repotting

[newbieincaliprincess]

So I got my pots, got my osmecoat, and my mosquito granules. Then I went looking for the composted cows manure. Home depot had nothing besides this one bag it is compost but it says it is composted peat moss and cows manure and enhanced but supposedly organic. Is that ok?

[Joyce]

Sounds fine. BUT....Use your common sense. When you open it, if it smells bad... ...don't use it and take it back and get a refund. 

[newbieincaliprincess]

Great! Thanks Joyce! I potted all my plants if you remember in gravel  so now that they are out of shock I'm tearing them all up again  but hpefully it will not throw them all out of wack again and maybe I'll even get a lilly bloom!!!! I am shopping for a digital cam so hopefully I will have pictures soon!

[marla]

I tried rocks once, and aqua-gravel and cat litter, and I went back to dirt......things are much better.

[landey1230]

I used topsoil the last couple of years.  It gets messy with koi.  I'm using clay soil now.  Still messy, but it's free. 

[Rad Michelle]

haha i'm sure you'll find me at my local hardware store making tiny holes in compost bags and taking a big wiff. 

[Julles]

I make holes in bags all the time.  (If there is not one already torn open, that is.)  All that white plastic makes it impossible to see the texture or content of what's inside the bag... I've gotten home with a bag of "garden soil" and found it consisted mostly of sand.  Now I make sure to check it first.

[Joyce]

Very often there are bags already torn open.* I check those to see what it looks and smells like. 
*I guess Julles shops around here too. 

[kitfoxdrvr]

Do like I do, make your own!  I have a huge pile of uncomposted horse manure here, all you have to do is come pick it up!  FREE!!!  Compost it for yourself and you will have something better than you will ever get in a store!  Right, Joyce?

BTW, if you do get some of the store bought stuff home and it stinks, just throw it on your compost pile and let it finish "cooking" (WHAT, YOU DON'T HAVE A COMPOST PILE!!!?).  It will be perfect in just a few months.  Manure is the "green" part for you compost gurus, even though it is brown.  So mix it with more brown (carbon rich) stuff like dried leaves and it will compost more thoroughly and faster.  Good for whatever ails your lilies and lotuses (and the rest of your garden!).

Steve

[newbieincaliprincess]

I'm actually finding that my pond has improved EVERY thing. Ally my flowers are blooming big healthy blooms and my plants seems super happy! Fish poop... who knew I was tossing liquid gold out when I was cleaning that stinky tank all those years ago! I am planning on starting my first compost bin this summer but I want to wrangle my guy into making me one I can turn easy!

[PHYLAL]

I used topsoil the last couple of years.  It gets messy with koi.  I'm using clay soil now.  Still messy, but it's free. 

I use topsoil as well.  I have been topping my pots off with about a half inch or more of granite chips.  They can be bought (in three sizes) from poultry supply stores.  It is used as ‘chicken scratch.’  I do not know if the course chips bother the mouths of the koi, but they have left mine alone now for several years. 

[tenuki]

Do you add anything to your "topsoil"?  I bought the composted cow manure and am going to try it.  I find it hard to get over the thought of putting manure in the pond.  What I bought looks like dirt and does not smell.  However, it has been too cold here in Minnesota to do much of anything in the pond except vacuum the green stuff.

[Bullfrog]

I'm actually finding that my pond has improved EVERY thing. Ally my flowers are blooming big healthy blooms and my plants seems super happy! Fish poop... who knew I was tossing liquid gold out when I was cleaning that stinky tank all those years ago! I am planning on starting my first compost bin this summer but I want to wrangle my guy into making me one I can turn easy!

Now thats an idea, when I finally get it going I'll route one pipe from my bottom drain to the compost pile.