I bought some potting soil today to plant some of my lilies in. They were
out of the dirt I normally buy to do this.
I got to thinking though if there is anything in the potting soil that might
harm the fish.
The only thing I see is that it has peat in it. Do you think this could harm
the fish by making the water to acidic?
Priss

Priscilla McCullough wrote:
I bought some potting soil today to plant some of my lilies in. They were
out of the dirt I normally buy to do this.
I got to thinking though if there is anything in the potting soil that might
harm the fish.
The only thing I see is that it has peat in it. Do you think this could harm
the fish by making the water to acidic?
Priss




-- potting soil has a tendency to float esp the peat





John Rutz

the green is grassing the leaves are treeing
I'm happy

see my pond at:

http://www.fuerjefe.com

Priscilla McCullough wrote in message
...
I bought some potting soil today to plant some of my lilies in. They were
out of the dirt I normally buy to do this.
I got to thinking though if there is anything in the potting soil that
might
harm the fish.

I don't think it will harm the fish, but water lillies normally like a
heavier soil than potting soil normally is. You might try mixing in some
good stuff from your garden. We use a mixture of black dirt and well
composted cow manure. This can be bought in bags from garden supply houses.
Avoid dehydrated cow manure.

On Sun, 13 Apr 2003 19:58:38 -0400, "Priscilla McCullough"
wrote:

I bought some potting soil today to plant some of my lilies in. They were
out of the dirt I normally buy to do this.
I got to thinking though if there is anything in the potting soil that might
harm the fish.
The only thing I see is that it has peat in it. Do you think this could harm
the fish by making the water to acidic?
Priss

Do you have the annoying clay type dirt in your yard? That is what i
read lillies prefer. Then cover with well rinsed kitty litter or a
similiar medium.

Hmmm, I thought it was the other way around: plant in the well-rinsed plain
ol' kitty litter, then cover with the clay! Oh well, someone who does it
that way will probably chime in . . . I need to know myself, pretty soon.

Lee

"jammer" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 13 Apr 2003 19:58:38 -0400, "Priscilla McCullough"
wrote:

I bought some potting soil today to plant some of my lilies in. They were
out of the dirt I normally buy to do this.
I got to thinking though if there is anything in the potting soil that
might
harm the fish.
The only thing I see is that it has peat in it. Do you think this could
harm
the fish by making the water to acidic?
Priss

Do you have the annoying clay type dirt in your yard? That is what i
read lillies prefer. Then cover with well rinsed kitty litter or a
similiar medium.

I use kitty litter cheap Walmart brand and cover with pea gravel.

Bob

jammer wrote:

On Sun, 13 Apr 2003 19:58:38 -0400, "Priscilla McCullough"
wrote:

I bought some potting soil today to plant some of my lilies in. They were
out of the dirt I normally buy to do this.
I got to thinking though if there is anything in the potting soil that might
harm the fish.
The only thing I see is that it has peat in it. Do you think this could harm
the fish by making the water to acidic?
Priss

Do you have the annoying clay type dirt in your yard? That is what i
read lillies prefer. Then cover with well rinsed kitty litter or a
similiar medium.

On Mon, 14 Apr 2003 16:39:34 -0500, Bob wrote:

I use kitty litter cheap Walmart brand and cover with pea gravel.

Bob

That is what i did, but there wasn't much new growth. I have 6 leaves
instead of 4 now after repotting last week. Maybe that isn't the
reason, and i did go to a bigger pot, but i read that they like clay
and to pot just off center, for whatever reason. So i repotted in clay
dirt and topped off with a generous amount of kitty litter. I suppose
there are many ways to do it..

Lee Brouillet wrote:
Hmmm, I thought it was the other way around: plant in the well-rinsed plain
ol' kitty litter, then cover with the clay! Oh well, someone who does it
that way will probably chime in . . . I need to know myself, pretty soon.

Lee

"jammer" wrote in message
...

