Hi, everyone...

I posted yesterday regarding my water lettuce turning yellow with amazing
speed in an otherwise healthy pond. I am under the gun because of our pond
being part of a tour this weekend. I was looking into using PondCare's
"Aquatic Plant Stimulant" after researching on the 'net and reading that a
depletion of trace elements might be the culprit. A quick call to a local
pond center put me on to Ironite, a fertilizer that I already have on hand
for evergreens. Has anyone here ever used it?

NJ

On Tue, 22 Jul 2003 09:23:59 -0400, "NJ"
wrote:

Hi, everyone...

I posted yesterday regarding my water lettuce turning yellow with amazing
speed in an otherwise healthy pond. I am under the gun because of our pond
being part of a tour this weekend. I was looking into using PondCare's
"Aquatic Plant Stimulant" after researching on the 'net and reading that a
depletion of trace elements might be the culprit. A quick call to a local
pond center put me on to Ironite, a fertilizer that I already have on hand
for evergreens. Has anyone here ever used it?

NJ


Do not use Ironite!

It contains HUGE amounts of toxic heavy metals..
including arsenic/lead/selenium/cadmium/murcury and others..

look here

http://www.ewg.org/reports/asyousow/ExecSumm.html

You dont want to use that. There's trace mix from a company called Bonide
that nurseries carry that I use to make my own fert. You want .1PPM of iron
in the water at all times. Here's a response to a aquarium person that I
posted to another group on how to figure out how much to add:

Look on the label that contains how much iron it has to figure out what
numbers to use:

For 72 gallons you'd use this formula I'll assume the percent of iron in
your trace (check the package) is 5%.

72 X 3.785 = 272.52

1000 / 272.52 = 3.66 (this is how many PPM 1 gram of 100% pure chemical
would bring your 72 gallons to if you added it)

..05 (percent of iron) X 3.66 = 0.183 (Since you don't have 100% pure
chemical you multiply the 3.66 by the percentage of iron)

So if you added one gram of your trace and the iron was 5% and you had 72
gallons of water your iron level would be .183 PPM. This is too high. You
want around .1PPM so you'd use 1/2 gram to get you to .09 PPM which is close
enough.

Can't measure 1/2 gram? How about 1 ounce? Do this:

Add one ounce (28.34 grams) of trace to 1 liter (1000 ML) of water. Each ML
of solution would deliver .02834 grams of mixture. So you'd need to add 18
ML of this to your water to get to .1PPM of iron. Go to the pet store and
find the bird section. They have little syringes that count MLs. I think
Tetra makes them. They are used to feed baby birds, etc.

The hard part is going to know how fast your plants are using your iron up
so you know what to dose the next time. You'll need an iron test kit for
this unfortunately. =(



"NJ" wrote in message
...
Hi, everyone...

I posted yesterday regarding my water lettuce turning yellow with amazing
speed in an otherwise healthy pond. I am under the gun because of our pond
being part of a tour this weekend. I was looking into using PondCare's
"Aquatic Plant Stimulant" after researching on the 'net and reading that a
depletion of trace elements might be the culprit. A quick call to a local
pond center put me on to Ironite, a fertilizer that I already have on hand
for evergreens. Has anyone here ever used it?

NJ

PS. Here's the link to what it looks like:

http://www.bonideproducts.com/art/ironcomplexc.htm


"NJ" wrote in message
...
Hi, everyone...

I posted yesterday regarding my water lettuce turning yellow with amazing
speed in an otherwise healthy pond. I am under the gun because of our pond
being part of a tour this weekend. I was looking into using PondCare's
"Aquatic Plant Stimulant" after researching on the 'net and reading that a
depletion of trace elements might be the culprit. A quick call to a local
pond center put me on to Ironite, a fertilizer that I already have on hand
for evergreens. Has anyone here ever used it?

NJ

You could put the water lettuce in a container outside the pond to give it a
nutrient bath, then rinse and return to the main pond. Another idea is to
borrow plants for a day from a friend who has a pond? Where are you?

--
Wendy* in N. California,
"America did not invent human rights. In a very real sense, it is the other
way around. Human rights invented America." Jimmy Carter


"NJ" wrote in message
...
Hi, everyone...

I posted yesterday regarding my water lettuce turning yellow with amazing
speed in an otherwise healthy pond. I am under the gun because of our pond
being part of a tour this weekend. I was looking into using PondCare's
"Aquatic Plant Stimulant" after researching on the 'net and reading that a
depletion of trace elements might be the culprit. A quick call to a local
pond center put me on to Ironite, a fertilizer that I already have on hand
for evergreens. Has anyone here ever used it?

NJ

"Wendy Kelly Budd" wrote in message
...
You could put the water lettuce in a container outside the pond to give it
a
nutrient bath, then rinse and return to the main pond. Another idea is to
borrow plants for a day from a friend who has a pond? Where are you?

Hi, Wendy. None of my friends has a pond, although many are now considering
it after spending time on our deck and looking at and listening to ours. I
live in NE Ohio. I have begun to do what you suggested: pull the lettuces
and dose them independent of the pond.
Thanks for your help,
NJ

Water lettuce like afternoon shade and will yellow in direct hot sun Jerri

http://www.fringeweb.com/Ponds/JerrisPond

We have a small pond. My husband had some friends over when I wasn't home.
He said one couple sat in our patio swing next to our pond and the husband
fell asleep! They are now putting in a pond. LOL

--
LN in NH (new gardener in zone 5)
http://photos.yahoo.com/lns_obsessed


"NJ" wrote in message
...


Hi, Wendy. None of my friends has a pond, although many are now
considering
it after spending time on our deck and looking at and listening to ours.

"Jerrispond" wrote in message
...
Water lettuce like afternoon shade and will yellow in direct hot sun
Jerri


http://www.fringeweb.com/Ponds/JerrisPond

Yes, and that is the exact condition under which my water lettuce live:
mostly shaded, esp. in the afternoon.
NJ

Look for bugs, too, especially the underside of plants. The worms I have
not only like the Pecan tree, they love the extending-above-water lily pads.
The mother of all moths comes and puts the eggs under the pad, in a little
web, and before you know it tiny little worms munch the pads to nothingness.
BT works, but you have to get them right away. They come all summer, in
waves. Last year they decimated my upper pond pads in record time and it
didn't really come back (crowded up there so the pads stick up, way up).
This year I'm trying to keep on top of those little buggers. BT cuts them
in half (the bigs ones are all you may see) by the next day. They stop
eating immediately. Reapply as needed. You can find BT in a garden shop.

In case this is a problem elsewhere.
--
'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`''`'`'`'`'`'`'`' `'`'`''`'`'`'`'`'`'`'
SLOTHEAD