Summertime is a great time to add aquatic plants to your water
garden. We have a huge variety of water plants including water lilies, lotuses,
marginal and bog plants and come with complete planting instructions. Typically
water or aquatic plants need to be fertilized while they are in your pond so they will
grow, thrive and blossom. We have a list of fertilizers that you can use for your
plants including PondTabbs
plant fertilizer. For bog and marginal plants you can place 2 tablets in each pot by
sticking your finger in the soil to create a small hole and pushing the tablet into the
soil and cover them back up. For water lilies you should put approx. 3 or 4 tablets
into the pot in the same manner. During the summer, water plants will need to be
fertilized about every 2-3 weeks especially in hot water. The PondTabbs are safe to
use with fish in your pond as well, so there is no need to worry about that. Trim
any dead leaves or stems off as needed because they just add extra toxic chemicals to the
water as they decompose and your pond will look a lot nicer as well.
Also during the summer you will be challenged with
combating algae. This is very common and most ponds will have algae to some degree,
it's to what degree that causes the concern. Most ponds, I find do not have adequate
filtration systems and proper water circulation which greatly increases and sometimes
actually causes the algae problems. If your filter is not the correct size for your
pond, then you will have problems with algae and high ammonia levels if you have fish.
Noone ever likes to do math and calculate the filter size they need, but you must
if you want to have a clean pond. We have helpful information in our website about fish quantity and how many you
can safely have in your pond. If you have more fish than what is recommended and
don't increase your filtering system, then you will have a constant battle with algae and
ammonia. You will be adding chemicals in it all the time to try to rid the algae and
lower the ammonia, but you won't be getting at the root of the problem. You have to
increase the filtration system and make sure the water circulation is optimal. If
you have shallow areas in the pond where the water isn't circulating, you will collect
algae there. The amount of sunlight also affects algae growth. You need at
least 4-6 hours of sunlight for aquatic plants to grow but at the same time you provide
sunlight for the algae to grow, too. This can be a constant battle but something you
have to deal with if you want beautiful water plants in your pond. Again, increase
your filtration system to accommodate the intense sunlight. We have several chemicals that help to
eliminate or reduce algae. Most are "sunblockers" that dye your pond's
water to a blue or deep teal color and "blocks" out the sun rays to the algae
that needs sunlight to grow. Unfortunately, if you have aquatic plants, it also
eliminates sunlight to your precious aquatic plants and they can lose vigor and possibly
die. These blockers are recommended for ponds without aquatic plants and must be
carefully measured with ponds that have fish. Check out the description on each
product and see if it will suit your needs in your pond.
Fortunately, there is a way to help eliminate algae
naturally and organically by using organically grown barley straw. Barley straw
has been used for hundreds of years in combating algae. It is natural, safe and
effective but it won't eliminate the need to have a larger filter and increased water
circulation, if you need it. Barley straw can help reduce string algae that is
usually evident in late summer and the "pea green soup" algae that is blooming
throughout the warm months. It has also been reported that the barley straw also
helps increase vigor in aquatic plants. I personally don't know about that, but I am
sure that it won't harm other aquatic plants. It also helps to increase the biological
filtration system in your pond, which in turn reduces toxic ammonia levels. We sell
barley straw bales in convenient 1/2 lb. bales. To find out more about barley straw
and how it works, click here.
I may add a note about having small ponds and
evaporation. If you have a small pond and it's in the heat of the summer, you may
notice your pond level dropping every day. Once you've determined that it is not a
leak, but evaporation, you will have to top your pond off with additional water.
If you have fish, there are a couple of ways you can effectively add the tap water
without harming them. One way is to spray the tap water up in the air and let the
chlorine in the tap water "flash off" before the water enters the pond.
What this means is that tap water, depending on where you live contains chlorine and
chloramine. By having a distance from the end of the hose to the pond water and
spraying the water, it helps to let the chlorine evaporate before it ever gets to the
pond. If you're adding a lot of water to the pond and have fish, you may need to add
Ammo Lock 2
which instantly neutralizes chlorine and chloramine. If you are continually adding
more water to your pond, the tap water may also affect the aquatic plants you have in it.
Aquatic plants don't like water with chlorine and chloramine in it. If you
find you have a problem with your plants, are fertilizing them like you should, and are
constantly filling your pond you may have to have a holding tank of tap water that has sat
for a few days before adding the water to the pond. By allowing the water to sit for
a few days, it helps to "burn off" the chlorine that is in the tap water.
An important thing to note about constantly adding tap water to your pond, is that every
time you add fresh tap water to your pond, the chlorine that is in it kills the beneficial
bacteria that is in your biological filter. As you know, you have the biological
filter to filter out toxic ammonia from the pond so if you keep killing the beneficial
bacteria by adding tap water, you will most likely have problems with ammonia levels
rising if you have fish. Check the ammonia levels and other chemicals with our Master Pond Test
Kit which I find to be very accurate. You can add beneficial
bacteria to your pond as well so you don't lose the effectiveness of your biological
filter. If this all seems like a never ending battle, check out your water
circulation sources (waterfalls, fountains) and you may have to cut back on them but still
provide oxygenation for your fish. If you do find out that you have a leak
that is causing the problem, we sell repair kits, too that will repair
your pond liner. It's similar to repairing a bicycle tube, but a bit more involved.
We also provide you with instructions on how to properly repair a tear. These
repair kits or splice kits are the same materials used to join 2 or more liners together
should you decide to have a larger pond later or add another pond to your existing pond.
You can check out that information, here.
Well, I think that's about it with summer care for
your pond. I hope you find this information helpful. |
