Plants for Koi Pond– Thalia Geniculata

 

I have always wanted to get this plant for my Koi pond but somehow could not find it for sale in the nurseries in my neighbourhood. I saw this plant at the biodiversity pond in a local education institution, Raffles Junior College. This plant is also known as the Alligator Flag – “derived from the fact that the plant can be used to alert one to the presence of an alligator as it swims past this aquatic plant and rustle the leaves.”  - so says the sign posted at the biodiversity pond.

This is quite a tall plant, with broad leaves like those of the heliconia and purple flowers hanging down like mini-bells from a curved stalk. This would be a good plant to grow in pots by the edge of a large pond. Being tall, it can form the backdrop of a pond and provide some shade for the Koi.

Thalia Geniculata at biodiversity pond in Raffles Junior College

A few weeks later, I chance upon this plant again when I visited a friend who had them growing out of a large water filled earthen pot in his roof garden.  He told me he bought them from a local nursery. So it is available locally but have to know where to look!

I will consider getting this plant for a water garden or Koi pond, when grown in pots around the pond’s edge. It can even be displayed as a specimen plant in the middle of a large pond.

Water plants co-existing with large fishes in a Koi pond

 

Many have wondered if it is possible for aquatic plants to co-exist with large Koi. I saw a good example of how water plants can co-exist with large Koi when I visited Raffles Junior College recently. There is a large, beautifully constructed and well-maintained biodiversity pond located within the campus. There are large carps, catfishes in the well planted pond. Here are some photos.

Biodiversity pond at the Raffles Junior College

Boardwalk to allow you to get up close to the plants.

Underwater fencing to keep the large Koi out from the plant area

Large Koi will naturally treat any plants in the pond as a food source. To protect the plants, some barriers would be needed. In this case, a steel fencing submerged in the water provides the barrier but it is not too attractive. Would be better to coat this steel mesh with black paint.

Nettings to protect the roots of the floating water lettuce

Floating plants, like the water lettuce would not survived if their dedicate root systems are left unprotected. In this case, black plastic mesh is used to provide all-round defence from the fishes.

The pond also features solar-power lights, which lines the boardwalk. Notice the red dragonfly resting on it?	Venturi system to aerate the pond – same as the system I used in my 3 ponds. This is in addition to the water fall
Water lilies in submerged pots

Water Lily blooming – Spring is in the air!

 

Most people would tell you it is summer all year round in Singapore.  Well, not exactly true when it comes to the water lilies in my house.

I noticed that my water lilies would not bloom during the “winter” months of November to February even though it is hot and sunny in Singapore all year round. My lily pond is located right next to my house, on the North Eastern side. So, during this time of year, the hours of direct sun is probably lesser as the house would shade the pond a little bit more.

My water lilies started to bloom again last month. I noticed the direction of the sun has shifted a bit because Singapore is slightly north of the equator and the pond is getting a bit more direct sun each day. Hence the trigger for the plant to flower.

I really like this large flower. As one fades, another would emerged from the water to replace it.

So, there is still signs of spring in Singapore too.

Fertiliser for Water Lilies

My water lilies have stopped flowering in during the rainy monsoon season from October to January. Now the weather is turning warmer, with more days of sunny skies. These are ideal conditions for my water lilies to bloom as water lilies needs many hours of direct sunlight to thrive. In fact, one pot is starting to flower almost daily again.

Now is the time to feed the plants with fertiliser and help in growing new leaves and also for them to flower more. I am using the fertilisers in tablet form and exported from Thailand, where plentiful of lotus and water lilies grows. These tablets are used for planting Lotus (according to the packaging) but can be used for water lilies as well.

I push them into the soil, about 2 inches finger deep, using my finger. One to two tablets per pot should suffice. Repeat this every month, until the monsoon seasons starts again and the plant stops flowering due to less sunlight.

I used to buy the fertiliser tablets from a plant nursery near my house but for some strange reason, the owner refuse  to sell them when I tried to buy them last year. “They are now not for sale,  for my own use only”, so he says. I was looking around for other sources locally.  I finally manage to get someone I know, who is a landscape designer  and a Thai national, to buy them direct from Thailand.  

Those babies are Koi

My koi actually did spawn in my lilies pond.  The parents are a Shiro Utsuri  (White koi with black markings) and a Platinum Ogon (Plain, metallic white colour koi). I have since removed them from my lily pond as it is rather overcrowded now.

