Adding CO2 to Pond?

[CountryEscape]

I’ve found even though I have 33 koi from 6-20”, and my pond is 7,500 gals, my lilies still grow and bloom way better when I fertilize them monthly. My lilies are planted in pure clay cat litter. The clay holds the fertilizer tablets very well. Don’t fertilize if you’re only using gravel, as the tablets will dissolve and leech into the water before doing the plants any good.
BTW, love your White Lava elephant ear! I found that variety this year for the first time. My new favorite.

 

[Miami Al]

I’ve found even though I have 33 koi from 6-20”, and my pond is 7,500 gals, my lilies still grow and bloom way better when I fertilize them monthly. My lilies are planted in pure clay cat litter. The clay holds the fertilizer tablets very well. Don’t fertilize if you’re only using gravel, as the tablets will dissolve and leech into the water before doing the plants any good.
BTW, love your White Lava elephant ear! I found that variety this year for the first time. My new favorite.

Thanks! I have API "Pond Soil" held down with pea pebbles. I have some fertilizer tablets showing up tomorrow. We'll see what happens. If I have to pull up and re-pot the lillies, that isn't a big deal either.

Now that the weather has cooled down, it's time for me to fix my pots up and replant my vegetable garden. I also have a rear tropical stroll garden I'm building. It's been dubbed Jurassic Garden

Been stalled for a few weeks. Once I find the few hours to finish (adapting to time change) I'll show some pictures.

 

[CountryEscape]

Not sure where you are located … I’m in Cincinnati Ohio and zone 6. I typically stop fertilizing them about a month before the first frost is expected, so I stopped with the tablets I put in each pot in Sept. The idea is you don’t want them to be pushing for flowers when they are going dormant for winter. But … maybe you are in a tropical area!

 

[Miami Al]

Not sure where you are located … I’m in Cincinnati Ohio and zone 6. I typically stop fertilizing them about a month before the first frost is expected, so I stopped with the tablets I put in each pot in Sept. The idea is you don’t want them to be pushing for flowers when they are going dormant for winter. But … maybe you are in a tropical area!

I'm in Miami, FL.

We're sub-tropical. We did have a frost warning about 10 or 12 years ago, but it only dropped into the upper 30s... Last real frost I remember was 35 years ago.

 

[Stephen Noble]

Sounds like your plants are starving. Your friend is right about CO2 in an aquarium. But in an aquarium it is not simply injecting CO2, and 'bing' you get luscious growth. A soda CO2 system you describe will never have enough output to make any difference in your pond unless your water volume is less than say, 20-gallons or so. The lilies can enjoy unlimited C02 once they break the water's surface. The path to success is what the others above have stated. Feed your plants. Your swords need to be planted in very shallow water and they will grow emersed, again receiving unlimited C02. Swords are real nutrient hogs. If you can make it happen, plant your swords in plant-specific substrate and fertilize them. Finally, please send some of your warm weather north!

 

[Miami Al]

Sounds like your plants are starving. Your friend is right about CO2 in an aquarium. But in an aquarium it is not simply injecting CO2, and 'bing' you get luscious growth. A soda CO2 system you describe will never have enough output to make any difference in your pond unless your water volume is less than say, 20-gallons or so. The lilies can enjoy unlimited C02 once they break the water's surface. The path to success is what the others above have stated. Feed your plants. Your swords need to be planted in very shallow water and they will grow emersed, again receiving unlimited C02. Swords are real nutrient hogs. If you can make it happen, plant your swords in plant-specific substrate and fertilize them. Finally, please send some of your warm weather north!

Well, I fed the lillies and the easy to reach plants. I'll keep adding more. I had thought that lots of fish would help. I have more fish. Pushing on the fertilizer front.

I'll probably see if I can hook up the CO2 thingy, because it was an interesting project. But I appreciate from here that it was probably a waste of money and won't make a difference, at least not a large one.

 

[Lisak1]

Lilies ALWAYS need a ton of fertilizer, no matter how many fish you have. They are heavy feeders number one, and number two they are generally in pots. I have one dwarf lily that I planted free range in my pond - I still fertilize it.

 

[Miami Al]

Sounds good. I am fertilizing right now. Al my stuff are in pots. Any decent liquid fertilizers I can add to water instead of shoving tabs in the pot?

Florida sounds wonderful because we can do this year round. It also means no break. It’s easy to intensively garden for 4 months than 12…

 

[fishlips]

Tabs will be better because Lillie's are heavy root feeders. Liquid fertilizer will also feed algie before it gets a chance to get neer the roots.

I prefer a organic potting mix or just dirt out of the garden. Just a thin layer of dirt 1" cap it with 2" of sand then pebbles on top. Keeps all the nutrients right at the roots. Best part it a once a year thing. Just don't use a pot with mesh just a standard pot.

Walstad Method

 

[Miami Al]

Tabs will be better because Lillie's are heavy root feeders. Liquid fertilizer will also feed algie before it gets a chance to get neer the roots.

I prefer a organic potting mix or just dirt out of the garden. Just a thin layer of dirt 1" cap it with 2" of sand then pebbles on top. Keeps all the nutrients right at the roots. Best part it a once a year thing. Just don't use a pot with mesh just a standard pot.

Walstad Method

Better is fine for the next month or two when I stay on top of it. As the year drags on, I'd like something lower maintenance. But I'll stick to tabs for now and see how that goes.

 

[Mgessert]

I don’t add nitrogen as I’ve had trouble with algae blooms, but I do add Maxicrop seaweed powder, magnesium sulfate, and iron chelate once a month. My nitrate hangs around 5 ppm which seems to be enough for my plants. Because I regularly remove vegetables from the system, I probably have to supplement more than most.

 

[fishlips]

I don’t add nitrogen as I’ve had trouble with algae blooms, but I do add Maxicrop seaweed powder, magnesium sulfate, and iron chelate once a month. My nitrate hangs around 5 ppm which seems to be enough for my plants. Because I regularly remove vegetables from the system, I probably have to supplement more than most.

Maxicrop msds

The MSDS on maxicrop has it listed as 1% nitrogen. I see the bag is 0-0-17 but after bacteria brake it down that 1% has to come out in some form.

 

[Lisak1]

There are slow release fertilizer tabs you can use. Similar to this one:

Laguna Aquatic Slow Release Fertilizer Spikes 16-9-12 | 2 Options

Feed your pond plants once a year with Laguna's Fertilizer Spikes. Safe for fish and easy to apply. 16-9-12 (N/P/K) formulation.

www.pondandgardendepot.com

Some even advertise once a year usage. I know @addy1 does Osmocote once a year, but she's like most of us - she's really only feeding for the warm months. You'd need to adjust for your always warm to hot climate.

 

[Miami Al]

So I added the tabs. Tested with one for each lillie, went great. Two weeks later, better leaves. We're getting some consistent flowering. Today I added 2 tabs to each lillie and one to each other 1g pot. We'll see how it goes. However, lying down on the ground and sticking my arm in the pond every two weeks is not viable. IF this goes smoothly, I'll try the spikes.

If I have to add 3x/year, that's fine. Thats what I do with my garden as well.

 

[Miami Al]

We got a new pond resident. HE did not come from teh store.