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Be sure to fertilize your plants once a month, using a
pond tablet fertilizer made specifically for pond plant. For potted plants take
a stick and poke it down in the soil and push the tablet down in the hole.
Carefully firm the soil back over the hole. The tablets should be placed near
the outside of the rim of the pot, not near the crown (the center) of the plant.
For floating plants, remove them from the pond and place them in suitable
container that will hold water. Add your favorite water-soluble fertilizer
according to their directions. Do not add more than the recommended amount.
Twice the amount is not better. Too much fertilizer can cause plants to turn
yellow too.
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Inspect your ponds plants just like do your other
plants. Pond plants are not immune to insects, especially in the winter if you
bring them in the house.
Spider mites love the dry winter environment our winter homes have. Any
insecticide that you can use of houseplants is safe to use on water plants
inside the home. Some are quite smelly and I recommend that you take the plant
outside or the garage to spray them. Aphids are some times problems in the
house, but mites are more prevalent
Aphids are usually the main insects to attack our pond plants. Depending on the
plant, you may be able to swish them off in the water where they will become
fish food. Floating plants like hyacinths, water lettuce and lily pads and their
flowers are good candidates for swishing. When you do water changes or add water
to your pond to replace for evaporation, spray the water on the plants. This
will wash the insects off onto the ground or into the water. I try to do this
weekly to prevent problems before they occur. Should a major insect attack
occur, remove the plants from and away from the pond to prevent drifting spray
from settling in the pond.
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Sevin is a good insecticide for pond plants. If
the plant is going to be out of the for an extended period of time, set the pot
in a bucket of water. Then there is no need to feel that you need to "rush" the
task. After the insecticide has dried take the hose to the plant and gently
spray the plant with water. Be sure to get the undersides of the leaves, as this
is where they like to "hide." This action alone will get any crawlies that you
missed to disappear.
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Malathion can be sprayed right in the pond and it is
not harmful to the fish either. As a matter of fact Malathion can be used
in the pond to kill Flukes. Make sure that the total Malathion used does
not exceed more than 2 cc per 1,000 gallons of pond volume. In other words
if your pond is 1,000 gallons you can use up to 2 cc of Malathion in a
hose end sprayer or tank type sprayer to kill pond plant parasites. If
your pond is only 500 gallons of water you would be able to use only 1 cc of
Malathion.
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| Plants can sun burn just like we do. A sun burned plant
will have a bleached look or brownish cast to the leaves, sometimes they will
yellow. When moving pond plants outside, after having spent the winter inside,
you must do this gradually. Move them first to a shady spot. Set the pot in a
larger container that will hold water. The little kiddy pools that are about 6 "
deep work perfect if you have a lot of plants. Set that up in a shady part of
your yard and keep the pool filled with water. Gradually over a 2 -week period
expose the plants to more sunlight. Do this in the spring when the weather
begins to warm so that they are also getting used to cooler nighttime
temperatures. This whole process is called hardening off. It essentially means
adjusting to different light and temperature levels. Keep in mind that the
brightest window in your home will not have as much sun as the shadiest part of
your yard. Research foot-candles if you need more information on this subject.
Leaves that are under water may also turn yellow or
brown.
Check this site to determine that the plant is set in the water at the proper
depth. It is okay if the stems are under water, but you do not want the actual
leaves beneath the water surface or they may turn yellow or brown.
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Plants (just like fish) do not like dirty ponds. If the
water is dirty looking or has a lot of suspended non-algae material in the
water, it can interfere with the light and nutrients up take of the roots.
Plants love clean water just as much as fish love it. My 15,000-gallon
pond is so clean I can see the face of a quarter on the bottom of the pond.
Do a 20 to 25% water change once a week preferably by siphoning off the bottom
of the pond. The plants and fish will love you for it!
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If you notice that the leaves are smaller than
normal or there are no flowers (particularly on the lilies), it may very well
mean that the plant is pot bound: not enough soil in relationship the amount of
soil in the pot. Lilies should be unpotted and divided once a year in very early
spring (usually March) or moved to a larger pot each spring. Failure to do
this chore will result in smaller leaves and few or no flowers. Other pond
plants should also be divided or moved to a larger pot once new growth is
evident in the spring.
Quite frequently I have to remove pots from my pond and
check the root system during the mid summer months because they can become
overcrowded with roots.
If you see roots growing on top of the pot our out of
the drainage holes; it is time to divide the plant. I have had plastic pots
actually crack as the roots busted out of the pot. If plants are growing out of
the drainage hole, divide the plant as soon as possible.
Most pond plants are in 1-gallon pots and fit nicely on shelves; few ponds can
accommodate larger pots, therefore I prefer to use the 1-gallon size. I divide
them in half or sometimes in thirds or quarters. It is easier to do this chore
if you remove the plant from the pot and use a hard stream of water over the
roots to remove the soil and expose the root system. This way you can see what
you're doing. Pull the plant apart into sections, making sure each section has a
fair share of roots. You may have to literally use a large knife or a saw and
saw through the root system. Iris takes a lot of muscle to divide and I keep a
saw handy for that reason.
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Keep those plants clean. Remove old leaves and spent
flower blooms just like you do in your flower beds, the advantage of ponds is
that there are no weeds to pull like you have to in the garden! Spend a few
minutes once a week trimming the older yellow or brown leaves. My fish usually
come up and give me "fish kisses" while I am doing this chore. I think of
it as their way of saying thanks for keeping their home clean. The fish do not
mind me in their water at all.
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“My pond is green”. This is the most common complaint
that I hear. I know customers think, "she is just trying to sell me more
plants." If I had a dollar for each customer who followed my advice and added
more plants, I'd
probably be rich.
I had one lady, who bought 10 water hyacinths. Her
husband was furious that she did not buy the chemicals he sent her to buy. She
came back 5 days later, to tell me how clear her pond was! She was ecstatic
because she could now see her fish.
I don't use chemicals expect as a very last resort. Even
on my garden plants. I like to work with "Mother Nature" and chemicals are not
natural. I met a guy from a Koi club who wanted me to come see his fish. What a
disappointment the water was so green all I could see was mouths when he threw
food in for them to bring them to the surface! The water was thick green pea
soup and you could not see more than an inch or two into the depths. I did not
see how beautiful his fish really were. Sure you can have healthy plants in
green water but if you can't see them swimming around and doing their antics,
what is the sense?
I want to be able to see my fish and to show them off. I love the "oohs" and
"ahs" when customers look into my pond.
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