There are 4 surviving baby koi, now measuring about 10 cm. There is a Shiro Muji (totally white, non metallic), a Gin-Rin orange Ogon (metallic orange colour Koi), Gin-Rin Platinum Ogon (metallic white colour) and a Platinum Ogon. Gin-Rin koi has some scales on the back that are shiny, like diamonds glittering in the sun. Here are some photos of the young koi among the comets goldfishes.

 

The comets are multiplying like crazy. There must be several generations of colourful comets in my lily pond now.  The original parents are just 4 plain-coloured, pink comets. It is amazing how the dormant colour genes in the parents show up in the off-springs. 

Water Lilies

  With the strong sunlight and regular fertilising, my lilies are thriving and blooming.  Lilies spread out in a circular fashion from their rooting point or pot. My current lily pond which measures 4m x 1.2m is considered too small and small leaves are actually sticking out from the sides of the pond

I have two varieties in my pond.

This is a large flower, each petal measuring about 60 cm. It opens up nicely under strong sunlight and closes up when it gets shady or cloudy.

This variety flowers almost non-stop. Buds are constantly pushing up from under the water. You get one flower per day. The flower is about half the size of the other variety but the colours are more vivid.

Good start in the Year of the Tiger

The weather was HOT HOT HOT in the last two weeks leading to the Lunar New Year in Singapore. In preparation for the new year, I did my usual pond filter maintenance, trim and re-potted some young water lilies and added fertilisers too.

My Koi looks great, the pond water is clear and my water lilies are blooming again! All ready for the festive occasion.

In the tradition of the Lunar New Year, the last weekend has been busy with the visits to relatives and vice versa. One good thing about having a Koi pond in the house is that my young nephews and nieces are actually looking forward to visiting Uncle Jeff so that they can feed his fishes.

A Koi pond or water in the house is good for feng shui and brings luck to the occupiers. Good Feng Shui or not, I made some money on the Gin Rummy table as well. Good start in the Year of the Tiger.

Water Lilies stopped flowering

My water lilies have stopped flowering since December. I used to get a bloom every day. I know water lilies need strong sunlight and constant fertilising to produce flowers.

I think a shift in position of the sun in the “winter” months over Singapore, coupled with the rainy North-East monsoon season may have caused this. Although Singapore is near the equator, it is still slightly north of it and the position of the sun will shifts slightly with the 4 seasons. I notice that shadows of my house are now cast on my lily pond in the late morning and afternoon. I used to get about 6 hours of direct sun in the “summer” months, but now my lilies are getting at most 3 hours. That is when there is no rain. It has been a wet November and December.

Looks like my water lilies need a rest now. Hopefully, things will goes back to normal after February and I will be able to get them to flower daily again.

Plants for Koi Pond – Alocasia X Amazonica

As a marginal plant, the Alocasia X Amazonica can be grown in half-submerged pots at the sides of your pond or in a shallow part of your pond. I like the large, attractive and waxy looking leaves with clear, lighter colour veins and interesting leave shape. The leaves are not as large as the Elephant Ears (Alocasia Macrorrhiza) can be grown together or placed side by side with other marginal plants as shown in picture above.

Plants from the Alocasia family makes good specimen plants to make the pond more interesting. I also have another specimen of Alocasia  growing in my lily pond.

It looks like the Alocasia Macrorrhiza but the leaves has dark reddish veins.

Plants for Koi pond – Mexican Sword plant

The Sword plant (Echinodorus palaefolius) grows easily in pots half-submerged in the pond. It can be grown under strong sunlight and will produce white flowers on a long stock. It propagates easily. Young shoots will appear  (left photo) after the flowers wilted. These can be cut and replanted. Else, they will continue to grow, droop and be submerged under the water.

This plant can also be grown in an aquarium. Grown underwater, the leaves are longer and sharper in shape. It will form a beautiful specimen plant or used as background plant in a planted fish tank. As an aquarium keeper many years ago, I had this plant as part of my underwater landscaping. I did not realised, until recently, that they are of the same plant species!

My baby water lilies are doing well!

My baby water lilies are growing well. As mentioned in my previous post, these are grown from seeds that germinated at the bottom of my pond.

The before and after pictures are shown below.

 

I am looking forward to see them flowering. Currently, only my older water lily plant is flowering consistently. One bloom per day, non stop!

Baby water lily plants grown from seeds

Numerous baby water lilies plants are growing at the bottom of my garden pond. They must have germinated from seeds released by the flowers. I have two small Koi in my garden pond and it is wonder that these are not destroyed by them.

