Using Foam in Cold Temperatures

[NiftyFifty]

Yay! The pond filled!!! Boo! It’s losing water!

Hello friends, I finally got the pond filled and I can’t tell you how happy it made me. Like tears of joy sort of happy!

I started filling the evening of Nov 18. I got it about halfway full and then turned the hose off overnight so as not to overfill. The next day, my roommate told me I needed to keep the hose out of the pond because it was siphoning the water out. He noticed the water level had receded several inches either overnight or during that morning so he removed the hose for me. When I started up the hose again, I made sure to keep the end of the hose out of the pond water and filled it up to the island.

Today the water level is lower again. I believe it is related to the waterfall. After looking around on this site, I see several posts talk about this issue.

I mentioned elsewhere (“Sealing Porous Coral Rock for Waterfall”) that I covered the path where water travels over the porous coral rock with pond liner, so I checked to see if there are places where the water is overflowing the liner. There are.

I left a lot of extra liner and folded/rolled the edges up around around the perimeter of the flow of water, but I just can’t manage to get the liner to stay so that the water doesn’t spill over it. Getting rocks to stay put over the folds in some spots has been tricky. I *think* this might be when using pond and stone foam might be appropriate?

If so, I am wondering if anybody has applied foam in 57 degree Fahrenheit weather? We are at 56 degrees right now and weather app tells me we’ll get up to 57 in about a half an hour, then it will cool down again. Tomorrow’s high is 59, but you never know if the forecast will pan out. The foam can indicates “best results between 60-90 degrees.”

Any suggestions for dealing with the overflow? Has anybody applied foam at 67 degrees with success? Thank you!

 

[GBBUDD]

foam will dry at lower temps though admittedly much slower. it's air its self that causes foam to cure more so then a temp though m sure at some level that will even out and take way to long to dry due to lower temps . but 50 your fine.

Also and this happened to me my huge rocks absorbed a lot of water. hard to believe but it was noticeable drop in water level that didn't last for long.

 

[NiftyFifty]

foam will dry at lower temps though admittedly much slower. it's air its self that causes foam to cure more so then a temp though m sure at some level that will even out and take way to long to dry due to lower temps . but 50 your fine.

Also and this happened to me my huge rocks absorbed a lot of water. hard to believe but it was noticeable drop in water level that didn't last for long.

Thank you for the information @GBBUDD.
I just noticed a typo in my post. I keep doing that, but by the time I realize it, the time allowance for editing has expired. Oh well, you got the gyst of my question.

I went ahead and tried using that foam, and well… that was sure foamy. It reminded me of the pudding scene in “Sleeper,” when Woody Allen tries to make instant pudding and the pudding just keeps growing and growing and growing. The foam just kept ballooning out between the cracks and wouldn’t stop expanding! I nearly had to hit it with a broom.

I was too embarrassed to post photos of it before, but now that I think I have a solution, I’ll share

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

I discovered a beautiful patch of moss on my back alley wall and carefully removed it for transplanting. I’ve never done this before, so I hope the moss sticks and grows big and strong.

 

[j.w]

Thank you for the information @GBBUDD.
I just noticed a typo in my post. I keep doing that, but by the time I realize it, the time allowance for editing has expired. Oh well, you got the gyst of my question.

I went ahead and tried using that foam, and well… that was sure foamy. It reminded me of the pudding scene in “Sleeper,” when Woody Allen tries to make instant pudding and the pudding just keeps growing and growing and growing. The foam just kept ballooning out between the cracks and wouldn’t stop expanding! I nearly had to hit it with a broom.

I was too embarrassed to post photos of it before, but now that I think I have a solution, I’ll share

Before:
View attachment 166623

After:
View attachment 166624


Before:
View attachment 166625

After:
View attachment 166626

I discovered a beautiful patch of moss on my back alley wall and carefully removed it for transplanting. I’ve never done this before, so I hope the moss sticks and grows big and strong.

Love the look of the moss and hope it grows good for ya!

 

[GBBUDD]

Thank you for the information @GBBUDD.
I just noticed a typo in my post. I keep doing that, but by the time I realize it, the time allowance for editing has expired. Oh well, you got the gyst of my question.

Trust me they regular members here will tell you I'm not one to judge for typeos I'm frikin king

Three tricks to foam spend the money and buy a pro foam gun when you release the trigger the foam STOzpS coming out of the tube.
2 when the foam just starts to skin over sprinkle sand or gravel onto it it will stick in the foam.
Three do the same with moss push it into the foam while it just starts to skin over.
Lastly you can always cut back the foam once completely dry with a multi tool and just a scraper attachment

 

[NiftyFifty]

What a good idea to sprinkle sand or press the moss when the foam skins over! I’m sure I’ll have plenty of opportunity to try that out, as it seems the ponding habit only grows. If this pond works out well, and if I can continue to pay my mortgage, I would really love to build a swimming pond.

I trimmed the foam before attaching the moss, but I wasn’t sure how far to cut the foam back. I got the moss wet and then used a bit of kitty litter clay to stick it on the gravity defying spots, with the help of some rocks piled underneath in some places. I’m not sure how long it takes to grab hold. I also experimented with mixing leftover bits of moss with my very clay soil and water to make a sludge, then poured that on the surfaces that I wanted to grow it. Fingers crossed.

I wonder if anybody here has more tips for growing moss.

 

[j.w]

What a good idea to sprinkle sand or press the moss when the foam skins over! I’m sure I’ll have plenty of opportunity to try that out, as it seems the ponding habit only grows. If this pond works out well, and if I can continue to pay my mortgage, I would really love to build a swimming pond.

I trimmed the foam before attaching the moss, but I wasn’t sure how far to cut the foam back. I got the moss wet and then used a bit of kitty litter clay to stick it on the gravity defying spots, with the help of some rocks piled underneath in some places. I’m not sure how long it takes to grab hold. I also experimented with mixing leftover bits of moss with my very clay soil and water to make a sludge, then poured that on the surfaces that I wanted to grow it. Fingers crossed.

I wonder if anybody here has more tips for growing moss.

There is some kind of recipe for growing moss w/buttermilk. Maybe look online for it.

 

[NiftyFifty]

Thanks so much, @j.w!
I’ve seen several YouTube videos and read some articles about growing moss. I think like a hundred years ago I tried the recipe with yogurt. It didn’t work
Maybe the buttermilk is the magic trick.

I currently have several containers of moss that I’m experimenting with. I’d love to see if anybody has tried and actually succeeded. It shouldn’t be that hard, after all it grows naturally on places that people don’t actually want it to grow.

 

[j.w]

Thanks so much, @j.w!
I’ve seen several YouTube videos and read some articles about growing moss. I think like a hundred years ago I tried the recipe with yogurt. It didn’t work
Maybe the buttermilk is the magic trick.

I currently have several containers of moss that I’m experimenting with. I’d love to see if anybody has tried and actually succeeded. It shouldn’t be that hard, after all it grows naturally on places that people don’t actually want it to grow.

Found this online and they also say you can use yogurt etc. :https://outdoormoss.com/how-to-grow-moss-with-buttermilk

 

[NiftyFifty]

Found this online and they also say you can use yogurt etc. :https://outdoormoss.com/how-to-grow-moss-with-buttermilk

That was really thoughtful of you to look for that link. Thanks so much