Can you plant up a Koi pond? New Koi Offers.

We have a fantastic selection of Koi available at the moment. The display ponds are stocked up with colorful Koi and now is the perfect time to visit. There is no better way to fully appreciate the beauty of Koi than viewing them up close in the ponds. However, for many this is simply not an option. Koi sales are now taking off online and I have had to learn how to build websites, do Facebook and YouTube.  After hours of toil I figured out how to program our website cart to offer bundled Koi deals. This might not seem like a big deal but not being technically minded it is for me.  So expect to see lots of them appearing over the next few weeks.  This week we have started a special offer on the 14-16in Koi. They are now £210 each or you can buy 3 for just £499. Just look in the 14-16in section and you will see the selection of Koi currently available. We also have our large main pond Koi offer buy 2 get 1 free. You can choose any 3 Koi from the huge selection and the cheapest Koi will be absolutely free! Online sales have proven very popular again this year and we have had numerous orders to process this week.  Due to the incredible heat on Monday and Tuesday we decided it was sensible to postpone this week’s deliveries until Thursday and Friday. I would like to say thank you to everyone for your understanding with this, obviously this was an exceptional circumstance and next week we will be delivering Tuesday to Friday as per normal. In my recent newsletter about oxygen I pointed out the consequences of excessive plant growth in ponds populated with fish. It may have created the impression that I am against planting out ponds but, this is not the case.  Pond plants absorb nitrates, phosphates and other impurities from the water. They can help combat green water problems and reduce the severity or even eliminate the growth of unsightly troublesome blanket weed.  Plants such as lilies and floating lettuce can provide welcome shade for your fish. The shade helps to keep the water cooler, provides security for your fish and prevents strong light penetrating into the pond. Blanket weed and green water algae thrive in ponds with little or no shade.  Plants can attract insect life and provide a source of natural healthy snacks for the fish.  It has often been said that plants can not be incorporated into a Koi pond. Large Koi can uproot delicate marginals and chew through lily pads. They will bury their noses into the pots, dump mouths full of gravel and soil over the bottom of your pond and give you nothing but work. However it certainly is possible to incorporate plants into Koi ponds, you just need the right plants and you need a strategy for keeping them Koi proofed.  In last week’s YouTube video I showed you the water lettuce growing on top of our filter system. I also suggested growing them in floating nursery nets. You allow them to multiply and flip them out the net when they reach sufficient size or numbers. If lilies are suitably dressed, most small to medium Koi will not be a threat. I made a video explaining how to do this a year or so ago and you will find it helpful.

This is a video I made a year or so ago. It has some tips on choosing and potting lilies. Please help support the channel, post a comment, thumbs up the video and subscribe to the channel. Thank you.

Another obstacle with a Koi pond is they can be deep and lack shelves suitable for planting.  You can buy floating plant pontoons, that you tether to the pond bottom or side. The plant’s roots hang down into the water and the foliage grows up and hangs over the side hiding the pontoon.   Floating pontoons are also great DIY projects. You can use 4” thick sheets of polystyrene and chop out holes to drop the plant pots in. Sturdy baskets can be hung from chains or brackets. It is even possible to attach baskets directly to the wall of the pond. With care you can screw through your pond liner and hold it securely with wall plugs and stainless screws. To make it watertight a thick splodge of aquarium silicon will be all that is needed. If the thought of piercing holes in the liner sends shivers down your spine there are many other possibilities. You can buy marginal plant bags that you stuff with soil and plants. They have a large flap on the top which is used to hang over the pond edge. You stack rocks or pebbles on the flap and the plants are supported of the bottom. Plants will grow on waterfalls or stream sections. You might decide to build an entirely separate pond that is fed with water from your main pond and returns over a cascade. If the fish can’t get near them, you’re safe. I am very surprised that more people with Koi ponds have not embraced the aquaponics movement that emerged a few years ago. Aquaponics systems grow food based plants and vegetables without soil, fish provide a source of nutrients and the plants help filter the water for the fish. How about a vertical living wall rich with plants and a cascade back into the pond? There is a multitude of options, limited only by the imagination. Thinking outside the box can lead to some amazing displays. A quick search on YouTube will soon give you lots of ideas about how you could design a system.  Plants, water and fish go together well. The combination can have positive effects on pond keeper too. Lots of research has demonstrated how exposure to nature improves your mood, reduces stress and anger and so on. Now it’s not all perfect, I know. You may have decided that plants are just not right for your pond and I totally understand.  Plants can be a problem when you need to treat your pond for parasites for example. The plants will absorb a percentage of the treatment and they can be a harbor or breeding ground for more parasites. Many plants can start to take over and have to be trimmed back, during winter when plants die back the resulting sediment will have to be processed by the pump and filter system or manually removed.    However I personally believe there are some real benefits if you can incorporate them into your pond in some way or another.  The next time you’re in the shop take a look at the bio falls filter.  It’s a versatile stand alone filter that can be daisy chained onto an existing system. Water drops in at the back and falls to the bottom of the filter it then rises up through media such as Alfagrog or gravel then the water spills back into your pond. On top of the filter there is plenty of room for growing plants and the water cascade serves to re-oxygenate the water. The shop currently has an extensive selection of pond plants. We have various marginals, floating water lettuce oxygenators etc.   The lilies are looking particularly impressive at the moment and are very good value for money at £19 when purchased with your discount cards.  Hope to see you at the shop soon. Thanks for reading the news letter. Lee.

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