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Journal Wild Pond gone Wilder 1 Year Later!

dw1305 said:
The tall one growing by the decking is "Figwort", it could be either Scrophularia nodosa or S. auriculata. Scophularia auriculata (Water Figwort) has winged stems, and that would be my guess. When it flowers you will be amazed by how many wasps it attracts.

The plant with the filigree leaves and little pink flower, at the back is Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum).
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Cheers Darrell,

I love it when the experts come and tell you the answers to what the plants are. :meh:

The lillies are right at the front in the shallow section which gets the most sunlight on the whole pond. The lilly pads are only just coming out now.

Thanks,

Steve
 
martin-green said:
May I suggest you keep the filters a pond balancing rarely works.
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Hi Martin,

You certainly may suggest I keep the filters. Care to explain why in a bit more detail. I have got two Oase 10,000 litre pumps pumping water 24/7 through two 10,000 litre Pond One Filters, I am beginning to wonder how much this is costing me in electricity every year. Woule it be detrimental if I reduced it down to one pump and one filter do you think?

Cheers,

Steve
 
rebel said:
Lovely pond indeed.
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Thanks rebel,

The water is kept crystal clear. I remember taking a water sample to Wirral Water World for some reason. There was a woman in front of me with a sample from her pond, it was like pea soup. When she saw the sample I had she swore it was impossible to keep pond water that clean and thought I had brought a sample of my tap water in:lol: How good is that.

Steve
 
Exactly which model of pumps and filters do you have (I note you said Oase, but which ones)
 
REDSTEVEO said:
The lillies are right at the front in the shallow section which gets the most sunlight on the whole pond. The lilly pads are only just coming out now.
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If you have the opportunity try to find some lillies in the wild. I live near a creek valey, there is a rather large swampy floodplain which contains a few shallow stagnant pools. Only fed with fresh water few times a year after a heavy rain when the creek floods it.. One of my neighbours threw in a lilly about a year ago, the first summer i didn't do much, but this year at this time it is already over a square metre and flowering. But that is in nature, stagnant, full sun, unrestricted root development in muddy soil.

And in my garden i have the same as you have, only a few floaters.. What i experience every year with my lillies and if i sum up the differences in invironment, not stagnant, restricted root development and in my case much less organic soil.. These factors keep lillie growth at bay especialy flow has the most impact. This i experienced with the lily in my high tech aquarium, it grew 3 new floaters a week when i restricted the flow for over 50%. This one has unrestricted root development, not crancked up in a pot i mean with that. Lately i had to up the flow again and i immediately noticed the lily growing slower and smaller. Now i get maybe 1 small floater every 10 days. In my new low tech aquarium running since november now also has a lily, planted a small runner, it still is gathering energy and working on her tuber in th elast 6 month it only grew 5 small submersed leaves and not yet any floater at all. A newly planted repotted young lily or cutting might need a year or more to grow to it's full pottential.. As said if it is planted in an flowing invironment it might take even longer to do that... It is difficult to determine how the flow runs through your pond, but always try to plant the lily in the corners with the least. :)
 
Hi all,
REDSTEVEO said:
tell you the answers to what the plants are.
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UK are natives are easy, because there aren't many of them, they are scientifically well described, and <"ID books"> are widely available.

Aquarium plants are a lot more difficult to name, even if you know where they come from (and often we don't). I'm very unusual these days in that I've got a <"degree in Botany">, and that sometimes allows me to say what something isn't (particularly if it has flowered), but it doesn't really help very much with saying what something is.

<"Hot spots for plant biodiversity"> like "Tropical East Andes" or "Northern Borneo" will have thousands of species present, many of them still scientifically undescribed.

cheers Darrel
 
zozo said:
As said if it is planted in an flowing invironment it might take even longer to do that... It is difficult to determine how the flow runs through your pond, but always try to plant the lily in the corners with the least.
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Hi zozo,

Last year I removed all my plants from the containers and planted them in Aqua Soil which was put in at around two feet deep. The flow is directional from the two outlets on the filters so that the water is circulated anti clockwise around the pond just below the surface. But there is very little water movement if any where the lillies are planted.

Cheers,

Steve
 
REDSTEVEO said:
Hi zozo,

Last year I removed all my plants from the containers and planted them in Aqua Soil which was put in at around two feet deep. The flow is directional from the two outlets on the filters so that the water is circulated anti clockwise around the pond just below the surface. But there is very little water movement if any where the lillies are planted.

Cheers,

Steve
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Maybe you're starving it a bit, try some clay fert tabs near it's roots. They are realy hungry plants, if starved the frow very small and lean.. I've tried it with a zone 4 lily which is rather big and should be planted at 80cm or deeper. I'm growing it in zone 1 at 30cm. I starved it for 2 seasons to make it grow smaller it worked but i never got it to flower and i'm having for about 5 years now. :) And lilies always need time to establish depending on which cultivar you have, some are stronger and faster then others. once they are fully established they are pretty strong and can grow wild.

I'm growing a few lilies this summer on different substrates, one in the tank at 25°C on lava with clay roottabs, but has a lot of flow and grows slowly but healthy. 1 outside in the pond on Akadama and roottabs and this one didn't do much yet, one on inert pond substrate also doesn't do much and the other in a wooded tub on organic clay/peat soil topped with river pebbles to prevent ti from clouding. This is the only growing the fastest with some floaters at the time.

The one i'm growing in my high tech tank gets roottabs, watercolumn ferts and co2 from above and bellow and this one grows rather slow because of the turnover in the tank. Only flowered once when the flow was reduced 50% of what i have now. They are realy very sensitive, very picky about what they grow in.

I haven't tried yet but i'm planning to make my own clay fert balls with mixed with peat. I think that will do the trick.. They prefer acidic soil, so i guess it'l help at least a bit.. :)
 
REDSTEVEO said:
I have got two Oase 10,000 litre pumps pumping water 24/7 through two 10,000 litre Pond One Filters, I am beginning to wonder how much this is costing me in electricity every year. Woule it be detrimental if I reduced it down to one pump and one filter do you think?
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Sorry for the very late reply.:shifty:

If your total pond volume is as you say around 3,000L then yes one pump and filter will be ok, provided you filter can cope with the flow rate. (You showed a picture but no info)
I would suggest you keep the other pump and filter in case the other one fails.

As for how much does it cost to run............
Your pump uses 100w
Average electricity price is 10p/ kwh
= £87 appox / pump

NOT including the electricity use of the UV,standing charge etc
 
Just read your journal mate. I like the wild pond idea. But with my koi I cannot do this. But love the look of yours. Nice one mate.
 
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