So ~ what did you get done with the
pond this weekend??

Not much here. DH is tearing out much needed
hair over taxes.
The frog bog keeps filling up with water as the
sprinklers malfunction and the rain pours down.
I keep an eye out to see if any frogs' eggs have
been laid so I can transfer them to the desired
bog area.
Marshmarigold is gorgeously yellow in the deck
pond.

Watergardening labradors patrol the draining,
muddy bog and enjoy making perfect paw prints
on the carpet when they come in.

"kthirtya" wrote:
So ~ what did you get done with the
pond this weekend??
[ . . . ]

I went out to verify Jun's sighting of the survivor fish. I think it's a
kohaku, but hard to see in pea soup. ;-/

--
Nick. Support severely wounded and disabled Veterans and their families!

Thank a Veteran and Support Our Troops. You are not forgotten. Thanks ! ! !
~Semper Fi~

kthirtya wrote:
So ~ what did you get done with the
pond this weekend??

Not much here. DH is tearing out much needed
hair over taxes.
The frog bog keeps filling up with water as the
sprinklers malfunction and the rain pours down.
I keep an eye out to see if any frogs' eggs have
been laid so I can transfer them to the desired
bog area.
Marshmarigold is gorgeously yellow in the deck
pond.

Watergardening labradors patrol the draining,
muddy bog and enjoy making perfect paw prints
on the carpet when they come in.


They are calling for snow at the end of the week. I am still in
hibernation mode.

On Sun, 1 Apr 2007 16:07:02 CST, "kthirtya" wrote:

So ~ what did you get done with the
pond this weekend??

Yesterday we opened the MG Demo pond and started the filter. Water looked
better than last year.

Then today was the koi club meeting in the vicinity of the D.pond above. So
I went out to check and am happy to say water was clear to the bottom. Fish
look good, hope some thief doesn't also think so. :-( Maybe we need to get
some ugly koi, so they'll be less likely to get snatched and I'll finally
have fish that are big enough to do some pond cleaning (moving the mulm to
the bottom drain). Not that I really want to clean the pre-filter any more
often then I do (every 4 weeks).

As for the home ponds, just looking at them lately. Noting how much frog
spawn I have, and that I still have 1 baby goldfish in there to net out. So
far it doesn't appear to have found the eggs.

Hoping to divide at least one lily tomorrow, and check the others and feed
them at the same time. Really hoping I don't have to divide very many of
them this year. Must make this spring break productive. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State

How come your frogs are reproducing and
mine are all bragging and no action?

Heading back down to double check...

k :-)

On Sun, 1 Apr 2007 19:37:07 CST, "kthirtya" wrote:

How come your frogs are reproducing and
mine are all bragging and no action?
k :-)

Maybe it's been awhile and you don't know what to look for? I know it takes
me a while to find that first bunch. Once I do, then I see all the other
bunches. Then there is the case of the, "Inadequate Frog".... But that
can't be... since all those are in some way relative to mine.

Looks like my escapee of the fish roundup is gonna have another day/night,
hopefully I'll get 'em tomorrow. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State

kthirtya wrote:

So ~ what did you get done with the
pond this weekend??


Found there are some GF fry out there..was wondering why there was no
pea soup type algae this year, there is an abundant slimy type, not
really a string algae... tickled meself (easily amused) while watching
the small frogs (haven't got them ID'd yet), imitated their chirp and
sure enough a chorus followed suit. We had a lot of rain in Dallas
Friday and the pond did over flow so I'm sure fry were lost.

Lar

"kthirtya" wrote in message
oups.com...
So ~ what did you get done with the
pond this weekend??
==========================
We drained down and cleaned out the 880g pond, culled the fry and refilled
it. I hosed off all the plants and added new gravel to the pots. The three
lilies were transplanted into a fine gravel-sand mix and 1/2 of a Jobe's
fertilizer spike for Roses. I'm thinking maybe the soil in the lily pots
was somehow causing all the algae in ths is one pond. We removed about 30g
of odorless green glop from the bottom. The adults will be returned to the
pond tomorrow.
--
RM....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
Zone 6. Middle TN USA
ISP: Hughes.net
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö

Jim began to feed the koi this week. They LOVE that idea. The water
is at 55 degrees.

