Plants not growing.

[Barry77]

I have a 1000 litre pond in a preformed liner it is 600mm deep. The marginals are slightly yellow and the oxygenators are light brown but the occasional duck week is very healthy.

A glass of pond water shows it to be green and I cannot see the pond bottom. The pond has been filled from the outset with rain water and it is regularly refreshed with rain from the house roof. It's PH is 8.1

I have 2 water lily plants. One has purple leaves and the other has purple spots to 50% of each leaf.

The pond gets dappled shade/sun.

What am I doing wrong or what should I do to encourage good plant growth prior to my adding stickleback to the pond.

 

[j.w]

@Barry77
How big is your pond and how long have you had it filled w/water and how many fish and what kind of filter and lots of other questions other will ask?

 

[JRS]

Welcome to the forum.

Yellowing leaves and lack of growth often signify a nutrient deficiency. Lilies in particular have trouble blooming regularly without good root fertilization.

Curious about the 8.1 pH with mostly rain water. Do you have some local hard water in the pond also, or perhaps calcareous rocks?

Pics can be very helpful if available.

 

[Barry77]

It's about 18 months old and has 1000 litres 8x5x2 ft No fish just frogs and maybe 50 tadpoles most of which are hopping around in the garden. It has a small waterfall with integral pump and filter.
.

 

[Mmathis]

@Barry77 Hello and welcome to our group!

Can you post pictures of your pond and of your plants? In general, new plants tend to take a while to “take hold,” and there’s always a transition period. You’ve given us some good info about your pond, but sometimes pictures can be very helpful.

 

[mrsclem]

No fish which means no fish poo- fertilizer! The plants need food to grow.

 

[dinm]

I have a 1000 litre pond in a preformed liner it is 600mm deep. The marginals are slightly yellow and the oxygenators are light brown but the occasional duck week is very healthy.

A glass of pond water shows it to be green and I cannot see the pond bottom. The pond has been filled from the outset with rain water and it is regularly refreshed with rain from the house roof. It's PH is 8.1

I have 2 water lily plants. One has purple leaves and the other has purple spots to 50% of each leaf.

The pond gets dappled shade/sun.

What am I doing wrong or what should I do to encourage good plant growth prior to my adding stickleback to the pond.

Without fish there are no nutrients, but water lilies most people plant in pots with soil and gravel on top, because naturally they grow in mud. Some pictures would help. Maybe add some goldfish, not a lot, but it'll surely help you.

Also, plants are plants, it doesn't matter that they grow in water they still have stress from transplanting.

 

[j.w]

Yep I'd add some fertilizer to the plants you have and get more plants too. I think you were going to add Stickleback fish right?

 

[Barry77]

 

[Barry77]

 

[Barry77]

It sounds like I should be adding some nutrition to the pond as, currently, I have no fish and my plants are in aquatic compost.

 

[mrsclem]

correct- also some of the purple color on the lily leaves could be the normal color for that variety.

 

[WaterGardener]

The yellowing leaves could be an iron deficiency. You can get a test kit for that to check the water. My pond has no iron and I use a product from Seachem to correct that problem.

Those water lily leaves look normal to me. The ones with pink or red flowers, maybe yellow, too, tend to have those speckled leaves. Ones with white flowers are usually solid green.

 

[Barry77]

The yellowing leaves could be an iron deficiency. You can get a test kit for that to check the water. My pond has no iron and I use a product from Seachem to correct that problem.

Those water lily leaves look normal to me. The ones with pink or red flowers, maybe yellow, too, tend to have those speckled leaves. Ones with white flowers are usually solid green.

They were uniform green when I bought them.

 

[Barry77]

correct- also some of the purple color on the lily leaves could be the normal color for that variety.

Yes, I've heard that but mine were green when I bought them