Pond Boss
Posted By: BLUE72CAMARO Water Lilies from neighbors Koi pond. - 05/20/19 08:50 PM
So long story short one neighbor moved that had a small above ground Koi pond. One of the other neighbors bought the place for his son to build a new house on in several years and wants the Koi pond gone. The new owner called me asking if he could put the Koi in my pond which was a very quick NO with explanation of why I do not want them in my pond. I have found someone that is coming to get them tonight though. The Koi pond also has several hardy water lilies in it and I am considering dividing them up and put them in my pond in containers for the summer and then putting them in the ground this fall. But I am no lilie expert at all but these all seem to be of dwarf or small varieties to me and are currently in containers so I can remove them and work on dividing as time provides.

So the big question is those that know lilies much better than does anything about these throw a red flag? What should I look out for to make sure I am not setting myself up for disaster?

Sorry for the bad pic will get more tonight while I work on catching the fish.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Ug1VtrQFeURHLfAg9
Posted By: roundy Re: Water Lilies from neighbors Koi pond. - 05/20/19 09:16 PM
I don't know @#$% from shinola on pond plants, but I would be careful of unknown plants. A Hitchhiker that comes with the plants can make those "free" plants expensive in time, energy, and dollars quick.
Posted By: Custom 68 Re: Water Lilies from neighbors Koi pond. - 05/22/19 01:50 AM
I would get them. I want some hybrid lilies for my pond. I do understand they need fertilizer to keep blooming.
Dave
Posted By: RAH Re: Water Lilies from neighbors Koi pond. - 05/22/19 10:29 AM
While I have transplanted a lot of lilies from one of my ponds to the next without having fish hitchhike along (from BG/LMB pond to YP/SMB pond), I may have just been lucky. If you can hold them in separate containers of clear water for a few weeks, that might help quarantine any unwanted guests. If you can use the old koi pond after the fish are gone and it is empty, you could refill it on your place and put the lilies back in to see what ends up wiggling around in the water.
So here is where this stands I feel that I will be safe from hitch hikers because of it. On monday night all the Lilies were removed from the koi pond temporarily, quite the ordeal in itself as they were a rooted together mess. After we got them out we pumped the Koi pond down to about an inch or less of water so we could catch all the fish for a guy that came to get them. I then placed the Lillies back in the pond with only the inch or so of water to keep them wet until I can get them over to my place and can clean them up and put them in containers for this summer in my pond. Since monday night I believe we have had 3" of rain so they should be in 4-5 of water now.

My plan going forward is to bring them to the house and take them out of there pots and try and seperate plants as best I can, clean them off with a hose, and repot them in small containers for the summer and if all goes well put them in the pond dirt this fall.
Posted By: RAH Re: Water Lilies from neighbors Koi pond. - 05/22/19 06:47 PM
Not sure if Koi lay eggs on lily roots or not?
Did the koi pond have duck weed or watermeal in it? If so, quarantine it for many weeks and make your decision if you want the risk. Plants from nurseries, especially those that cater to Koi ponds, tend to have the duckweed/watermeal pests in them. That can be some nasty stuff to a large pond owner. Koi pond owners think it's nice as it only takes a few minutes to keep it at bay...those that have it in there fisheries talk much differently about it.
Posted By: RAH Re: Water Lilies from neighbors Koi pond. - 05/22/19 08:08 PM
Have seen a little bit of both weeds but they simply don't like my ponds or wetlands. I am not complaining. We do get a bunch of bladderwort in a couple wetlands on occasion, which is fine with me.
Posted By: Custom 68 Re: Water Lilies from neighbors Koi pond. - 05/23/19 01:25 PM
These are all good suggestions. good luck with them.
Dave
Well i transplanted 7 last night, there was no watermeal or duck weed in the pond they come from that I saw and the small peices I used to transplant were thouroughly washed with a garden hose before I put them in the new pots. Hoping to get another 5 or so tonight possibly and calling it done. Then its just a matter of setting back and see what I get. Supposedly 5 or 6 different colors in there, I can tell that there were quite a difference in stem thickness from one plant to another.

On a side note did you know chipmunks apparently like water lilies? I had a few pieces that had gotten broken off laying on the concrete in my driveway after I got done last night and forgot to clean it up. This morning when I let me dog out there were two chipmunks setting there chowing down on them.
Posted By: Custom 68 Re: Water Lilies from neighbors Koi pond. - 05/23/19 08:32 PM
I am sure they will look great soon. They will grow fast. They do recommend adding fertilizer to them about every month to keep them blooming. I don't know much about them but you may want to look a bit more into that.
I mixed in some fertilizer in the dirt I used when potting them which is actually dirt I took out of my pond when I redid the north end of it several years back. crazy

I will have to check into how to keep fertilizing them though, I am guessing they must make fertilizer stakes or something I can push in the dirt with them???
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