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On Sunday I decided to repot a Waterlily that was not doing well in its pre-packaged pot. I picked out a nice hanging basket pot from my stash - you know the kind - really wide on top and narrowing down to a much smaller bottom. I had read about using alternate pots in one of my magazines, and it was also in one of my books. Normally I use one of those black square baskets made specifically for planting water plants - you know the kind I'm sure - they sell them at Walmart for under 2 bucks. But this time, for the reasons I stated above, I decided to try this alternate pot.

To fill it up, I went to the part of my yard that had lots of clay soil (really great for growing waterlilies) and dug up enough to fill the pot up to five inches from the top. I did sift through to ensure there wasn't any organic matter (like earthworms or twigs or leaves or roots) in there so it wouldn't decompose in the pond. I planted the waterlily, then filled the remainder of the pot with about 2 - 3 inches of aquarium gravel.

Why gravel? Well what they say about having plants and Koi is true. Koi love to root around in soil. Anyway, I have one Koi I call "Digger". It loves to dig in my plant pots looking for juicy tidbits. He's already completely uprooted 3 potted plants - and removed the soil from the top of three other pots. Fortunately, the three other waterlilies I potted back in April all have gravel on top of their soil, so he couldn't dig in them.

After finishing the repotting it was time to place the pot in my pond. For that I use a leaf rake (turned over) to lower it, then my scrub broom to push it off the rake. It's always worked for me before - until this time.

I guess it was because the pot wasn't square at the bottom that it happened, or that the pot was top heavy. Who knows, but here's what occured: As I said above, I use an overturned leaf rake to lower my pots to the bottom of my pond (where I want to place the pot), then I push it off with a scrub broom. So I placed the pot on the rake. No problem. I lifted it; it was a tad heavy, but nothing I couldn't handle.

I used the rocks on the side of the pond to slide it out over the ponds surface. Again no problem. Then I slowly lowered it. Very slowly because I wanted the water to permeate the soil. It did until it was saturated. Then I lowered it again, slow and steady, slow and steady, until it was about a foot away from the bottom. Then the Pond Gremlins struck!

The pot suddenly tilted on its side; I held my breath!

The pot began sliding over the edge of the rake; my eyes widened.

The pot did a somersault; I shreiked as it dumped its waterlily, gravel and clay soil on the bottom.


I was stupified as I watched the pot rise to the surface, floating there, waiting for me to retreive it. I did then watched my five Koi rush to the mound of clay, happy as a pig in a poke!

They tore into that mound of clay from all sides sending up clouds of fine particles into the water. They continued to do so until they all felt there was nothing of interest in that mound. When they were done, the entire pond's water was murky - you couldn't even see the bottom in the shallow zones.

Now, two days later you can see the bottom again. You can also see the mound of clay and gravel. What to do about it? I'm not sure. I guess it can wait until it's vacuum time in the fall. Or if it gets cloudy again, then I'll break out the vacuum again.

For future repottings - I've learned a valuable lesson. Only use flat-bottomed pots with straight sides. Only those. Yes, only those.

Ken

Been there done that.
1. for a cheap pot lowering device ; tie 4 strands of sisal twine together (if you are on a budget you can get by with 3)
You have just created a basket.
Center the pot on the knot and test lift the pot
Lower the pot into the pond and deftly pull one of the strings to retrieve the "basket"
Sadly it will not work in reverse

Here is a quick solution that may work. We always allow the potted lily to soak in a 5-gallon bucket of water for a few hours before we put it in the pond. This allows loose particles to float out into the water in the bucket and not in the pond.

It also makes it heavier so that it is less likely to tip when lowered into the pond. And if it does tip on the way into the pond, it is not as likely to spread dirt everywhere because wet dirt holds together than dry dirt.

Just an idea......

Bonnie

Koigardener wrote:
1. for a cheap pot lowering device ; tie 4 strands of sisal twine together (if you are on a budget you can get by with 3)
You have just created a basket.
Center the pot on the knot and test lift the pot
Lower the pot into the pond and deftly pull one of the strings to retrieve the "basket"

Kudos to you Koigardener - that's a Great Idea!

One could even slide it out across a pond if you had a big enough stick - and someone to hold it one the other side. That way you could put your plants in the middle - especially if you had a wide pond. Mine is 12 feet wide and I can't get any waterlilies in the middle because of the width. So most of mine are in the deep parts just past the shallow shelf.


As to your suggestion - I wonder why none of my Water Garden books advise you on how to place your plants in deeper water. Most just say place them there. They never tell you how, do they? Maybe they think we all have waders that we'll pull on and walk around our ponds. I wonder if they realize how slippery those pond bottoms are??

Built up algae, waste products, biodigesting bacteria, life, all clinging to rocks, liner and what-not on our pond's floor. I for one wouldn't want to walk there unless I had set up ropes to cling to for maintaining my balance.

Anyway - authors should put that info in their books to make them more complete - shouldn't they?

Ken
Ken

I put on a pair of socks for pond wading. They work great. To move the plants around I use a pool brush.
I also don't use dirt anymore, just calcined clay and all my pots are fabric. They cant tip over and can sit on a slope without sliding. Here is a shot of my pond this spring after I repotted 8 waterlilies and 18 marginals. The pond is 4 feet deep on the right side sloping to 2.5 feet on the marginal side. While there is a slight haze its a big improvement from when I used to use dirt.
<img src="http://pic50.picturetrail.com/VOL441/421597/4009825/249516257.jpg" width="500">

I wear water shoes or an old pair of sneakers, but my pond does not have any slope in the bottom.
In fact I spent the biggest part of today in the pond trying to "fix" my water lilies, marginals and the bog. I also needed to check on my fish. We had golfball size hail and 76 mile an hour winds a few nights ago and it just beat everything to pieces. I had 75-80% coverage with the water lilies and now I am down to about 20%. Such is nature I guess. My big fish appear unharmed, so I am relieved about that. No slipping or sliding today. Yeah!

I do the same thing as bonnie with the bucket, but I am lucky enough where I can just get in my pond and put the lily in the proper place, at 30 dollars a plant I want to get everything perfect!

Nice photo of your pond. Nice and clear water too!

After my pot overturned and the soil went all over with the help of my five Koi, it must have given a nutrient boost to my pond's water. You all know what that did, don't you? Yep - Algae Bloom. After the clay started settling out of the water I was beginning to see bottom again, then the nex day I went out and everything was green. I could see to the first plant shelf, but even that was a bit cloudy. The water's been like that for a week now, with no clearing up at all - yet.

Chemical levels are fine. Pond does get a lot of sun, that's why I have a lot of waterlilies - but they aren't covering as much as I would like. I know the aphids are holding them back a little. But I also think that my water may be iron deficient. Does anyone know how to check that? Or how to correct that? I guess I should do a separate posting for that, so others can see it. I'll do that.

Well, I'll let nature take it's course and let the Algae go on its own. I'll also pick up some more water hyacinths to throw in. They'll help filter the water, oxygenate it, plus take up nutrients that the algae would use. They may be all I need to tip the balance out of the algae's favor.

Ken

Water changes and perfect Alkalinity will win the day.