about a half cup of Osmocote Pellets (Veggie Formula) per 18" pot on the bottom of the pot before adding the soil. Osmocote will last for about 4 months. She used composted cow manure for her soil. She said it was the next best thing to natural pond muck. She also stuck a walnut sized wad of plain steel wool (non soap kind) on the bottom of the pot. She said it kept the lily from getting chloritic (yellowing from lack of iron). She also mixed in Mosquito Quick Kill Granules into the compost to inoculate the soil w/BT to kill caterpillars that try to eat the pads. When mixed into the soil it seems to "time release" and last all Summer. She mulched the top of her containers w/ pea gravel and if in w/ koi she used bigger rocks or broken flagstone fitted together like a puzzle to keep them from digging around. She said keep the rocks away from the crown so as to allow the plant to grow.
P.S one word of caution: Compost should smell like high quality compost and not cow poop! It should not be moldy,stinky or nasty in any way.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I tried her recipe for several years and I got wayyyyyyyyyyyy too many blooming lilies that covered my whole pond! So if you have the room give it a try.
I had mine planted about 18" deep and in full sun all day long.

Wow thanks for information.

Since you mentioned the tomato spikes then a NPK ratio that works for lilies is the 10-20-10.
I can't import it from amazon because it's a fertilizer and requires an expensive permit.
So I think I'll try to to develop my own using various recipes.

I heard about the time release. If I put the fertilizer in a bag with a pin hole and bury it in the soil. That should work.

The thing is I was wondering if it's different for dwarf lilies because that's what I have.

 

[romulus]

Pond problem update!

Hi all. Thanks for the advice. I have a pond update.

So after doing research on DIY fertilizers for ponds - water lilies.
I have a method figured out.

So the tomato spikes as mention by one, I found is 16-16-16.
And aquatic tabs, mentioned by one, I found is 10-20-10.

So the 20-20-20 that I used was too strong.

So I changed the water, as one had mentioned then,

Used half a spoon to a gallon amount. Dilute in water and used a water spike with a 20oz bottle and stuck it into the soil.
It will last long and be a timely release.

Some people used miracle grow fertilizer in newspaper and buried it in the soil. the harvest more is the same thing but cheaper. I got the idea from that youtube video.

I used pond plants for O2 in the water.

Now everything is striving.

I am waiting for flowers now.
And I got duckies!!!

Now the leaves are huge and green and lasting! Yeah.

Thanks for the help everyone.

 

[Mmathis]

@romulus Thanks for the update! I love the duckies!

 

[Tara]

That's great, the ducks are cute.

 

[addy1]

Great! Love the ducks!