Notice how small they are when placed on a lily pad. I will plant them into a pot and propagate them for my other pond.

Plants for Koi Pond – Water Lily

I have attempted to grow water lilies in my Koi pond since the early days in my first pond. In my first pond, I placed my water lilies in the shallow garden pond that overflows into the main Koi pond. That way, my large Koi will not be able to get to the leaves. Unfortunately, my shallow garden pond was near the water fall and I found that the constant flow of water is not good for the plant. After some time, the plant just deteriorated and died. I found that that the water lily is best grown in warm, still water and with plenty of sunlight.

   Pictures of my water lily in my first pond. Other aquatic plants in the picture includes the Umbrella Plant, floating water lettuce and penny wort.

In my third pond, I have better results with the water lilies. Again, I grow them in pots placed in a separate pond with only a few small Koi in it. This garden pond is physically separated from the main Koi pond with the larger Koi but share the same biological filter system. Water flow into the garden pond from the filter return pump is adjusted to be slow enough to maintain water circulation but not fast enough to disturb the floating leaves of the water lilies. Besides maintaining a slow water flow, I also found that regular fertilising and plenty of sunlight helps to maintain the blooming and plant growth.  2 to 3 Fertiliser tablets are pushed into the soil in each pot every month.

    Pictures of the water lilies blooming in my third pond. As the old flower fades away under the water, a new flower head will appear to replace it.

Plants for Koi Pond – Umbrella Plant

The Umbrella Plant (Cyperus Alternifolius) is a rush-like aquatic plant with foliage arranged on stems like the ribs of an umbrella. It originates from Madagascar and is very easy to grow under the hot, sunny climate of South East Asia. Unlike the small dwarf papyrus, this plant can grow up to 5 feet or more in height. As this is a large plant, grow this plant in a large pot that can be fully submerged or half submerged in the pond.

The photo shows the umbrella plant growing well in my third pond.

As new leaves appear, the older, longer leaves will tend to droop. I cut the older leaves away to keep the plant growth in check. The roots may grow out from under the pot and spread freely in the water. The plant’s roots actually split the clay pot it was grown in after a few years of growth in my first pond. When this happened, I threw away most of the old growth and kept the younger plants after dividing them from the massive root ball using a knife. The new young plants are replanted in a new pots with pea gravel or soil and they grow easily.

Plants for Koi Pond – Dwarf Papyrus (Cyperus Haspen)

The Dwarf Papyrus (Cyperus Haspen) plant is not one of my favourites although I have this growing out of a pot half submerged in my Koi pond. The reasons is that the matured stems will droop down into the water as young plants grow out the cluster of small flower head at the top of stem. Therefore it requires regular trimming to remove the old stems and keep the plant looking good in the pond. I think it will look good if grown densely at the sides of a pond, rather than isolated in pots like in my pond.

Plants for Koi pond - Lotus

The lotus plant can be grown in pots placed in the shallow part of a Koi pond. Protect the top of the pots with large stones to prevent the large Koi from digging on the soil and messing up the water. The plant has two types of leaves. Some that grows above the water surface (as shown in picture below) and some that floats on the water surface. The plant produces pink flowers on a long stock above the water .

 

The above picture was taken in Ocean Park, Hong Kong on a recent trip there.

Besides the Koi pond, the park has an interesting section showing many varieties of Chinese goldfishes and describes how the modern colourful goldfish varieties originated as a natural mutation of the Crucian Carp (Carassius Carassius), which was originally a drab olive colour.  A natural mutation resulted in some orange-red colour goldfish. This led to selective breeding for over 1000 years to produce the various varieties of modern goldfishes.

Plants for Koi Pond – Elephant Ears (Alocasia Macrorrhiza)

  

The Elephant Ears or Taro (Alocasia Macrorrhiza) is another common plant found in South East Asia. This is a relative large plant with large leaves that grows well in a large pot placed in the shallow part of a Koi pond, with the pot half or almost fully submerged.  It propagates through small suckers that grows at the side of the large plant. The picture above shows a relatively young plant. A mature plant can grow to a height of 5 feet or more and have leaves that is more than a few feet in length. It will make a nice specimen or feature plant in the garden or in your Koi pond.

