Plant question

I finally finished the install of my pond(s) and things have been going and
looking great for about 2 weeks. My wife and I purchased some more plants
from Home Depot (water lilies, cat tails and some other stuff that I can't
pronounce...). They came packed in kitty litter. Of course the goldfish
rooted the kitty litter out and into the pond with incredible speed and
precision and I was left with cloudy water. Grrrrr....

Yesterday evening I came home and the wife said, "you better look at your
pond..." I went out and it was milky green. DOH! This water has been
clear as a bell since I finished the install. I know to pretty much expect
an algae bloom after a new pond install. So that's not a surprise. I've
got plenty of circulation going. The pond is turned over twice per hour and
is run through a UV filter. I'm patient, I know it will clear eventually.
But I thought I had avoided the green monster this year.

Oh and one other thing. The wife hung a flower basket on a Shepard's hook,
that hangs over one corner of the pond. We had some heavy rain and I think
some of the fertilizer in the pot may have leached through and dripped into
the pond. That's my theory on how quick the algae bloom occurred. She says
I'm insane. But that's beside the point....

Question:
1. Which did the pond in? cloudy water or fertilizer drippins... Both?
Oh we can't let her be right. I'll never hear the end of it.

2. Can I eliminate the use of the kitty litter all together? I hope I can
LOL, because I took all the plants out and re-potted them in pea gravel. Of
course I rinsed off the gravel real well before I did anything and was as
gentle as possible with their little roots.


--
Pond Diver

Pond Diver wrote

Question:
1. Which did the pond in? cloudy water or fertilizer drippins... Both?
Oh we can't let her be right. I'll never hear the end of it.

Hubris ;-)
and
new water, clay and fertilizer

2. Can I eliminate the use of the kitty litter all together? I hope I can
LOL, because I took all the plants out and re-potted them in pea gravel. Of
course I rinsed off the gravel real well before I did anything and was as
gentle as possible with their little roots.

Yes, you can pot without the kitty litter.
Wait until you have to divide, then you'll know if pea gravel works for you.
Did you get the plant growth you wanted, is it easy to divide.


kathy :-)
A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A

plants dont thrive in pea gravel. plants that need to be planted put em in good
loam. then get river rock and gravel for the top to keep the fish out.
Ingrid

"Pond Diver" wrote:
2. Can I eliminate the use of the kitty litter all together? I hope I can
LOL, because I took all the plants out and re-potted them in pea gravel. Of
course I rinsed off the gravel real well before I did anything and was as
gentle as possible with their little roots.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

"Pond Diver" wrote in message
. ..
snip
Question:
1. Which did the pond in? cloudy water or fertilizer drippins... Both?
Oh we can't let her be right. I'll never hear the end of it.

IMHO your pond is not done in but healthy and normal. Algae is part of the
world of water gardens. It sucks for us, but is OK for your pond. We all get
algae blooms from time to time. I know I must wait mine out because it's
"that time of year". The fertilizer could probably have contributed, but I
can't imagine that much.

2. Can I eliminate the use of the kitty litter all together? I hope I
can
LOL, because I took all the plants out and re-potted them in pea gravel.
Of
course I rinsed off the gravel real well before I did anything and was as
gentle as possible with their little roots.

I use mulm/mud for plants like my Lotus. For My iris I use a mixture of pea
gravel and larger 1-2 inch river rock. I planted a lily in the same rock
mixture this year, and it is not doing well, whereas my other lily is doing
fine in it's mud mix. My cat tails, palms and water canna are doing just
great in rocks/pea gravel as well. The Pickeral rush that i tossed in sans
pot last year, is growing nicely...no rock...no mud.

BV.
www.iheartmypond.com

--
Pond Diver

what is loam? What would be the best mixture?




wrote in message
...
plants dont thrive in pea gravel. plants that need to be planted put em
in good
loam. then get river rock and gravel for the top to keep the fish out.
Ingrid

"Pond Diver" wrote:
2. Can I eliminate the use of the kitty litter all together? I hope I
can
LOL, because I took all the plants out and re-potted them in pea gravel.
Of
course I rinsed off the gravel real well before I did anything and was as
gentle as possible with their little roots.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

shoot. I got a scientific break down somewhere, but basically it is soil that when
you wet it and squeeze a bunch in your hand it makes a lump, but when you poke it
falls apart.
clay sticks together doesnt fall apart
organic stuff floats on the surface of water
sand doesnt stick together when wet wont make a nice lump.
"Loam
(n.) A kind of soil; an earthy mixture of clay and sand, with organic matter to which
its fertility is chiefly due.
Definition: Loam is a friable soil possessing a mixture of clay, sand and humus that
is ideal for growing plants. "

with loam you fill the container (no holes) with loam. sit it covered in water and
it goes to this wonderful muck and cupping my hand around the roots push the roots
down into the muck and then pull the tuber up so it is at the surface. then I push
fert tabs in and top with stones., Ingrid

"Pond Diver" wrote:
what is loam? What would be the best mixture?



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

"Pond Diver" wrote in message
...
what is loam? What would be the best mixture?
snip

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=loam
http://www.rexius.com/eugene/prod/gravel.html