I havnt checked this out yet but was wondering what the difference is. And if I have a pot with potting soil do I need to switch it over to pond potting soil.
Pond soil for plants?
I posted about this not too long ago and didn't get a lot of response. Clay type yard soil is most recommended. Potting soil, especially with pearlite or vermiculite is the worst because it is light and will float out of the pots. Some people like kitty litter. I'll be watching this one for responses.
If your soil isn't clay. I have read where you can use the Top Soil sold in the 40 lb. bags.
Some just use pea gravel for plants except waterlilies and they need clay or the top soil.
If you use soil of any type, make sure you have at least 1 to 2 inches of pea gravel on top.
I have been wondering this also,has anyone tried Floor sweep? I think it is Diametric(sp?) earth,which is just hardened clay.
Root: Before using check to see if there are no added chemicals in Floor Sweep.
The kitty liter that is used is the cheap kind with no added chemicals.
One of these days, I am going to try something other than soil.
This spring all I had was the soiless mix with perlite in it. I now have some perlite loose in the pond floating. I just get it out with the net. Pumps don't like perlite either, plugs them up good. Ted's koi got a little too friendly with the potted waterlily. LOL..
I found out that the cheap potting soil sold at walmart for $1.06 with out the perlite is excellelnt. Nothing but solid dark clay. Can ball it up in your hand when wet. Better then the clay I have in my yard. LOL
Lots of places in my yard is clay. Ive dug some nice clumps from my new bed and in the back yard. guess I shoulda saved them in a bucket instead of throwing them up against the fence with the noisey neighbor dog, didnt hit the dog, just trying to fill in a couple of spots from him digging. LOL
So I dont want anything that will float, that I understand, but as long as the potting medium Im using stays put under the water means "its all good" right? Or if I feel like it I could wrap up the whole thing in cheese cloth if Im in a fix.
Putting pea gravel on top I would assume is too help keep it weighed down .
Im going to start a still water pond type thing on my deck, I have large plants to put around it so it dosnt get too much sun, but I wanted some pond plants so bad. I have some coming and am gonna buy some feeder goldfish to put in for the skeeter larva. Sound good?
Sounds good and also the rock is to keep the fish out of the pot. That is if you buy some bigger ones.
The pea gravel on top of the soil is too keep the soil from escaping into the water, too.
Dravencat: Sounds good to me. You will love the fish and the plants in the pond.
Hi Janet,
I recently received a cala lily in a trade. It was a good size plant and I love it, but I have tried calalily's in the dirt garden and they didn't fare well. Soooo, I took this calalily, put it in regular potting soil from Big Nots, no perlite, covered the soil with1/2 to 1 inch stones to help hold the soil in and sunk it to just over the pot rim in my pond. Lo and behold, it loves it there, has a bloom on it and is standing tall.
BTW, you will be getting more hyacinth than we thought, we have had a growth spurt. :^)
Molly
Cool beans!! (can you here me giggling? heehee)
i have a calla lily that I have next to my kitchen window so I remember to water it good everyday, that is another plant Im going to put in the pond when I get it set up. Gonna start work on that one on Monday. Getting so excited about this. WooHoo!!
Let me know when you are all ready. I may have a thing or two for you. :)
You got it girl. When I get it cleaned up Ill post a pic of what Im using.
Well I might not have to buy goldfish, LOL, DS and friend brought me some minnows and catfish. Doing pretty good in there so far but Im keeping an eye on them to make sure they stay healthy or theyre going back where they came from.
I prefer clay soil myself but I have to be sure it isn't full of chemicals from spraying weeds and such. I use round flat river stones up to 2 inches for my lilies because my Koi love digging in pea gravel. My Koi aren't very big either....just bored I guess and of course always hungry. The lilies seem to find their way through the larger stones....maybe because I leave room between them.
I happen to have over one hundred 4-5 inch goldfish here. I offered to take some when the Humane Society fished them out of the ZOO ponds. Some one sneaked a few in to the ponds and they multiplied! I had to build two new ponds for them. I wish I could find homes for them.
I use the cheap kitty litter (no perfumes/not the clumping type). I have potted all my water lillies in it for 3 years now and also my pickerel rush and Louisiana iris. I cover the top of the pot with small rocks to keep the fish from disturbing it. Be sure to wet thoroughly before putting in the pond. I rinse the litter first so that fine stuff won't get into the pond. When I first began with the pond I used the clay soil but the water stayed cloudy all the time and since I switched to the cat litter it has been clear. Jenny
BlngsBell, that is alot of goldfish. The cheap kitty litter thing seems to be a good bet with just about any pond plant and better yet the price is right too. The gravel is needed so as to help keep the dirt in the pot/keep your fish from having too much fun.
You guys have answered alot of asked/unasked/didnt have a clue I should have questions. Thanks for the input and please add more anytime/hijack/ have fun with this thread
If I use anything but top soil my fish will trash a plant.
This is what Ive done so far, nice and simple. The EE has got to be repotted before it breaks that pot open all the way, LOL.
Molly Thank you so very much for helping me do this. Im going to get your box out tomorrow, Im getting ready to leave to visit DH new job and Im so afraid of getting lost.
Hugs
Thanks Janet,
I will keep an eye out for it. Those hyacinths look likethey never left the pond. Very healthy. I've heard people asking about blooms. I never even thought about it. The foliage is very interesting. But if they do bloom, I wonder how long it takes. Remember, I only just got those a couple months ago from Louisiana so they are new to me. (We can't get these down here.)
It's looking good!!!
