Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Balance of plants in the environment carp affecting lillies

I have two ponds that I am wanting to get a few lillies started on and was just curious as to if the carp population was going to have any affect on the propagation of lillies.

I am curious also about starting lillies.

I put two in my 3 acre pond 2 weekends ago. I have grass carp.

When I returned the next weekend the pots were empty. I presume the carp got them.

I would like to get some lillies established. I did research to select two varieties that would not spread.

Any tips would be appreciated.

Frank

Anyone?

i put mine in pots , don't want Susan's problem. i don't have crap , but the turtles kept digging them up when i first planted them. i used pea gravel in the pot and they just dug them up. i took flat rocks and covered the pot , leaving only the crown exposed , once they got started and rooted in , i removed the rocks. i fertilize them in the spring and cut them completely back in the fall. the fish just lovem

I just put my first lily in the pond. It is in 1' of water and doing fine. I stocked 12 carp last year, but not sure how many survived the LMB and 5' Cats.

Be it carp, turtles or simple loss of soil due to wind and water currents, the new plants need to be protected.

Ken's suggestion is very good advise for protection from loss of soil and possible digging by the carp or turtles. But to ensure the fish and the reptiles do not feed on your new plants I would suggest a cage of galvanized wire simularly used on tomato plants. Make sure your openings are smaller than the fish or turtles. The orange plastic netting found in Hardware stores works well too.

The plants will be able to grow their roots in the pot and the actual leaf and tuber will grow around the net or fence material and make it to the surface.

Early in Summer, water lilies can be quite vulnerable to grazing as fish and critters appetites are on the rise...

As the water lilies break dormancy and start putting up their first lilypads, it is quite possible they can be destroyed if the grazing exceeds the plant growth rate. Young tender lilypads are a favourite munchy in short supply if there are enough critters about.

Even aquatic snails can wipe out all the foliage early in Spring, let alone fish and turtles

If you can keep an eye on the lily positions as they start to wake, you may need to consider placing cages around them to keep the bigger grazers away.

When water lilies have beefed up their foliage to full size and are growing at full speed, they can cope with considerable foliage destruction, with the exception of big turtles which can have the quirky habit of being lazy enough to loaf all day on the one position dinging every single lily stem and bud, before hunger moves them on to the next hapless lily position.

For critters as remorseless as that, a turtle trap is quite useful...

Where you are starting lilies on a pond with very little aquatic foliage, the new plant will be something of a magnet to every critter with a sweet tooth for a tasty salad munchy, if you have a 'nursery' position or a sheltered area where plants can be grown on to a decent size, to plant out in their final positions later in Summer, that can reduce the likely grief of starting choice varieties in a natural setting where grazing is likely

There is a balance on a pond where the ratio of the desirable aquatic plants and the critters that graze on them get along quite well and achieve the mutual advantage of creating a healthy diverse habitat. Along the way a pond will need a nudge when plants grow too strong (thin out the plants) or grazing becomes a threat (thin out the grazers)

Regards, andy

If you got any grass carps then be afraid, be very afraid...

this I hope will the solution to my carp and lack of lilly pads and eel grass