(What is it with me and floating plants??? )

This has happened twice now to the same plant. I expect it'll
happen soon to the other lily I have....

Walked out to the pond the other morning and one of my lilys had
floated completely out of its terracotta pot and the root ball was
floating on the surface. Squeezed the air (CO2? Oxygen?) out of
the root ball and shoved it back in the pot. Two or three days
later, it decided it wanted to go on a field trip again and floated
to the surface again. I now have it weighted down with a brick on
one side of the pot to keep it from escaping.

Now, my previously-clear water is all gunked up with floating and
suspended bits that I can't really get out until the anchor worm
treatment is done in 3 weeks (and I suppose I can live with that.)

What can I do to keep the lily in its place? (Besides a stern
scolding.) I've considered making a wire mesh or screen "pot" with
a brick in the bottom to keep it submerged with the idea that the
roots will grow through the mesh and therefore keep it anchored.

(And I have aphids on the lily leaves; guess the fish get a
treat... )

~~Bryan

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"BB" wrote in message
...
(What is it with me and floating plants??? )

This has happened twice now to the same plant. I expect it'll
happen soon to the other lily I have....

Walked out to the pond the other morning and one of my lilys had
floated completely out of its terracotta pot and the root ball was
floating on the surface. Squeezed the air (CO2? Oxygen?) out of
the root ball and shoved it back in the pot. Two or three days
later, it decided it wanted to go on a field trip again and floated
to the surface again. I now have it weighted down with a brick on
one side of the pot to keep it from escaping.

Now, my previously-clear water is all gunked up with floating and
suspended bits that I can't really get out until the anchor worm
treatment is done in 3 weeks (and I suppose I can live with that.)

What can I do to keep the lily in its place? (Besides a stern
scolding.) I've considered making a wire mesh or screen "pot" with
a brick in the bottom to keep it submerged with the idea that the
roots will grow through the mesh and therefore keep it anchored.

(And I have aphids on the lily leaves; guess the fish get a
treat... )

~~Bryan

My - I have never had this happen - what kind of soil are you using? Some
people use kitty litter (the kind that is 100% clay with no additives) - I
have. You never want to use potting soil (that has peatmoss or the like in
it). Generally you can top off with pebbles if koi are a problem. Even
when my koi (MTRIP) were large they did not root out my lilies but I had
butterfly koi. You generally want poor soil (nothing enriched with
fertilizer) and then you either stick in newpaper wrapped slow release
fertilizer or plant feeder pills in the center of the pot so that it is the
plant that gets the feed and not the water). I also use plastic planters -
not even the kind with open grid - just what you typically get when you buy
a plant. This is also what they used at Schere's to plant up my lotus -
they are a first rate place.

http://www.waterlilyfarm.com/

"D Kat" wrote in
:

My - I have never had this happen - what kind of soil are you
using?

That's kinda what I thought might be the issue. I got some topsoil
in a bag (less than $3.00); I figured it'd be a decent mix with few
nutrients and thought it'd be the same as the stuff I'd gotten for
the other lily I've had for quite some time (that, by the way, has
never decided to go on a field trip out of its plastic pot). Got
it home and potted the lilies. It was only later that I read the
bag (that'll learn me) and saw it was a mix that had some composted
manure and, I think, peat along with "forest products"; the bag's
outside and I don't care to go find out exactly what it is.

So. Now that I've messed up the potting, I figure should just do
my best to keep the root balls in the darn pots with a
strategically placed brick or two and repot come the end of the
season. Sound reasonable?

The "native soil" here is rather clay-like and slippery as slimy
snot when wet. Could that possibly be used instead of any
commercial product?

Anybody know if Costco sells clay kitty litter?

~~Bryan



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BB wrote:

(What is it with me and floating plants??? )

This has happened twice now to the same plant. I expect it'll
happen soon to the other lily I have....

Walked out to the pond the other morning and one of my lilys had
floated completely out of its terracotta pot and the root ball was
floating on the surface. Squeezed the air (CO2? Oxygen?) out of
the root ball and shoved it back in the pot.

