Planting medium
Generally, down here in the sunny, warm, comfortable-with-the-windows-open, South (that’s for Sue), they like very heavy soils - like black clay. The problem with clays is that they are easy to mix with pond water - so you need to take precautions to make sure that the soil does not leave the pot. We personally use a piece of heavy underlayment cut first in a round piece that fits the pot and then sliced into from the edges to make sure that the plant has escape slots. That is held in place with very special custom mineral weights - salvaged from behind our warehouse where there used to be railroad tracks. The ballast that they used was nice dark gray slate in perfect size chunks. You do want to use dark rocks so that they do not show. White rocks are ugly.
Make sure that you remember to add the appropriate amount of Plantabbs (or whatever fertilizer brand you use) - lilies in particular are very heavy feeders. We have also had wonderful luck with the perforated type baskets - we put the underlayment in first to hold the clay - we use commercial aquatic soil - Fafard brand - and Hoffman is very good too - but I do not like the Schultz - it is a funny ceramic type stuff, if my addled memory is correct.
Oh, and remember, it is best to always remove any anacondas first before planting.
:-)
Bill
Category: Philippines Internet Koi Society
