WHAT can I do about it, I can't stand the stinky smell coming from the pots , dirt in bottom and water about 2 inches above the soil, and stench is horrid, rot smell, water lotus were doing well till today , the geese got into the big pot and had a field day with them, I hope they left me some roots so they'll come back.
But What can I do anything I can grow in there to get rid of the stink?
kathy
growing water lotus in pots MAN! the stench is bad!!
Flush water through them. Are they in a pool of water that doesn't move? I have some of my plants sitting in buckets because I haven't figured out where I want to put them and I flush new water into them everyday otherwise it will stink bad-especially on the hot days. They don't smell bad in the pond but thats because the water is constantly moving.
How do you flush water through them? this is a big pot, you mean let some of the old water out as you put in new water?
that sort of thing?
I have some growing in a pot and have always just let the water hose dribble until it overflows for a few minutes. I put a small fountain pump into another one to keep the water agitated. Works for me.
Overflow it. If it still stinks put the hose back in and flow it out. The smell will linger-if you can move the container away from doors and windows that you hope to have open that day . . . Everyday run some water through it and overflow and it will not get rotten smelling.
I do the "run water through it" until they really take off in growth and then the stink seems to disappear. I think the stench is from the algae growing in the water until the Lotus really get lush in growth. With the heat here, the water evaporates, so have to add water almost daily to the pot. I also have the water level about 5 inches above the soil in the pot. But I know what you mean about the smell. It always disappears though once the Lotus take off in growth.
Becky, that's beautiful, what kind of soil do you have in there? and how far down inside is the lotus planted in there, do you have problems with the soil coming loose and leaving the pot when you over flow the water. thanks for the picture, that helps me alot.
kathy
Tadpoles work for me.....I have them in all my water planters. The keep all of the rotting vegetation cleaned aways, so there never is a smell.
they should be hard to come by ha? LOL
If you dont have them naturally in your yard ( I have billions of them) you can order them off ebay....and other places that sell teaching tools for science teachers. Some water garden/pond nursuries sell them too.
I don't have any tadpoles around here, no water for them to grow in . My sis in law has a pond she may have some though but I think the coy fish eat the tadpoles
Koi will eat frog tadpoles, but not toad tadpoles (toadpoles?)
My water gardens that are smaller with goldfish have tadpoles, as well as the water tubbies for my lotus. My big koi pond does not, but then I dont need them there either.
:)
Becky, Beautiful Lotus, I've got my box pond up and running and put 2 of the lotus I bought thru the co-op in it. Not really sure how well they will do. I have a couple of leaves coming up. The water is one and a half foot deep and there is a water feature that moves the water, I keep thinking that Lotus like still water? I guess we will just wait and see what happens. Originally I had expected to put them into a different water feature. It's and old bathtub I had been working on it's very close to being finished just needs the plumbing done but my son has been so busy at work he hasn't had time to come and plumb it for me.
That is a very pretty water feature, HollyAnn!
Holly - I LOVE your water garden! That is exactly what I am planning to build this weekend! It will be bigger and I am going to put a water feature in mine too! How big is yours? Are you using a liner? I would love to know more.
Here is my Tulip Lotus blooming this morning. I haven't gotten blooms from the other Lotus cultivars yet. Will post when I do.
Here is a close-up of the bloom. This Lotus has 4 more buds on it. My other lush Lotus has no buds yet. Not sure why it is taking it's sweet time! :-/
Beautiful photos.
beckygardener is your lotus in a pond or pot of water???? great pictures thanks for sharing
Janet
Janet - I grow them in individual pots. This photo shows the pots at the entrance to one of my garden rooms.
Here is a close-up of one in the pot.
A great website link for growing Lotus in pots:
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/ponds/gal011949278549.html?21902
I have some lotus seeds I started and am about to put them into pots. Did you ever mention what type of soil you put into the pots? I have just plain potting soil and some kitty litter.
Hey, HollyAnnS.. we had the same idea. My mother acutally noticed the watering can one day when we were shopping.. I figured out how best to use it. It does stir up the water more than I want so I used a nail to open the lower holes more so it is a larger stream and less disturbing to the water.
Tammie
I use regular yard soil. The kitty litter works, but the plants like the soil better. And don't forget to use the pond tabs. I push them down into the soil for slower release and to reach the roots.
Tammie - I love your watering trough! What a great idea!!!!