That won't help (much). The vegetation is bouyant - it has to be to get the
leaves and flowers to the surface. So, quite simply, a lily in a basket
can always, eventually, get big enough to pull itself off the bottom of the
pond. All this means is you're doing a good job with it, and it needs to
be divided.

--
derek

The native soil would work just fine - assuming it doesn't have much of any
loam, leaf mold, compost, etc. in it. Plain clay is good - so if it is red,
light brown, buff color you are probably fine. Dark brown - not so much
(that will have a lot of organic matter in it which you don't want). Of
course if the clay is really fine then this will make your water muddy so
you want to put a layer of clean sand or pebbles on top of the soil. I
recently topped off one of my plants with some white pottery clay and ended
up with milk colored water. A kind soul here recommended using nylon wool
to filter it out and that worked perfectly. It along with the clay also did
a wonderful job of cleaning out the pond which is something you may now have
to think about. Basically the manure is going to give you one hell of a
algae bloom unless you can somehow filter it out.

Hope this resolves itself soon - it must be a real pain for you. Donna


"BB" wrote in message
...
"D Kat" wrote in
:

My - I have never had this happen - what kind of soil are you
using?

That's kinda what I thought might be the issue. I got some topsoil
in a bag (less than $3.00); I figured it'd be a decent mix with few
nutrients and thought it'd be the same as the stuff I'd gotten for
the other lily I've had for quite some time (that, by the way, has
never decided to go on a field trip out of its plastic pot). Got
it home and potted the lilies. It was only later that I read the
bag (that'll learn me) and saw it was a mix that had some composted
manure and, I think, peat along with "forest products"; the bag's
outside and I don't care to go find out exactly what it is.

So. Now that I've messed up the potting, I figure should just do
my best to keep the root balls in the darn pots with a
strategically placed brick or two and repot come the end of the
season. Sound reasonable?

The "native soil" here is rather clay-like and slippery as slimy
snot when wet. Could that possibly be used instead of any
commercial product?

Anybody know if Costco sells clay kitty litter?

~~Bryan



--
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* Take it out! | address changes frequently *
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************************************************** **********

"D Kat" wrote in
:

My - I have never had this happen - what kind of soil are you
using?

On Mon, 21 Jul 2008 09:50:37 EDT, BB wrote:

That's kinda what I thought might be the issue. I got some topsoil
in a bag (less than $3.00);

Yes, a bag labeled top soil can be anything, as long as it was scraped from
the top layer someplace. You never really know what you're getting.

I use my garden dirt, but I'm 99% sand here on top, 100% sand 3 inches
down. ;-) Thinking of DKat's caution, cloudy water, using your native soil,
you might want to get kitty litter. Hopefully someone can suggest a brand.
Or I also heard that the clay for cleaning oil spills was cheap and worked
well. Again, hopefully someone else can comment on these.

I put strips of weed fabric down on top of my sandy soil and then rocks. I
never have had a lily float off that wasn't helped by a raccoon. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

"BB" wrote in message
...
(What is it with me and floating plants??? )

This has happened twice now to the same plant. I expect it'll
happen soon to the other lily I have....

Walked out to the pond the other morning and one of my lilys had
floated completely out of its terracotta pot and the root ball was
floating on the surface. ..........
=============================
What was it planted in? Mine are in a heavy clay soil with about an inch and
a half of gravel over the soil. I never had one float out of it's pot.
--

RM....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
Zone 6. Middle TN USA
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö

"D Kat" wrote in
:

The native soil would work just fine - assuming it doesn't have
much of any loam, leaf mold, compost, etc. in it.

Loam in this soil?? HAHAHAHAHAH!

No, this stuff is almost suitable for making pots out of.


A kind soul here
recommended using nylon wool to filter it out and that worked
perfectly. It along with the clay also did a wonderful job of
cleaning out the pond which is something you may now have to
think about.

I'm trying to figure out how to eventually remove the suspended
particles that're making the water murky. I've kinda settled on
water changes but I'll try some sort of filtering such as you
mention.

