Water Gardening: How do I keep my container water garden clean?, 1 by plantaholic186

plantaholic186 wrote:
Hi-
I'm new to container H2O gardening, and I could use some help!
Last year, the water stayed clean all summer, and only started smelling funky in March while stored in my heated garage. (I was hoping to overwinter the papyrus). This year, the water looks yucky.
Now, last year my lotus came with some hitchhikers, and I'm guessing they were the key to keeping the water clean? I tried water lettuce this summer, since none of the tadpoles survived the winter in the garage, but that didn't do much.
It has been an irritatingly cool summer, so could that be it?
Thanks so much for helping me.