The pond dig has begun!

[j.w]

I too thought it was tiny leaved that were the mini's..........................thanks for clearing that up addy!

 

[addy1]

Ohhhh .... so the leaves are not necessarily mini, just the size that the plant grows! Thanks for clarifying that, Addy. The leaves so far are much smaller, too, but maybe as the weather warms and they grow, the leaves will be larger then.
Jenn, I'm sure your lilies will get larger leaves, too. All of mine had the beautiful burgandy leaves in the beginning, and they are still mottled burgandy and green, but will all turn green in time, like they were last year, I'm sure. And, maybe it has to do with the amount of sunlight, and this year everything got going so much earlier than normal, and when the days are longer, they will get back to normal size.

Here it is in the pond and in the deck pond. The leaves are smaller than the other lilies. The flowers were sometimes darker pink, sometimes lighter pink. You can see it is doing fine in the deck pond which is a small pond, i.e. small footprint.

 

[j.w]

So it does have smaller leaves, well that is cool cuz it's good for small spaces! Pretty blooms too. I think you sent me one of those but not sure.

 

[CountryEscape]

Beautiful pink color, Addy! So deep colored and solid. I don't have any that seem to be all one color, so that really catches my eye! I think my new tropical is solid, but we shall see ...

 

[pondlover]

I do have a mini lily that I bought from craigslist. Guy told me the flowers are pink. Pads are about 2-3" and supposed to have really tiny blooms. I have it in a pot on the deck with some duck weed. Picture is not very clear because I took it just now.


When I fertilized my pond water lilies I noticed that several of them have bulbs that just haven't come to the surface yet. I'm hoping to see some blooms soon.

 

[CountryEscape]

I got a plant from Ebay that looks much like a lily, but doesn't seem to have tubers. It's called Water Fringe. I has a nice bunch of roots, can be put in the bog and left floating or along the edge of the pond. So far I have it in the bog, to watch it and see how it grows. Already trying to root in the pea gravel. It evidently grows really fast as the seller said that 3 plants would be all that I would want! He said it has small yellow flowers and the leaves are about 1-1.5" across. I'll have to watch this one and see how it grows before I assume it will stay this small, although the seller eluded to the fact it "looks like a mini pond lily".
PL, you will have flowers before you know it, if you have buds coming up! Woohoo!!!

 

[addy1]

So it does have smaller leaves, well that is cool cuz it's good for small spaces! Pretty blooms too. I think you sent me one of those but not sure.

Think sent you three or so, small starts.

 

[CountryEscape]

I have several, too, Addy. You can definitely tell them from the others, as their stems are much thinner and dainty, and leaves are smaller in comparison to the others. I have only the lilies from you in my goldfish pond, so I'm sure which are which this year. Well, plus the Miami Rose tropical, which is growing great guns! It came with I think 2 leaves, and now has 6. Moved it lower, as it was only about 6" underwater.

 

[j.w]

I thought you did addy and will look to see which one it is and might have actually put it in the bath tub pond cuz thought it was the mini one.

 

[j.w]

Hey CE let me know how that water fringe does as it says hardy in this state. Also says it is a noxious weed on Wikipedia but I presume that in our ponds we can control it. It's a cute looking little plant. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nymphoides_peltata

 

[CountryEscape]

Funny, but I had not even looked up the flower, just liked the looks of the leaves floating on the water! I thought it was a tiny flower, but that one looks gorgeous, and larger than the leaves! I'll let you know when it blooms. The guy I bought it from said I would not want more than 3 of them. Come to find out, I think it's the same stuff in the pond at the landscape place I go to! I've tried to get some from him, and he would always say, "You don't want that, it's invasive!" BUT, he also sold me the chameleon plant, and up front said it's invasive, keep it in the bog, don't let it get in your landscaping. My Master Gardener friend agreed, said she is still trying to eradicate some chameleon plant for the last 3 years, still comes back up in places other than where she planted it! So, that being said, if you like it, mine is growing really well. I have it in the bog area that has about 3" of water so far, until I figure out if it needs to be rooted in a pot, or just free floating. I think it needs to have a place to be rooted so. The garden center has it growing from the bottom of the pond. So, I will probably put it in pots but for not it's just floating, has lots of nice roots, too. AND, if you're interested, try sending a PM to Adavisus. He's on here, and he's the one that had it for sale on Ebay. Didn't realize it until I saw the same name on here after I bought the plants.

 

[addy1]

Well ce we will wait until yours grows and takes over and you offer us some for shipping! lol

 

[CountryEscape]

That's great! I'd be happy to do so, too. So far it's growing well, and maybe this weekend I'll get it potted. Seems like the goldies leave this stuff alone, unlike the koi, so it will likely stay in the goldfish pond for now at least.

 

[j.w]

Lol addy I like that idea of getting some from CE when it invades her pond! I found out they have it over here but way on the other side of our mountains in the Spokane river. Guess they aren't happy about it over there. As long as we keep these invasive plants in our own ponds and don't throw them out in some wild water environment things will be good. CE do you just throw the Water Fringe right on top and let it float or does it have to have it's roots planted as you said something about it around the edge of your pond?

 

[CountryEscape]

I think it WANTS to be rooted in something, but if there is water on the edge behind my rocks, I'm thinking of putting some clay there for it to root in and try it that way. Otherwise I will put some in a pot on the shelf. Right now I have it laying in the water in the goldfish pond bog, as it's about 5-6" deep where I have it, and it's doing great. Growing new leaves already. I suspect those roots will start digging into the pea gravel, though, and I want to move it where it can float more, so will probably do some testing with it, see where it does best and let you know!
Bad news with this koi pond. This morning I shut off the filter as it was leaking slowly, pond level went down about 3" in the last 24 hours by morning. Tonight it is smelling kind of bad. It's possible it's the old water in the kiddie pool from the bog when I cleaned it out last weekend that I'm smelling, but I think the water in general is stinky. It's very brown, not green algae at all. I'll check numbers tomorrow, but planning on doing a huge water change, like 25-30% or maybe more. Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm so sick of this murky brown water. Plants are growing fine, fish seem to be fine, I'm only feeding 2-3 times a week. Really hard to think of feeding when I can't even see the fish clearly when they are at the top of the water! It's like they are in my farm pond. Very disgusting, especially since the new goldfish pond is now clear. I was hoping both ponds would clear at the same time, but I guess something different is happening with the koi pond.
Does anyone have any other suggestions for me? I'm going to guess that the water parameters are still good, although maybe not. I know I need to clear the main pump, suspect it may have stuff on it, but the pressure is still really good. Skimmer didn't have any large amount of gunk on the filter either. I'm just at a loss. Seems like it's floating stuff in the water column. I have not cleaned the bottom for over a month, as someone mentioned to leave it be, as bacteria would grow down there, but now I'm wondering if I should check it out and see what is gathering, if anything. The last time I netted it, there was not much there, just some leftover algae.
The good news is that there is no or very little algae growing. I think the sun cannot get into the water! LOL No ... wait ... that's not funny at all. :-(
HELP!!!