Basically the manure is going to give you one hell
of a algae bloom unless you can somehow filter it out.

Suprisingly, I haven't had a bad algae bloom at all. I get the
algae that floats to the top during the day and then is gone by
morning. Aside from being unsightly, it's just fine by me.

But no string algae, no green water; nothin'. So I like to believe
that the plant volume is taking care of those nutrients nicely.

Hope this resolves itself soon - it must be a real pain for you.
Donna

Not too much of a pain. If you've seen pictures, you know my pond
isn't anything of a showcase. There's a lot of work that needs to
be done that I ain't doin'.

On the plus side, the new patented Clay-Plant-Floating-Inhibitor
(tm) (i.e., brick) is working nicely.

~~Bryan

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Envy raising up - I make pots...
Donna
"BB" wrote in message
...
"D Kat" wrote in
:

The native soil would work just fine - assuming it doesn't have
much of any loam, leaf mold, compost, etc. in it.

Loam in this soil?? HAHAHAHAHAH!

No, this stuff is almost suitable for making pots out of.


A kind soul here
recommended using nylon wool to filter it out and that worked
perfectly. It along with the clay also did a wonderful job of
cleaning out the pond which is something you may now have to
think about.

I'm trying to figure out how to eventually remove the suspended
particles that're making the water murky. I've kinda settled on
water changes but I'll try some sort of filtering such as you
mention.

Basically the manure is going to give you one hell
of a algae bloom unless you can somehow filter it out.

Suprisingly, I haven't had a bad algae bloom at all. I get the
algae that floats to the top during the day and then is gone by
morning. Aside from being unsightly, it's just fine by me.

But no string algae, no green water; nothin'. So I like to believe
that the plant volume is taking care of those nutrients nicely.

Hope this resolves itself soon - it must be a real pain for you.
Donna

Not too much of a pain. If you've seen pictures, you know my pond
isn't anything of a showcase. There's a lot of work that needs to
be done that I ain't doin'.

On the plus side, the new patented Clay-Plant-Floating-Inhibitor
(tm) (i.e., brick) is working nicely.

~~Bryan

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* Through the Spam? | Reply if you want. E-mail *
* Take it out! | address changes frequently *
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************************************************** **********

In case I didn't say it clearly enough - flowering water plants like water
lilies and lotus are heavy feeders so you need to be sure to stick in some
water plant fertilizer 'pills' or your own packets of fertilizer. These
need to be well centered so that they are feeding the plant and not the
water - that is the algae.

Donna

"BB" wrote in message
...
"D Kat" wrote in
:

The native soil would work just fine - assuming it doesn't have
much of any loam, leaf mold, compost, etc. in it.

Loam in this soil?? HAHAHAHAHAH!

No, this stuff is almost suitable for making pots out of.


A kind soul here
recommended using nylon wool to filter it out and that worked
perfectly. It along with the clay also did a wonderful job of
cleaning out the pond which is something you may now have to
think about.

I'm trying to figure out how to eventually remove the suspended
particles that're making the water murky. I've kinda settled on
water changes but I'll try some sort of filtering such as you
mention.

Basically the manure is going to give you one hell
of a algae bloom unless you can somehow filter it out.

Suprisingly, I haven't had a bad algae bloom at all. I get the
algae that floats to the top during the day and then is gone by
morning. Aside from being unsightly, it's just fine by me.

But no string algae, no green water; nothin'. So I like to believe
that the plant volume is taking care of those nutrients nicely.

Hope this resolves itself soon - it must be a real pain for you.
Donna

Not too much of a pain. If you've seen pictures, you know my pond
isn't anything of a showcase. There's a lot of work that needs to
be done that I ain't doin'.

On the plus side, the new patented Clay-Plant-Floating-Inhibitor
(tm) (i.e., brick) is working nicely.

~~Bryan

--
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* Through the Spam? | Reply if you want. E-mail *
* Take it out! | address changes frequently *
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