pond dirt! (what do i use)

i have a lotus tuber and i want to get it into the dirt (well its in dirt right now but the dirt isnt heavy enough and keeps floating to the surface. i tried several different varieties of bag soil from home depot and all of them float! i have it in a large pot on my patio and i live in a condo so i cant take any of the soil from the ground...what do i do?

I have heard to use plain kitty litter. You can pile some stones, brick on top to weigh it down if needed.
If you use kitty litter you have to use fertilizer/feed tabs for the plant as the litter doesn't have any nutrients in it to speak of.

I have a koi pond and a lotus pond (mud hole actually). I have done exactly what Frilly has recommended in my koi pond with great results. I know there is a lot of posts on the web about lotus tubers being very delicate but last year my new puppy kept grabbing and chewing on my tubers from the lotus pond. Many, MANY times (it is fenced in now-until the dog grows up . . .) the tubers were all over the yard mutilated and still i was able to replant them and they grew. In my lotus bog/pond I have cotton burr compost and clay and after I fenced it in my process for the planting was just laying the tubers on top of the water and let them float and their roots reached down into the soil naturally and anchored themselves. In my koi pond I have them in kitty litter and fertilizer heavily and covered with very large rocks and them netted it up and used a rubber band on the netting. The netting is to keep the koi out as they are known to root and dump out the pots.

Be sure to rinse off the kitty litter before planting to avoid much of the cloudiness.

Even if it dumps out (kitty litter) it will make a mess but in a day or so it settles. I know I accidently dumped a few baskets . . .

what if i take some pea graveland throw it on the top of the soil??

I use the black rounded river rock on top of mine ( I get it at Lowes ) It's about 3 inches big and smooth on the edges so it doesnt cause a concern over poking a hole in the liner. I also found large black wash tubs at the Dollar Store, so the black and black don't show very much under the water.

I use pea gravel as potting soil for my waterlilies. Then I cover the pea gravel with egg rock. The egg rock is rounded and heavy enough that the fish cannot move it or pull the plants out of the containers.

I tried using the potting soil that is specifically for underwater plants and had nothing but problems with it. I have not tried the kitty litter and I know that a number of people swear by it.

I have several water plants ..water lillies and water Iris ( yellow and purple ) try Lowes for plastic baskets with the holes all around buy two- fill one with clay soil ( you may have to go
to a landscaper to get a gallon bucket of clay-) fill the bottom add a couple of rocks about fist size for weight and plant your tuber add a fertilizer stick or lump and put the other basket over the top as a cover... use plastic zip ties to secure the top to the bottom...if your container is too small for the top cover just use the bottom basket.....if the clay "milks" out into the water cover that with a little sand.
my Koi pond is 36 inches deep
and I need that top cover to keep my Koi from digging into the soil... the clay soil is heavier and you may not need the rocks ...good luck

Wal-Mart's cheapest kitty litter (without chemicals and fragrances) is pure clay and cheap. It works and a lot of water gardeners who also keep fish use it. Also, if you have fish and salt the water for disease control use the 99% pure water softner salt. Cheaper and works. Menards sells a nice quality but cheap brand that I haven't found anywhere else. It has the highest percentage of "pureness" of all the major hardware suppliers in my area.

just chiming in w/ a pic.

I got some dirt and paid a fortune to have it shipped from Dr Smith and Foster. It was their sure fire for pond type dirt. What a gosh awful mess. It floated all over the pond. I suspect now that it needed to be watered down first, but still had a lot of organics in it. Now I just dig in my yard for the heavy dirt, plant the tubers, put pea gravel over the top and just sink in the pond enough to start wetting it down. Oh, I line the baskets with newspaper per Texas Water Lily's advice. When they are good and wet, I sink the pots. I don't let them grow in the pond as I have to vacuum it (two inch rock with a liner) and no bottom drain to get the detritus out. Also I sink mine in the deep end over the winter (4'). Seems to work. I get a few flowers but our growing season is very short and not all that warm. But they do make lots of lily pads for the fish to hide under.

newspapers, I guess the ink is safe? I never would have thought of that. Probably a heavy cardboard would work too.

I don't know about cardboard. Since you are lining either round or square plant pots, the cardboard might be tough to work with. I bought some mesh bags that you are able to plant stuff in for the pond and I use them to line the plastic pots that are grids rather than solid. I still had plants (cattails) grow through them and start new plants on the outside of the pot. It's a chore in the fall cutting them out, separating them, and repotting.

has anyone ever used that clay that's used in earthen ponds to seal the bottom and sides?

there is good news!! at first, the soil in the pot was floating, some was sinking, and some was suspended in the middle (it was a mess). i think i just needed to waite a little while for the soil to soak up the water because now the soil has settled to the bottom and the lotus tuber has sent out its first leaf!!

great to hear cody!

