Ponds and nutrients for plants -- what if plants look like they need more than they're receiving?

Mmathis

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@addy1 @adavisus @fishin4cars @JBtheExplorer and "@" anyone else who is knowledgable about the relationship between ponds & plants......
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Just out of curiosity, exactly WHAT nutrients are required by most pond/marginal/bog plants?

And do you ever have to ADD anything [a supplement] that isn't detrimental to the ecosystem?

Reason I ask is that my plants are growing, but if they were all planted in soil I'd be adding fertilizer -- they're just not greening up and/or putting out new growth like I would like/expect. They look anemic.

However, there is plenty of algae in the pond, so I know at least it's getting what it needs, LOL! Not so much the suspended algae, which has been sparse [thank goodness], but plenty of the stringy stuff.

So...... If there are enough nutrients in the water to "feed" the algae, why aren't the plants looking more lush? There must be something missing......

And, BTW, I am probably right at my stocking limit, or just over (goldfish), so there's gotta be plenty of "food" in there. Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate readings, though, are always "0." I have a 100 gal Skippy, 6'x3' turtle-bog, 2 smaller pumps in box filters that go to DIY spitters, and have airstones in 3 places. Pond and bog receive almost full sun throughout the day -- there are periods when one or another section is briefly shaded.
 
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Can you post some pictures of the plants that you think look anemic, TM? Also of what algae that you have growing?
There should be enough nutrients from the tap water, fish food and substrate you have in your pond.
 
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I occasionally fertilize my pond and bog plants. I think they need a jolt of iron every once in a while. I'll use an aquatic plant fertilizer or even chunk of a tomato spike if I have some.
 

addy1

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I do nothing to mine, they grow without any help from me. Green lush etc. Right now various ones are blooming.
Every now and then, like a year or two apart I do toss a ton of plants. Thin it out some, it does not make much difference by the time summer hits. Bog is solid filled with plants. Pond full of fish
 

Mmathis

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Can you post some pictures of the plants that you think look anemic, TM? Also of what algae that you have growing?
There should be enough nutrients from the tap water, fish food and substrate you have in your pond.
I'll try to get some pics. There is plenty of blanket algae, a small to moderate amt. of string algae, and virtually no suspended algae. There are 2 "pools" in the turtle habitat and they collect a good amt. of a gloppy type. Also, my water hyacinth hasn't done well at all, a lot of it dying.

When were your plants last 'thinned'?
Well, actually I did just thin out and dispose of some plants in the turtle bog. Does that make a difference? There was one plant that was taking over the bog so I pulled all of it -- initially, it was there to provide cover for the turtles, but once the bog plants started to grow, I didn't need the plant -- it was too invasive.

@Lisak1 and @addy1 Maybe since I'm not stressing over the fish any more [have gotten more comfortable], I'm just being impatient with the plants.....:rolleyes:
 

Mmathis

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Hmmmm...... Thought I'd posted my previous reply, but just saw it sitting there.
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@MitchM I took some pics earlier. The last one is a shot of the gunky algae that's growing in the turtle bog "pools." All of these plants are in the turtle bog which feeds through the pond, but even the pond marginals are pale.

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@Meyer Jordan The invasive plant that I'd planted as "turtle cover," grew so well that I had stuck some in the pond. Likewise, it has grown and turned invasive [among the rock edges]. After I thought about it, I realized that this plant was root-crazy, and such a fast grower.......runners EVERYwhere!! I pulled a bunch of it out as well. Do you think it was "stealing" the nutrients from the other plants?
 

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Water Gardening (plants) is no different than terrestrial gardening. Self-seeding annuals require thinning and perennials require dividing. Perennials especially will lose vigor and cease to bloom if not divided. Failure to do so will result in overcrowding and competition for available nutrients.
In a wetlands (bog) environment, the rhizosphere of plants may become so laden with silt and other detritus that exposure to fresh nutrients maybe limited.
 
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Our first summer with our pond all of our plants struggled. They didn't grow, they were yellow, leaves were dying - very sad sight. We were told our pH was too high - we would never grow plants in our pond. (Glad I didn't pay for THAT advice!) We finally got some aquatic plant fertilizer and gave them all a boost - no more problems. Now our plants all do great - too good sometimes. I think that our new pond just didn't have the nutrients that the plants needed to thrive. The fish were smaller so they ate less and therefore produced less waste. Once things started rolling, we've never had an issue since.

Occasionally, as I mentioned, we do give some plants a dose of fertilizer. I grow a few hostas in my bog that sometimes look a little anemic and my irises are sometimes a bit yellow. While they are both still growing great, I like them a bit greener. One shot and they are good for the year.
 
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I've used cheated iron which you can buy either liquid or powder. I've also used liquid kelp mixed with water in a spray bottle. These are all applied to the leaves. I also just dug up a bag of steel wool out if my painting supplies - I'm going to bury a few chunks in the gravel near the roots of plants in the bog and see how that works.
 

Mmathis

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I've used cheated iron which you can buy either liquid or powder. I've also used liquid kelp mixed with water in a spray bottle. These are all applied to the leaves. I also just dug up a bag of steel wool out if my painting supplies - I'm going to bury a few chunks in the gravel near the roots of plants in the bog and see how that works.
Some people swear by the steel wool (and I've been putting rusty nails in with my hydrangeas all my life), but according to that article I was trying to comprehend (the one about iron, where I initially left out the link....), the Fe has to be supplied as a "ferrous" form in order for the plant to be able to utilize it, and I'm not a chemist so not sure where steel wool falls in that category. Let me know how the steel wool works, though.
 

Mmathis

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A minor follow-up:

I finished removing ALL of this invasive plant last night. I don't know what it is -- it looks like a mint, and it does have a very slight smell, but not what I would call minty [more like an herbal scent].

There is a mystery plant growing and surviving [I'm not a gardener] in the back yard, so 2 years ago I stuck sprigs of it along the pond margin. It flourished, but oddly, it changed its appearance once in the pond..... It looked nice, and gave some shade, so I planted more of it.
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This is only one section where it was planted. I started new cuttings in other areas just weeks ago, and they were already taking over......
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But it's gone, now (from the pond and bog). The root system for this thing was massive and matted and I was pulling it out by the hand full! I had to remove big sections of edging rock to get it all out [see pic -- and this is just in one area]. And the off-shoots were almost alien.
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When I pulled the root-masses out, there were traces of things like Creeping Jenny and aquatic 4-leaf clover that I'd planted -- they were so engulfed in the roots that they were still alive, but never grew!

I've set a "reminder" on my iPad so I can do periodic checks -- I want to see if the removal of this plant is making a difference to the other plants.
 

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