Water lilies in new pond

[RaccoonTale]

I need some help with my water lilies please! My pond is just barely a month old and I wanted to add some lilies so I ordered a couple online and one of those bulbs in a bag from home depot. The online lilies were healthy with several leaves and roots when I received them. The larger one dropped all its leaves when I added it to the pond and the smaller one held on to a couple before losing those too. Initially I figured transplant shock since the both had green regrowth coming back up in no time but before the pads even made it to the surface the both looked like either something was chowing down on them or part of it was rotting away. I clipped the damaged looking leaves and moved both plants to a separate tub in case the 3 goldfish in the pond had some part in this. Meanwhile the bulb from HD had been growing in my aquarium and was flourishing so well it was running out of room and was moved to the pond. It too has now started having issues with its pads. It had two at the surface and one almost there when I first put it in and all looked perfect. Within like 2-3 days the oldest pad started getting dark splotches on top and bottom that just sort of melt into ragged holes. And since just last night another one looks like its about to get it too. There's no insects, snails or anything like that and also the eelgrass in the pond appears to be doing fine. I have zero experience with lilies and have no clue what's going on or if this is actually normal or what. Any advice is greatly appreciated!


The small leaf in the pics is regrowth from the same plant the leaf missing both side is on to illustrate the issue.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

I would guess insects or snails, but you say there isn't any. Very weird.

 

[tbendl]

Yeah it looks like something is munching on them. Maybe some nocturnal visitor?

 

[Mmathis]

Maybe it's those little "taco" caterpillars (China something-or-other moths, I think)! If I can find my older threads, I'll link to that and post it. Anyway, I need to find out what the stuff is your supposed to use to get rid of them.....

Do you see any thing on the underside of the leaves that looks like where little tiny larvae have rolled themselves up inside leaf cut-outs?

 

[RaccoonTale]

Maybe it's those little "taco" caterpillars (China something-or-other moths, I think)! If I can find my older threads, I'll link to that and post it. Anyway, I need to find out what the stuff is your supposed to use to get rid of them.....

Do you see any thing on the underside of the leaves that looks like where little tiny larvae have rolled themselves up inside leaf cut-outs?

Yes I checked for those. It appears that what's happening is the leaves develop these dark grayish green patches that makes those parts of the leaf soft and limp til it rots away. And when I remove the affected leaves it just happens again to the new ones. But they're still firing out pads like crazy so that means the plants are otherwise heathly right?

 

[Mmathis]

Let's ask @minnowman!

 

[CountryEscape]

I would say something is eating at them, from the first pic, but you say it gets the gray spot, then rots off, so maybe it just appears something is eating them. Weird! I've never had anything eat my lilies, including my koi and/or goldfish. The fact the plants are pushing new leaves out means yes, they are healthy and still growing. They will continue to do this until they run out of energy. Goldfish almost never eat plants, so I'd say they are probably not your problem, unless they are really big, and starving. LOL
Look really closely (get a magnifying glass if necessary) on the undersides of the leaves when they start getting dark spots. Check them at night with a flashlight. Maybe something is going after them at night. Do you have any turtles in your pond? My turtles would climb on lily pads and slice them with their claws, and it would deteriorate eventually. Trying to come up with other possibilities here ... will watch and see what others say.

 

[RaccoonTale]

I would say something is eating at them, from the first pic, but you say it gets the gray spot, then rots off, so maybe it just appears something is eating them. Weird! I've never had anything eat my lilies, including my koi and/or goldfish. The fact the plants are pushing new leaves out means yes, they are healthy and still growing. They will continue to do this until they run out of energy. Goldfish almost never eat plants, so I'd say they are probably not your problem, unless they are really big, and starving. LOL
Look really closely (get a magnifying glass if necessary) on the undersides of the leaves when they start getting dark spots. Check them at night with a flashlight. Maybe something is going after them at night. Do you have any turtles in your pond? My turtles would climb on lily pads and slice them with their claws, and it would deteriorate eventually. Trying to come up with other possibilities here ... will watch and see what others say.

My goldfish are jerks and have uprooted/tore up submerged plants before for no reason so I wouldn't put it past them lol. There's no turtles and I've checked for pest and parasites and anything else like that. I've read everything I could find online about lily pests and disease and nothing seems to really match this. But! I thought of something today: after lots of rain lately, a mulberry tree dropping 10 tons of flowers everyday and that the plants in the pond haven't got well established yet I ended up with pea soup for water. I didn't want to replace the water so soon so I added some algaecide. It claimed fish and plant safe but could that maybe be the cause? Because like I said the lily moved from the aquarium to the pond was fine before then.

 

[Lisak1]

Bingo. I think you figured out your problem. And I will offer an unsolicited opinion - the worst solution for pea soup water is algaecide. Second worst - water change. Let your pond water mature a bit and things will most likely clear on their own. Patience in ponding is a virtue!

 

[RaccoonTale]

Bingo. I think you figured out your problem. And I will offer an unsolicited opinion - the worst solution for pea soup water is algaecide. Second worst - water change. Let your pond water mature a bit and things will most likely clear on their own. Patience in ponding is a virtue!

Yeah, I forgot all about that until I went to check the plants this morning and thought to myself atleast I can see more than 6" deep again! I always nitpick over details and ended up with more problems to nitpick on x_x lol. So should I replace some of the water to clear out any lingering algaecide or leave it be? I'll be added more plants next week and it would be a bummer to finish off plants already stressed from shipping with some poison water

 

[CountryEscape]

When I built my first pond, a fellow ponder told me it was fine to let the water go green. It did, and I freaked. Then I was told, "Be patient, it will fix itself." I waited what seemed like months ... in reality it was less than 30 days. I wanted clear water, and finally got it. Best part about clear water, is when it happens all by itself, and THEN you realize that it will naturally cure itself.
I would not have guessed the chemical would have killed plants. Bummer! You might want to double check and move the lilies into a large container (tote, tub, water tank ...) outside and see how they do, if they recover. If they do, then you will know it was the chemical you put in there. Darn, sorry about that! Goes to show, sometimes those companies fail to put warnings on for ALL plants, and just assume you don't have ALL plants. Geesh ... a lily is the most common plant in a pond, isn't it?!? Good luck!