Haven't any of you heard of AQUASOIL? I get mine at Walmart. It is a ceramic "soil" made for planting aquadic plants in, Bag costs about $8.00, but is enough to fill 6, 6 inch pots, I use the plastic pots for water lillies and the aquasoil, with peagravel on top. If at any time you want to change the pot or up size the pot, the aquasoil is reuseable.

Thanks so much, Annabell. I had never heard of it. I will check out our local Walmart. I do realize that they ship different things to different parts of the country, but maybe I will luck out. I am running out of the regular gunk from my garden. Texas Waterlilies says they just use the mud from down by the river in their pots. I just don't happen to have a 'down by the river' to dig in. LOL. Thanks again.
Mary

Mary if you do a websearch for aquasoil, the retailers will pop up. that's how I found it
Ann

Has anyone tried putting soil directly in the pond, not in pots?
I was thinking about taking a section of the pond, (It is dug with different depths) and putting say 8 inches of clayish soil in it, and then planting a lotus or lily or whatever. I think then it would grow, spread nicely and not be so confined to a pot, also then you wouldn't have to repot them every year as they would have more time to grow before needing divided. Every three years? you could drain the pond do a major cleaning and thin whatever plants you had, along with refreshing the soil.
Is it a stupid idea?

I have a TON of clay in my yard (who in Raleigh, NC doesn't? LOL). Can I just dig down to some of that and mix w/some soil to plant my lotus in (putting the pebbles on top before putting in the pond? I have a couple seeds I just germinated, and they started putting out their second leaf yesterday, so they're about ready to go swimming.

Thanks much!
Jennifer

oh kay, you put pebbles on top before putting them in the pond?! I did not do this !!
I just used clay out of my yard, and put it in my pond, and it was really a mess at first, but it seemed like it settled ok ? I don't have koi, just goldfish.
Did I do ok?

im so angry! my lotus tuber sent up its firts little leaf, and there was another one just about to pop out if the water and my sisters dog came over and she ate both the leaves!! i hope it makes it.

Cody: There is something wildly attractive about lotus plants and dogs. My puppy went absolutely ga-ga over them. Lucky for you the tuber is okay!

I have two lotus tubers in a glass serving pitcher in my southern exposure window in my kitchen. I got them in the TWL co-op this year and both have several leaves (smallish leaves) and now it looks like a bud is forming on the end of one of them (I think it's a bud). I am still weeks away from planting them outside but I am excited about their progress.

Mary from Alaska: What waterlilies and lotus do you grow in your zone and manage to get a flower from? I am in zone 5a and do not experience a lot of growth or flowers in such a short growing season and I am looking for varieties that get started early in the season and will give me something to really enjoy in such a short time.

Mother Mole: Most of the water lilies I have I got from Texas Waterlilies. They have nice healthy plants, and considering how far they have to come (Texas to Alaska) they arrive in great shape. The postage is minimal considering some of the stuff I order from 'outside.' I only buy hardy lilies, but there are lots to choose from. My lilies are in pots, at least 3 gallon, and they recommend up to 5 gallon. In the spring I bring them up from the deep end of the pond (4') and set them on bricks so they are only a few inches below the surface. This lets them maximize our sun and they get warmer faster. We are still subject to cool weather compared to you all, and a very short growing season, but I still get flowers. Not bunches, but some. This is only my third year with water lilies, so each year I get better in caring for them. I broke them apart last fall and repotted, rather then doing it in the spring. I am hoping that by not disturbing them in the spring they will take off better. Oh, Texas Waterlilies also has tons of marginals, submersibles, and surficants which is good as the market for water plants up here is petty scarce and wicked expensive.

This is a link to propogate water lilies with the leaf pad.
http://www.victoria-adventure.org/waterlilies_images/vivips/page1.html
I have a tropical Tina which does this and would like to find others. If anyone has a different colored lily and would like to trade a couple pads to give it a try please contact me. I'm interested in trying it.
Hi Tucson. I have baby Lotus growing!

that's sweet mekos! are those from the seeds that i sent you? i have more. it's not like i'll be able to do much with them.

YUP, They are still small yet just started them a month ago but NICE!
Thanks little buddy!

no problem... : )