Becky, I started a thread on raised ponds I put in several pictures of my box pond with some info on how we built it.
LhasaLover, That looks great I'd love for you to post a few pics over on raised pond thread. Some where down the line Ric is going to wrap some thin copper line around my shepherds hook with little copper leaves to replace the plastic tubing just adding a more decorative touch to the mechanics.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/870256/
Thanks Holly! Am going to check out your thread! :-)
wonderful pictures here and a lot of unique ideas yall have
new to water gardening and after reading this, how do those of you who grow in a smaller pond/pot keep (and I'm assuming...oh no....lotus don't like running water) mosquitoes from hatching?
Do you put in some table thing that keeps them from hatching???
thanks
Janet
I use something called Mosquito Dunks. Apparently the larvae eat the pieces of the dunk and their stomachs explode or something like that ... killing them of course! LOL! I don't know how good it works, because I still have lots of mosquitos around here!
mosquito dunks work great. I tested some in a pail of water.. let it sit until it tons of mosquito larvae in the water then droped 1/2 of a dunk in the water.. rubbed a few of the crumbles off the edges first into the water.. next day.. all dead larvae. I keep dunks in everything that has standing water.. my rain barrell and other places I store water for my plant. I don't need them in the pond because the fish eat any larvae.
Tammie
Tammy, I love that water container you got there, that's neat looking.
beckygardener Great pot water gardens.....
Well I can't figure out where to put my garden with my huge liner so I choose container water garden, that way I can get them started middle of this coming week, when my first plants arrive. I did order some marginals as I have the water that drains from the next door neighbors yard into a long low spot that runs across the back of our property. I've talked with a ton of people on what to do with it to keep from having a ice pond in the winter and having to cross over it to take my dogs to the back yard.
Here is a picture of it in the summer time when it is dry
Janet
this doesn't show the worst of the yard as to the right in the picture it is much wider then in the above picture.
I want a wonder pond there but everyone saids that it isn't good to have the run off water go into the pond. I wasn't planning on having fish in the pond as I have no room inside to bring them during the winter months up, just going to do plants....
I'll take some other pictures tomorrow when I get home from work and show what it is now. Somewhat wet as the past week we have been having rain everyday. The one bog plant and several iris that I've planted are doing well and the bog plant even has a bloom getting ready to open...
What I would really like to have is a burm(sp) at on end to hold back all the fall and winter rain water from traveling down and past the area in the above picture. Anyone on here with way more experience have any suggestions for me....???
here is another picture this spring, sorry as the picture was taken inside through a misty rain day, so it isn't very good but it will give ya an idea of the standing water.... Have I said how much I hate clay soil, but these ducks just love it....... and I really don't like the ducks coming as my herding dogs just go nuts cause they can't get to them to start moving them around. Although I've been know a time or two to let one out to give the ducks a message to leave now or be herded around the yard until you decide this isn't a fun place to come to anymore....LOL The dogs never hurt them, they just make them move a little faster than maybe they wanted to do...LOL
thanks all
Janet
thanks
Janet
What a mess to have to deal with.. I would put a drain in and then build it up so the water can still go through the area.. just under the ground. Beautiful dogs.. do you show them? ...or compete in herding with them?
tammie
Tammie
we were going to go the route of a drain in to run in the direction that the water travels in, which when you look at the picture it runs from right to left and flows to my neighbor on the other side of us, and then run the drain out to the front, but the twp won't come out and clean the drain ditch in the front out so that the water would have somewhere to go, so I'm not paying 5,000 for drainage when it wouldn't have anywhere to go and just clog up the drain pipe...
In the winter it fills with water and stays that way till late spring first of summer and the dogs hate crossing it as much as I do.
Yes I use to show and do herding, obedience and rally o, but the cost of living up here has made me quite.... Shame to as one of my youngers a male has so much drive that it is such a waste to have him in the back yard and now working some livestock.
Back home I had dairy goats on our small farm and trained with sheep and ducks for the trials.
Loads of fun taking a new dog in to test for instinct. I miss it all, but I have two groups of collies, 1 group that I call the old ladies, my foundation girl, 13, her two daughters and then the kids 2 males 1 female 5 and 4 years of age.
janet
someone mentioned tadpoles, do they eat mosquito larvae like fish do?
mares
No! Unfortunately not! Don't I wish ... I have more tads than I know what to do with!!!
Some of my tadoples do....but not the ones from the toads....