Molly
:^)))
I'm considering putting in a pond and am delighted to see that my clay is good for something. My immediate problem is that the soil is very thin and I have coral about 4 inches down which is going to be really hard to chip out but I think it will be worth it in the end. I brought some beautiful statues from Bali (one being a fountain), so as soon as the rain lets up (monsoon season), I hope I can start digging. Can someone advise me on what depth I should dig to? Appreciate the response
Hi Philomena, I wish I could help you but my little bitty pond is a big storage container on my deck. Someone hopefuly might come in here to help but you might want to consider starting your own thread about it so you can get alot more people to see the question. Its also a question Id be interested in seeing the answer to.
Where are you that you have coral under the soil? I thought that was really interesting since all I have is clay and sand.
Philomena: Happenstance has a pond in California and I believe it is 2 ft. deep. You don't get frost so you wouldn't have to go as deep as we would. Here in Iowa they say 3-4 deep. We do have frost that deep in the ground in the winter.
You may consider an above ground pond, since you have the coral. I have seen some striking ponds made out of the landscape timbers and then the rubber pond liner put inside.
Dravencat and Debby, many thanks for the response. Actually, I live on Guam, tropical weather but for now it's the rainy/typhoon reason, so it's bucketing down. First time I have attempted to do tropical gardening and there is so much to learn. The good thing is that most U.S. house plants grow outside without any babying, the downside to me is that we don't get the selection of plants I would like and the majority of mail order company's won't ship to Guam. Believe it not, they either don't know where it is and assume it's a foreign country. Also, I can't get landscape timber and as the wood is shipped in, the price is prohibitive. So, I do have a few challenges but I'm delighted to be part of Dave's garden as there is a wealth of knowledge here.
Philomena, My knees aren't good anymore...too much fun in my youth LOL....I built my largest pond 18 inches above the ground with cement blocks. I can sit on the edge and play with my fish or work with my pond plants easier that way. I did use local flagstone for coping but the inside of the pond is like any other earth dug pond. Dug to my proper depth which for me was 4.5 feet, plumbed with a bottom drain, covered with underliner and lined with epdm rubber. That pond is close to 6000 gals.
You can paint or stain the blocks any color you please to make them look more like they belong there. I also put planters here and there around the outside of the pond to soften the look.
With your typhoons and rainy season, I would think an above-ground pond would be ideal to keep runoff from entering your pond.
I don't know much about Guam and what is available that is inexpensive to use but you can build a pond out of anything. I have a small one about 300 gal that is made of a fiberglass stock(cattle) tank. I have one made out of stones the size of soccer balls on down to baseball size with a few old bowling balls thrown in for fun. A friend up the road has one made of an old bathtub and she used an old kitchen sink for the waterfall. Surrounded the whole thing with tall ornamental grasses.
Your imagination will be the best help in building your pond. Look around ....you will find something that will work for you.
Start thinking about it now....then start collecting what ever you decide on and when your rainy season lets up....you will be ready to start! Good luck!
Belle
This message was edited Aug 6, 2004 6:23 AM
Hmmm an old tub and sink.... Thats a great idea. I wonder how much complaining DH would do if I put somethin like that up in the back yard.LOL It sounds beautiful and whimsical.
Blngsbell - thanks for all the advice. I never thought of the things you mentioned and what great ideas they are! I also never thought of the run-off which would probably result in me being on 24 hour watch to bail out the excess water which I have neither the time nor inclination to do. But now, I'm excited and will be looking to see what I can scavange. Thanks again and I will post some pictures once complete (maybe a while) - Phil
Dravencat, my friend is a character with a very active imagination. I have pictures of her clever use of old fixtures but I don't know how to put them on line. She added a bog garden in an old toilet both bowl and tank near her "pond"
I have an old bathtub..you know the kind that really has only one finished side....I am eventually going to set it into a berm and add a waterfall of some type for more of my gold fish to go to.
Phil, you are entirely welcome. I can hardly wait to see what you come up with for a pond on Guam!
Browse around construction sites and see if they have left over wood, blocks, broken concrete pieces of reasonable size (you can stack like stones....) . You would be surprised how much is considered garbage at a construction site...and it is treasure for a gardener or water gardener.
I have a stack of old round fence posts that rotted off in the ground. I am using those later for either a retaining wall or another pond of some sort. The broken concrete I have collected is going for a raised edging on a slightly raised flower bed. It looks great and NOT ugly like my son thought it would. LOL Even he admits it it looks great now.
I'll be thinking of other treasure I have piled up around the farm and barns....I am sure something may appeal to your taste if you can find something like it over there.
One of our ponds is a 350 gallon round stock tank. If it holds water then you can make it a pond. Add plants and fish, sit back and enjoy.
We even have a small antique wash tub as a water feature.
Picture of old washtub:
Debby - cute, cute cute! My head is going crazy with ideas. My very last question - I promise. I have a couple of large earthenware pots but the water seeps out of them. Could I use Thompson's deck sealer and if so, would it harm fish?
Debbie...That is cute!!! There were old wash tubs and large cook pots etc in the old barn but my SIL was crazy about those things and at the time I was more interested in antique plant stands and planters. I think I will head off to the farm sales this fall...maybe I can find something that nice. You also used beautiful plants for it. Nice Job!
Philomena: I don't think you could use Thompson's deck sealer on them. I read on the label, that it would kill any plants that it would come in contact with. So it would problably kill the fish.
I know their is something that you could put on the pots, just don't know the name.
Maybe put something on the outside of the pots to make them waterproof.
Why don't you make a new post about this one and see what other answers you can get.
Blingsbell: Thanks, good luck on the hunt.