Author Topic: Was gonna take out the lotus pond but.... look at this....bog/lotus questions... (Read 993 times)

tinkster · « **on:** March 22, 2008, 07:35:18 AM »

As some of you know I was gonna get rid of my lotus pond and scale down on lotus and replace with lilies. Last year I had the lotus johns sent me in the pond and it was a monster.. leaves 2 ft across, it came out quick, had two blooms then appeared to totally die by middle of june. I thought myabe the parrots feather smoothered it out.

Yesterday when I was down in this pit of mud trying to dig out all the manure so I could plant lilies, I hear a snap and quess what is not by a long shot dead. The monster lotus that I so loved. I snapped quiet a few off before it occured to me what I was doing but think there might be more in there.

My questions are everyone talked about round pots and lotus trapping themselves.. well I made a oblong type pond but what has happened is the sides of the bog have ??? like indents in them where the liner has caved from weight of rocks or something so the sides arent smooth.. I wonder now if they got trapped underneath those little ridges, they arent really all that big. Now of course since this lotus is alive I will not be getting rid of that lotus pond but am wondering if I should dig it back out and make sure all sides are smoothed out. what a pain I have built rocks ont he berm

tinkster

bunny56lbc · « **Reply #1 on:** March 22, 2008, 06:42:18 PM »

DANG ! That is is one BIG tuber.....

. Think it was trying to become a "wild thing" ?...

...

bonnie

Ky Kim · « **Reply #2 on:** March 22, 2008, 08:40:26 PM »

What a pleasant surprise. Hope its grows great for you this year.

I haven't uncovered mine yet. Guess I better get it done this week and see what's going on with them. I'm not worried about the ones I have in the pond. Its the ones in the pots that I burried in the ground. I covered them with plywood, and put bags of leaves on top. One of those trial and error things. We really didn't have that hard of a winter, so I feel like its going to be alright.

Kim

Julles · « **Reply #3 on:** March 23, 2008, 08:45:34 AM »

For one thing, it's a shame you have to get rid of something you love so much, but I can understand that the lotus just take over, and you need to make the decision of what is more important - lilies or lotus.

Second, it could well be that some root got into the nooks and crannies of the liner, and survived that way.

But redoing a liner is a big deal. I just enlarged my pond this week, and THOUGHT we had the bottom all smooth and flat. Well, walking around in there the next day, I discovered a bump about the size of my fist, smack in the middle of the bottom, and the water pressure has pressed the liner tight around it, and I don't know what it is, but I worry if it's something sharp like a rock, it may wear a hole in the liner.

But it's way too much of a job to get it out - drain 1000 gallons, remove the flagstone, displace 100 lbs of liner to reach the object, then try to refit the liner back into place. Way too much work.

I say you just leave the pond as it is, and be diligent about hunting down any future lotus.

Joyce · « **Reply #4 on:** March 23, 2008, 10:27:26 AM »

I would leave the lotus bog as is and build a new lily pond.

By the way, my lotus in the mud pond seem to be cannaballistic.
Now that they have run outta room, the older tubers rot away,
and the new tubers grow over and through the old tubers, and absorb the rotting older tubers.
I thought I'd have to do a huge pond cleanup and thinning,
but now that I see this cannabalism going on, I won't have to!

The most you will have to do is possibly add an inch of nice compost across the top very year with some Osmocote mixed in for good measure.
When your lotus get crowded, they'll start eating each other like in my mud pond.

tinkster · « **Reply #5 on:** March 23, 2008, 11:25:15 AM »

I am glad to know they are gonna become cannabalistic... I thought pots where bad.. they are wonderful compared to ponds full of the crap. I still have one more pond and 3 pots left that I was gonna get rid of but not making much headway.. seems something always comes up. I realllly just cannot build another pond! I have to many already

tinkster

landey1230 · « **Reply #6 on:** March 23, 2008, 03:42:54 PM »

Those are some huge tubers. Looks like you have a ton of work to do, Tinkster. I would love to try a mud pond, but it gets too hot here. I'd be afraid of it drying out. I have to look into building a bog. I've seen it here somewhere. I'll search.