For Water Garden Plants

We recommend planting all plants in pots rather than directly in the bottom of the pool.  This aids in maintenance by making the containers retrievable, thus making plant care easier.  All of the plants require at least 8 to 10 hours of direct sunlight each day for maximum growth. Fertilize freely throughout the growing season.

TROPICAL WATER LILIES – Day and night blooming tropical water lilies should be planted in pots at least 12 inches in diameter.  A 3 to 5 gallon size should suffice for each lily, however a larger pot will produce a larger lily.  Fill the pot half full with a rich garden soil and add 2 to 4 fertilizer tablets, then continue to fill the pot with soil to about 2 inches from the top.  The rhizome should be set upright with the roots buried gently in the soil.  Make sure the tip of the rhizome is not buried.  Next, add an inch or two of gravel or sand in order to prevent the soil from escaping from the container.  Remember to keep the gravel away from the crown of the rhizome.  The plant can now be lowered into the water to a depth of 12 inches.  Tropical lilies cannot tolerate cold temperatures and should not be planted until the water reaches a temperature of at least 70 degrees.  Planting too early can cause dormancy and restrict the potential growth of the plant.  Tropicals bloom from late spring through early fall, depending on the weather.

HARDY WATER LILIES – Hardy lilies are planted in much the same way as tropicals except that Hardies grow horizontally across the container so a wide pot is necessary for planting.  The rhizome should be planted at one edge of the container with the rhizome planted at an angle of about 45 degrees with the crown exposed.  Remember to add fertilizer, use a rich garden soil, and top the soil with an inch or two of gravel or sand.  The plant can be lowered to a depth of 6 inches to begin with, and then lowered to a depth of 12 to 18 inches or deeper as the plant grows.  Hardies should be planted in early spring.  They bloom from June through September depending on the weather, and become dormant during the colder months.  As spring approaches, growth will begin again.

MARGINAL OR BOG PLANTS – marginal plants should be planted in individual containers of approximately 1 to 3 gallon capacity.  Plant as you would the lilies, but when adding fertilizer tablets, use 1 tablet for 1 gallon size pots and 2 tablets for 2 to 3 gallon size pots.  Marginal plants should be lowered to a depth of only 2 to 3 inches.  They grow out of the water and are usually found at the water’s edge.

FLOATING PLANTS - These plants require no planting.  Simply place them in the water and they will grow.  Floating plants desire tropical temperatures and cannot tolerate a frost.

 
OXYGENATING PLANTS – All ponds should have underwater oxygenating plants to aid in maintaining clean and pure water.  These plants help prevent algae growth and provide oxygen.  Oxygenating plants can be planted as you would lilies and marginals.  A one gallon size pot is recommended.  Completely submerge these plants to a depth of at least 12 inches.

     

Plant Dips/Baths for disinfecting and killing snails and algae

Below, we describe three dips, please pay attention to the words of caution also.


Potassium Permanganate Dip

The first dip is milder and safer for the plants. It is a Potassium Permanganate dip. Potassium Permanganate is available at Sear's and Ace Hardware in the area where they sell water softener's and supplies. You can also purchase Potassium Permanganate from chemical supply companies, both local and online.

To prepare a disinfectant dip, use a bucket filled about 1/2 full of water. Add enough Potassium Permanganate to color the water a dark pink. This solution can be saved if covered, and it's a great way to store your nets and tools, soaking the this solution. Back to the dipping. To disinfect and kill most algae a 10-20 minute dip (more like bath) in Potassium Permanganate is very effective. Rinse the plants under tap water thoroughly and add dechlor to your tank...it neutralizes Potassium Permanganate too.

CAUTION: Potassium Permanganate is a strong powerful oxidizer. Treatment should be made outside the tank...it will kill your bio-filter. Like all chemicals you should wear protective eye wear and gloves. Potassium Permanganate will stain clothing, carpeting, skin, etc. Never combine Potassium Permanganate and Formalin, this will result in explosive results and dangerous gases.


Bleach (Chlorine) Dip

This is a more effective and sure-fire way to kill algae. It is also very easy to kill the plant in the process. Regular household bleach (i.e. Clorox) is diluted to a 5% (19 parts water to 1 part bleach) solution in a bucket. It's good to have a second bucket filled with rinse water containing 3X the normal dechlor. Dip large leaf plants for 3 minutes, immediately move to the dechlor rinse water, then rinse under running tap water for a few seconds, if you still smell chlorine, repeat the rinse process again. For small delicate leaf plants and mosses dip for only 2 minutes in the bleach. To be safe, add dechlor to the tank after adding the plants back. Also, if your dipping a lot of plants you may need to add more dechlor to your rinse water.

Remember, the bleach dip is a last resort solution. It can and may kill your plants! Use the same caution handling bleach as recommended for Potassium Permanganate.

Alum Dip

The Alum dip is more for killing microscopic bugs. Use at 1 tablespoon per gallon of water. Soak the plant for at least an hour, longer soaks of 2 to 3 days are needed to kill snails and snail eggs. For snails and snails eggs a 2-3 hour soak in a stronger solution of 3 tablespoons per gallon of water is a better choice. Alum isn't nearly as effective as the prior two for killing algae. Alum is aluminum sulfate and Alum USP can be obtained from a compounding pharmacy or grocery stores. (It's usually with the spices, herbs and pickling supplies).

What...you already have snails?  No problem, don't panic... buy 2 or 3 small puffer loaches and they'll take care of the snails and the eggs in short order.

When injecting CO2 into a planted tank, it is useful to know how much CO2 is actually getting dissolved into the water. Lucky for us, there is a simple way to calculate the CO2 level, based on the pH, and KH of the tank water. There is a fixed relationship between the pH, KH, and CO2 level. As you increase the amount of CO2 that is dissolved into the water, the pH will drop. And if you then stop adding CO2, the pH will climb as that extra CO2 is released from the water.

A little background science:
pH is a measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions [H+] in solution. pH is actually a logarithmic measure (-log[H+]). This formula has two implications. First, it means that the hydrogen ion concentration increases (thus the solution becomes more acidic) as the pH number decreases. Second, each time the pH is reduced by 1, the concentration of hydrogen ions increases by a factor of 10.

In more simple terms, the pH is simply a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution. pH values from 0 to 7 are considered acids, and pH values from 7-14 are considered bases. 7 is neutral, neither an acid nor base.

As we add CO2 to water, it forms carbonic acid, which lowers the pH. The more CO2 that gets dissolved into the water, the lower the pH.

Working to raise the pH of the water is the KH. While KH refers to Carbonate Hardness, what is really measured by a standard KH test kit is really the buffering capacity. In "most" water sources, the buffering is provided by Carbonate. In that case, buffering capacity and KH are the same thing. Assuming a constant amount of CO2, a higher KH, will result in a higher pH.