On Sun, 13 Apr 2003 19:58:38 -0400, "Priscilla McCullough"
wrote:


I bought some potting soil today to plant some of my lilies in. They were
out of the dirt I normally buy to do this.
I got to thinking though if there is anything in the potting soil that

might

harm the fish.
The only thing I see is that it has peat in it. Do you think this could

harm

the fish by making the water to acidic?
Priss

Do you have the annoying clay type dirt in your yard? That is what i
read lillies prefer. Then cover with well rinsed kitty litter or a
similiar medium.




Plain kitty litter is clay. My koi had a wonderful time
digging in it even with a layer of 1" stones on top. I then
added larger stones and they still dug in the kitty litter.
I quit using the kitty litter and soon dug a pond just for
the koi with no plants.

--
Bonnie
NJ
http://home.earthlink.net/~maebe43/

Bonnie Espenshade wrote:
Lee Brouillet wrote:

Hmmm, I thought it was the other way around: plant in the well-rinsed
plain
ol' kitty litter, then cover with the clay! Oh well, someone who does it
that way will probably chime in . . . I need to know myself, pretty soon.

Lee

"jammer" wrote in message
...

On Sun, 13 Apr 2003 19:58:38 -0400, "Priscilla McCullough"
wrote:


I bought some potting soil today to plant some of my lilies in. They
were
out of the dirt I normally buy to do this.
I got to thinking though if there is anything in the potting soil that


might

harm the fish.
The only thing I see is that it has peat in it. Do you think this could


harm

the fish by making the water to acidic?
Priss


Do you have the annoying clay type dirt in your yard? That is what i
read lillies prefer. Then cover with well rinsed kitty litter or a
similiar medium.





Plain kitty litter is clay. My koi had a wonderful time digging in it
even with a layer of 1" stones on top. I then added larger stones and
they still dug in the kitty litter.
I quit using the kitty litter and soon dug a pond just for the koi with
no plants.



--
i did clay then kitty liter then kity liter w rocks and now just
rocks. the big problem with just rock is fertilizing

discaimer all my lilly's are in the Koi pond




John Rutz

the green is grassing the leaves are treeing
I'm happy

see my pond at:

http://www.fuerjefe.com

In deference to the fish - I removed all the plants that they could reach
this year. Those plants will go into a watergarden in the back yard. For
something to take the "barren" look out of the pond, I went to the local
"artificial plant" warehouse and purchsed some plastic ornamental "grass"
(18-24" long) and siliconed it into 3-hole bricks. They collect algae and
look very natural, but they don't grow, don't shed, don't require
fertilizing, don't need trimming, and the koi only hide in there - they
don't try to destroy it GBG!!!! Yea!!! So the plants I'll be replanting
won't have any demon fish (a.k.a. spoiled brats) to root around in them. I
may find it hard not to have fish (What??? water and no FISH???), but if I
put any in, it will only be small ones. I'll have 2 ponds with koi by then
to worry about, and I think a stress-free plant pond would be nice!

Lee


"Bonnie Espenshade" wrote in message
...

Plain kitty litter is clay. My koi had a wonderful time
digging in it even with a layer of 1" stones on top. I then
added larger stones and they still dug in the kitty litter.
I quit using the kitty litter and soon dug a pond just for
the koi with no plants.

--
Bonnie
NJ
http://home.earthlink.net/~maebe43/

I've been using pea gravel, covered by river rock for a number of years now.
No problems with Koi. They seem to totally ignore the pots, (as there is no
clay to root in).
There is no fouling of water. No algal bloom from leached nutrients from
soils. I have found it easier to divide the plants. It is much cheaper than
"aquatic soil". There is no soil decomposition.
Disadvantages? It weighs slightly more than clay.
For lilies I add fert. tabs once/month, and get same degree of blooming as
when I had them in clay (with second season).
Another thought...
Happy ponding,
Greg


