for us newbies

[marcuswon]

i am in west central Alabama.when and what do i/we need to start doing to get ready for the winter or end of season?please go slow and be very detail in the what and how.cause i don't know all the terms and language.

[matherfish]

Hi, and welcome. What to do depends on what your temporate zone is, what plants you have, and what kind of pond you have. Please give us some details so that we can know what exactly to tell you, based on your circumstances. We will be glad to help when we have the details. Happy ponding!

[marcuswon]

zone no ideal.pond is 14x25x3.5.dont know what all the plants are.look at my link in the post made with pictures of the pond.

[matherfish]

Sorry, Marcus, but I do not see a post with the pics. Can you give them again? There is a difference, for instance, how you would over winter tropical lilies from hardy lilies, and how you would over winter taros versus Parrot's feather. I do not want to give you the wrong advice.

[trish]

If my research is correct, he's in zone 8 (Brookwood AL) and his pictures are linked here.

http://s157.photobucket.com/albums/t44/MARCUSWON/pond%20pic/

I'm not real familiar with the winters down in the southern states so I'll have to let someone else with experience answer this one. 

[matherfish]

Thanks, Trish.
Marcus, from what I can see, you have some Umbrella, horsetail reed, taro (elephant ears) and water hyacinth. The horsetail reed is a hardy plant and should do fine in the pot over winter. If you are in zone 8, the others should be fine also, but to be on the safe side, you may want to take the pots out of the pond and store them somewhere where the temps will not get below 45*. Someone in zone 8 might have better info, however. The hyacinth (floating plant)  may not live through the winter, but you might try putting it in a five gallon bucket of water and storing it in a place where it will get sun and stay above 50*. Good luck and happy ponding!

[Esther]

Where is Scott, when we need him?

[marcuswon]

Where is Scott, when we need him?

don't know, have not talked to him in days.i added more pic to the link to show some of the other plants i have added.

[PondmaninAL]

I've been busy trying to get moved.

Trish, I believe that he is more in Zone 7b.

Marcus, I can't really tell you how to over-winter your lilies or other plants right now as I'm trying to learn how myself. I can tell you that blue trops will come back in Spring if left in the pond in this area. That is my own personal experience. I plan on collecting the corms this Fall to my trops and keep them inside till Spring. Vickie told me to plant water hyacinths in dirt and keep wet inside during Winter. Also, be sure to give them light.

[Marie Fisher]

I'm in zone 7B (Memphis), and here is how  I do my plants. I harvest all (including the
blue tropical lilie) tropical lilie tubers. Roll in Captan, put in barely damp sand, in baggie,
in bucket with lid (mice love tubers), then store  on north wall inside house where it
is constant approx. 60 degrees. The hardy water lilies and lotuses, I sink to the bottom
in one of the ponds. Parrots feather, anacharis -- I leave in ponds. Can't kill that stuff.
On water  hyacinths, I've tried Vickie's method of storing few overwinter. I do well, until
February, then they die on me. So I don't try any more on hyacinths.   One year I got
hyacinths to live for me, and that was very very mild winter, and I put piece of plastic
over one end of pond; they were under it.

Marie Fisher

[marcuswon]

where do i find the map or what ever show the zones?

[Kittyzee]

Google it....

[Shoestring Ponder]

Marie,

Can you outline what you did that winter you were able to keep Water Hyacinth until they died in Feb? I truly want to try to overwinter some. With DH still unemployed, if there is a way that I can keep a few plants until early Spring that would certainly help the pond. I won't try the Water Lettuce but the Hyacinth I love. Did you have them under a grow light, fertilize them, have an airstone or some sort of water filtration or agitation?  Did you keep them in front of patio doors? Temperature controlled environment?

Shoestring Ponder,
CyndiMO 

[skarol98]

I want to add a question I have a UV filter and is one of those that you put inside the pond and I have my water fountain going that comes out of my pump do I disconect all that for winter and have no filtration?? I'm confuse how I do ??? I'm in NC it usually the colder that will get in here is about 20 degrees and my pond is an above ground made of 4x4's ??

[Vickie]

My experience is I plant water hyicenths in dirt in a pot with no holes in Aug. I keep water in the pots. Then when it turns cold here in Oct I bring inside in the basment under shop lights. I do not feed them all winter I tried it and it killed them. I tried putting the pot in a 100 gallong pond under shop lights it killed them. Then in April I put the pots outside in a heated tub with a window over it. In about  3 weeks I pull them out of dirt and let them float in the heated tub. It cost money I know. Last year I lost all of them. But I have done it winters when it worked. I will try it again hoping it works this winter too.

[Vickie]

potted

[Shoestring Ponder]

  Good idea!! I am open for all sorts of ideas. I wonder since I only have pots with holes, if I put them in something that holds water...that would keep their roots wet. Hmmmmm Gonna have to think on that. Thanks so much for your ideas.

CyndiMO

[Esther]

Right now the Dollar stores are stocking lots of black buckets with nylon rope handles or other type "trick or treating" containers that might work for water tight storage. OH AND    C H E A P !!!!