Jim thought the racoons had taken the goldfish he had put in a berm
pond for the winter (his best ones) in the hope that they would breed
this spring. He was pretty bummed out at the thought that he had put
them up there and they thus became racoon chow. Today he was clearing
the top of the pond and saw two of the fish he put up there. They
were good at hiding from racoons and from him! He is so pleased.

The lilies are sending new leaves, the duckweed is multiplying like
mad on the berm and the hyacinths are starting to grow. Spring is
definitely here.

No green water yet.

Phyllis

Lar wrote
tickled meself (easily amused) while watching
the small frogs (haven't got them ID'd yet), imitated their chirp and
sure enough a chorus followed suit.

Our frogs get all worked up over the lawn mower... ;-)

k

Will the rose spike jack up the total nutrients and increase the
algae? My lilies might like some fertilizer.

Most of my lilies, however, are loose on the cement floor of the
pond. Any good thoughts about fertilizing them? Or do I just assume
they will grab nutrients from the water?

Jim

kthirtya wrote:
Lar wrote
tickled meself (easily amused) while watching
the small frogs (haven't got them ID'd yet), imitated their chirp and
sure enough a chorus followed suit.

Our frogs get all worked up over the lawn mower... ;-)

k

That's what made me try...I noticed they would crank it up when I
started the mower today.

Lar

"Phyllis and Jim" wrote in message
oups.com...
Will the rose spike jack up the total nutrients and increase the
algae? My lilies might like some fertilizer.

I don't believe it's those Jobe's spikes because I use them in all the pots
of lilies. There has to be some logical answer for the glop in this one
pond. Actually I'm not even sure it's the soil in the lily pots. We
thought it might be runoff from the lawn but we fixed the berm with
reinforced concrete last spring, and the problem immediately returned. That
pond's filter matting is constantly clogging with this dark green algae.
The blocks themselves under the filter matting are also loaded with this
stuff.

Most of my lilies, however, are loose on the cement floor of the
pond.
Any good thoughts about fertilizing them? Or do I just assume
they will grab nutrients from the water?

Derek has no problem growing his lilies that way, but they didn't do well
for me at all unless potted and fertilized. If I want nice leaves and
flowers I have to grow them in pots with fertalizer. I'm going to see how
they do in the sandy gravel mix with fertilizer. I don't use a whole spike
per pot. I break them up and use a little more than half the spike. These
are the large size black plastic pond plant pots.

My water is hard and alkaline. I add Potassium to the water itself, and
nothing else.
--

RM....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
Zone 6. Middle TN USA
ISP: Hughes.net
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö

On Sun, 1 Apr 2007 19:21:43 CST, ~ jan
wrote:

Hoping to divide at least one lily tomorrow, and check the others and feed
them at the same time. Really hoping I don't have to divide very many of
them this year. Must make this spring break productive. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State

I've got three more lily pots to pull out and see if I can just
fertilize and toss them back in, or if it is going to be work. It
gets tougher every year to wrestle them out of the pots. If I wasn't
so cheap, I'd cut off a crown and toss the rest of the pot, but I hate
to give up the rocks on top of the dirt.

The pond looked pretty good after I cleaned all the liriope out that
got tossed in from weed whacking to remove the old growth, so I moved
a couple euonymus plants and panted a while. Tomorrow is another day
in the garden and moderation is necessary.

Regards,

Hal

On Sun, 1 Apr 2007 22:39:40 CST, "Phyllis and Jim"
wrote:

Will the rose spike jack up the total nutrients and increase the
algae? My lilies might like some fertilizer.

Most of my lilies, however, are loose on the cement floor of the
pond. Any good thoughts about fertilizing them? Or do I just assume
they will grab nutrients from the water?

I think there is more to algae growth and disappearance than just
nutrients in the water. I can't say that adding fertilizer for the
lilies won't cause algae bloom, but I'm not as convinced as some here
that it will either. I do believe if your lilies do well without
fertilizer you are way ahead of a good bit of work repotting and
fertilizing and they are removing nutrients, which is the main reason
for pond plants IMHO.

I don't consider my lilies a nutrient remover, just a shade producer.
The fertilizer I use in the pots is inserted into the dirt in the pot
and I hope it stays within the confines of the pot. I don't believe
it all stays in the pot, but it works to make the lilies grow better
and produce more flowers and I'm willing to chance the fertilizer in
the pond if it escapes the pot.

Regards,

Hal