"Priscilla McCullough" wrote in message
...
I bought some potting soil today to plant some of my lilies in. They were
out of the dirt I normally buy to do this.
I got to thinking though if there is anything in the potting soil that
might
harm the fish.
The only thing I see is that it has peat in it. Do you think this could
harm
the fish by making the water to acidic?
Priss

"jammer" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 13 Apr 2003 19:58:38 -0400, "Priscilla McCullough"
wrote:



Do you have the annoying clay type dirt in your yard? That is what i
read lillies prefer. Then cover with well rinsed kitty litter or a
similiar medium.
Don't rinse the kitty litter! and use NON-CLUMPING NON_FRAGRANT. It is the
clay in the kitty litter that helps with algae.

If you plant in kitty litter you don't need clay!

"Lee Brouillet" wrote in message
...
Hmmm, I thought it was the other way around: plant in the well-rinsed
plain
ol' kitty litter, then cover with the clay! Oh well, someone who does it
that way will probably chime in . . . I need to know myself, pretty soon.

Lee

"jammer" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 13 Apr 2003 19:58:38 -0400, "Priscilla McCullough"
wrote:

I bought some potting soil today to plant some of my lilies in. They
were
out of the dirt I normally buy to do this.
I got to thinking though if there is anything in the potting soil that
might
harm the fish.
The only thing I see is that it has peat in it. Do you think this could
harm
the fish by making the water to acidic?
Priss

Do you have the annoying clay type dirt in your yard? That is what i
read lillies prefer. Then cover with well rinsed kitty litter or a
similiar medium.

If you have a 'Koi Pond' , then you should not have plants in it.

"John Rutz" wrote in message
...


Bonnie Espenshade wrote:
Lee Brouillet wrote:

Hmmm, I thought it was the other way around: plant in the well-rinsed
plain
ol' kitty litter, then cover with the clay! Oh well, someone who does
it
that way will probably chime in . . . I need to know myself, pretty
soon.

Lee

"jammer" wrote in message
...

On Sun, 13 Apr 2003 19:58:38 -0400, "Priscilla McCullough"
wrote:


I bought some potting soil today to plant some of my lilies in. They
were
out of the dirt I normally buy to do this.
I got to thinking though if there is anything in the potting soil
that


might

harm the fish.
The only thing I see is that it has peat in it. Do you think this
could


harm

the fish by making the water to acidic?
Priss


Do you have the annoying clay type dirt in your yard? That is what i
read lillies prefer. Then cover with well rinsed kitty litter or a
similiar medium.





Plain kitty litter is clay. My koi had a wonderful time digging in it
even with a layer of 1" stones on top. I then added larger stones and
they still dug in the kitty litter.
I quit using the kitty litter and soon dug a pond just for the koi with
no plants.



--
i did clay then kitty liter then kity liter w rocks and now just
rocks. the big problem with just rock is fertilizing

discaimer all my lilly's are in the Koi pond




John Rutz

the green is grassing the leaves are treeing
I'm happy

see my pond at:

http://www.fuerjefe.com

Most lilies like to be potted against the side of the pot , re "off center",
and they cannot grow through stones very well, pea gravel should do but if
they are not growing and you fertilized them take off the pea gravel. Lilies
are not meant to be planted with KOI, and not big Koi. Or if you plant in
just clay, they cant get through very well either. You need a 3 way mix of
clay sand and manure, smaller amount of manure.

"jammer" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 14 Apr 2003 16:39:34 -0500, Bob wrote:

I use kitty litter cheap Walmart brand and cover with pea gravel.

Bob

That is what i did, but there wasn't much new growth. I have 6 leaves
instead of 4 now after repotting last week. Maybe that isn't the
reason, and i did go to a bigger pot, but i read that they like clay
and to pot just off center, for whatever reason. So i repotted in clay
dirt and topped off with a generous amount of kitty litter. I suppose
there are many ways to do it..