I surround the Elephant Ears with the Creeping Daisy (Wedelia Trilobata) to hid the large pot and soften the overall look. The Creeping Daisy has small yellow flowers and is easily grown by stem cuttings. Just cut and stick them into the wet soil in the pot.  It roots easily and further cuttings can then be made and inserted into the pot again. In no time, you have a nice covering of Creeping Daisy with yellow flowers around the large leaves of the Elephant Ears.

  Close up of the Creeping Daisy

As the pot sit in my pond, I do not add any fertilisers to the soil. I guess the plants will just absorb the  nutrients and nitrates from the pond water.

Plants for Koi Pond - Pandan

The fragrant pandan plant (pandanus amaryllifolius) is commonly found in South East Asia and is a good plant to grow in your Koi pond. It can be grown in soil or in water (hydroponics), hence making it suitable for a Koi pond. The leaves give off a nice fragrance and is used widely in South East Asian cooking and baking as a flavouring. Examples are the pandan cakes and other sweet deserts, Hainanese chicken rice and Thai pandan chicken (leaves are used to wrap the chicken meat and fry together).

The pandan plant grows easily in my Koi pond, absorbing the nitrates from the water. The leaves are regularly harvested and given away to friends and relatives. They have told me that the leaves from my pond are much more fragrant than those they bought from the local markets or supermarkets, which I believe are grown in soil.

Another use of its leaves would be as a…. cockroach repellent! Some taxicab drivers in Singapore like to place a bundle of pandan leaves in their taxicab to get rid of roaches and also to provide a nice aroma in the cab. Next time you bought a taxi in Singapore, look out for the bundle of pandan leaves at the back of the cab and ask the driver about it.

Koi Pond or a Water Garden, Why Not Have Both?

Most Koi keepers will tell you that Koi and water plants do not go well together. There is some truth in it as Koi eats plants. Some serious Koi lovers will not include any plants in their Koi pond. They would keep their pond layout simple. Their main or only focus is on their expensive, show-grade Koi and they would not want sunken plant pots that the Koi may bump into or fertilisers and rotting plant waste that may contaminate the pond water. Although water plants do help remove nitrates, increase oxygenation and provide shade, the serious Koi lovers’ ponds will have other means to take care of these.

However, most pond keepers, including myself, would like to have some greenery in their Koi ponds so as to have a pond that looks natural and able to blend with the overall garden. The best compromise is to include a separate water garden that contains other fishes and aquatic plants, that is physically separated from the main Koi pond that contains only Koi, but sharing the same filtration system to reduce cost. It is important to decide this as you design your pond and plan the layout. A water garden is usually shallower than the Koi pond which is ideally more than 4 feet (1.2 meters) in depth. Another solution is to include a narrow and shallow shelf (of about 1 to 2 feet deep) at the edge of the Koi pond where water plants may be grown. In any case, the selection of suitable plants for your Koi pond is important as Koi eats plants.

Water plants can be broadly classified into 4 categories:

• Marginals or Bog pond plants that naturally grow on the edge of a pond or are slightly submerged. These are the best plants to include in a Koi pond if your aims are to beautify the pond, blend the pond with the overall garden and have ease of maintenance and growing. I plant these in pots and place them, half submerged, in the shallower part of the pond. The aim is to keep the soil and roots moist but with the main parts of the plants above the water surface.
• Submerged plants or Oxygenators that provide a pond (or fish tank) with oxygen through the natural process of photosynthesis. These plants would be nice in an aquarium or fish tank but not recommended for a Koi pond.  They will not survive in a Koi pond. Koi eats plants!
• Floating plants or Floaters that floats on the water surface. They multiply rapidly and help to keep algae and water temperatures down. However, they are not suitable for a pond with Koi. Koi tends to eats the roots and shred the leaves. In fact, they love the roots more than the leaves. So, floaters are best grown in a water garden that contains only small fishes.
• Water lilies and lotus that grow submerged under water but with floating leaves and/or leaves that grows above the water. Water lilies need regular fertilisations to keep them blooming daily, so growing them a pot that can be easily accessible is best. The pots are placed in water of about 24 inches depth. They are best kept in still water, away from any venturi pipes or waterfall that will cause ripples or disturbance at the water surface. Large Koi tends to dig at the soil around the plants. A top layer of pebbles or stones large enough to cover and protect the soil is needed in the pot. They are best grown in a water garden that contains only small Koi/fishes or in a water garden that is separated from the main Koi pond containing large Koi.

In summary, if you want both Koi and plants in the same pond, stick to marginals or bogs plants. If you want to include water lilies and lotus, find some means to protect them.