SPRING IN AND AROUND YOUR POND

Advice on Koi,Ponds and Equipment
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pollygog
Posts: 617
Joined: Mon Jan 19, 2009 6:26 pm

SPRING IN AND AROUND YOUR POND

Post by pollygog »

Now is the time to feed your plants for the coming summer and one of the best ways to feed waterlillies and other aquatics growing in your pond is this method I found from the RHS gardens site at Wisley.
You need some ordinary clay made malleable by kneading to the same consistency you would have for modelling.
It needs to be flattened out into a cake about a half inch thick and approximately four inches by eight inches.On to this you sprinkle a good handful of fish blood and bonemeal and a small handful of ground rockdust.
Fold it over double then roll it out into a cigar shape about a foot or so long and cut into two inch lengths then you roll these into sausages about three inches by a half inch and place them on a tray to dry out.
They should go rock hard after a couple of weeks and then they are ready to use.
To feed the plant with the plant food sausage I use a long hollow metal tube about one inch diameter which I push into compost alongside plant about four to five inches deep.
Its unavoidable damaging some roots but you can ease the tube in in most places with minimum impact.
Pull the plug of compost out and re-insert tube into hole then drop a food sausage down tube and follow it with half of compost plug and push into place with smaller diameter rod (I use a long broom handle down tube on waterlillies in deep water) you need about three or four of the sausages for a large waterlilly in a thirty litre tub
Fed this way the feed gets to plant roots only and not into your pond water.
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