September 2017 President: Mike Kandt 838-6681, [email protected] Vice-President: Wanita Wright, 733-6626, [email protected] Treasurer: Larry Determann 945-0017, [email protected] Secretary: Susan Kandt, 838-6681, [email protected] Newsletter Editor: Mike Kandt 838-6681, [email protected] Webmaster: Wayne Determann, [email protected] FROM THE PRESIDENT September Meeting By Mike Kandt Saturday, September 2 6:00 PM - ? It almost happened again. A rain-out. But thanks to our hosts, Gale Lane At and family, when the rain hit at about the start of our meeting, we were able to scurry inside a large garage building to eat and hear Gail’s presentation Well Garden and demo on building a deer chaser fountain. Sorry about the mix-up Industries beforehand. I didn’t know Gail had such a great backup plan. Thanks to 1440 W. Douglas, Wichita Gail and family for their gracious hospitality. (About 4 blocks west of Seneca Susan, Wanita and I have returned from the 2017 International Waterlily on Douglas in Delano) and Watergarden Symposium in Pennsylvania where we were inundated over four days. We visited Longwood Gardens, Chanticleer Gardens, Aquaponics Winterthur, Mount Cuba, several private gardens, and garden centers. And this didn’t count the evening informal discussions with some of the world’s Aquaponics is the science that uses leading experts in watergardens and plants. One whole day was devoted to waste from raising fish to fertilize seminars on all kinds of topics. I’m still trying to process all the info we plants and vegetables. Well Garden picked up, but you will hear more in months to come. Industries is developing Aquaponics setups from small aquariums to large In September, we will learn about Aquaponics at a local business called commercial installations. Well Garden Industries located in Delano. Well Garden is developing Aquaponics setups from small aquariums to large commercial installations. We’ll have our normally fantastic Aquaponics is the science that uses waste from raising fish to fertilize potluck buffet. Please bring a main plants and vegetables. This is an even more technically advanced version dish and a side or dessert and lawn of the installation we saw in Wamego a few years ago. We will tour their chairs. Paper plates and plastic forks facility and check out lots of ways to grow fish and plants in limited space. are provided, but you are also welcome to bring your own plates and Also in September, we will caravan to the Oklahoma City water garden service. Drinks will be provided. tour on Saturday, September 9. It’s not too late to get your reservation in, so call or contact Wanita Wright ASAP. See the box later in this newsletter. In October we meet at Hong’s Nursery and have a presentation on bee- UPCOMING EVENTS keeping. Yes, bees are important pollinators of water plants, too. Sept 2: KPS Meeting Sept 9: Road trip - OKC Pond In November we will have our auction. NOTE THAT THE DATE HAS Tour CHANGED to the 11th to coordinate with Botanica’s room reservations. Oct 7: KPS Meeting We will have some large pieces of pond liner available at the auction that Nov 11: KPS Auction has been donated by ABC Roofing. So start collecting your donation items Dec 2: KPS Holiday Party and saving your cash for this event. WELCOME NEW MEMBERS Stay cool!!! Jane Byrnes Deb Wierenga SWAP SHOP ADVERTISING RATES If you have articles, plants or fish to sell or give away, let me know at 838- Business Card Size Ad (about 2" x 3 ½"): 6681 or [email protected] $15 per 3-month period; $50 per year Want Small KOI – [email protected] Quarter-Page Ad (about 3 ½" x 4 ½"): $30 per 3-month period; $100 per year Two new green plastic rain barrels; $30.00 each. Carol Half-Page Ad (about 5" x 7 ½"): $60 per 3- Daney, [email protected] month period; $200 per year Full-Page Ad (8 ½” x 11"): $400 per year UV light for sale - 10,000 gal. capacity plus 2 replacement bulbs. Unused, $300. New price of $950 and replacement bulbs at $127. Carol Daney, [email protected] FREE KOI BABIES Did you know… that need to find good homes. We are cleaning my pond the last Saturday of Well water has very low oxygen levels and may be high in carbon dioxide (CO2). The September. If you would like some, please best way to fill your pond with well water is to aerate it by spraying into the pond. CALL Wanita, 733-6626 wcw Water Lilies at Longwood Gardens WATER PLANTS (by Mike Kandt) Victoria Water Lily Nymphaeaceae Victoria amazonica I know I have written about this wonderful plant before, but we just returned from Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania where several were on display, and you just can't help getting excited about this amazing water lily. Victoria Amazonica The Victoria water lily is also called the Water Platter. Leaves can get to be larger than 6 feet in diameter. Edges are turned up, prompting the term "Platter". All surfaces of the leaves below water and the stems are covered with lethal spines. Because of the size and spines, not too many grow this plant at home. It is usually reserved for large botanical garden displays. The large leaves can support up to 150 pounds. You will see many photos of babies and children sitting on the floating leaves. There are two types of native Victoria: victoria amazonica and victoria cruziana. The former thrives in the waterways of the Amazon river. The latter comes from Argentina and Paraguay and has a taller rim. In 1960, Patrick Nutt from Longwood Gardens successfully crossed the amazonica and the cruziana to create the Longwood hybrid. This is the plant that grows at Botanica in Wichita. The Victoria is a tropical lily and will not survive frost. It must be Victoria Cruziana grown from seed every year. If you do want to try at home, starts are available from a limited number of southern growers. A single plantlet sprout can cost almost $100, and these are difficult to grow to maturity. Victorias have large fragrant flowers that smell like pineapple. The blooms open at night, close the next morning, and last three days. They then form seeds if pollinated. If you choose to grow a Victoria, plan for a lot of space. A single plant can cover 15 feet in diameter. Pots for these plants are recommended to be up to 60” by 18” deep and need warm water, lots of sun, and fertilizer to grow. Some have tried to dwarf these by growing in smaller pots. One goal of modern hybridizers is to create a consistent dwarf Victoria that can be marketed for smaller ponds. This would be nice for backyard ponders, but I bet this will take a while. There are many books written specially about this one plant that has fascinated the botanical world for centuries. Check one out or at least Google “Victoria Water Lilies” and learn more. Victoria Longwood hybrid, back of leaf BIO-FILTERS By Mike Kandt Good water quality doesn't just happen. It requires a little planning and some maintenance. Decaying debris from leaves, fish waste and other organic stuff that finds its way into your pond can add nutrients to the water as it decomposes. Ammonia, also from fish waste, also adds nitrogen to the water that is toxic to fish and will cause algae blooms. The more fish there are and the larger the fish, the worse the problem is. The solution is a bio-filter properly sized and maintained. A plant bog can be a bio-filter, but for this discussion, I will address fabricated bio-filters. Many think that those little foam pads in their skimmer are their pond bio-filter. Nope! They only function to keep the pump in the skimmer from clogging. If you have a larger bio-filter, you can actually remove these foam pads and not have to clean them daily. The finer debris should go through the pump and get caught in the bio-filter. Some ponds have a container at the head of the pond, sometimes called a “bio- falls”. While this may do some bio-filtration if it has media, it is usually too small and usually less than 30 gallons. So what is a bio-filter and how does it work? A bio-filter not only filters solids from the water, it uses bacteria growing on filter media to consume the ammonia and convert it to non-toxic nitrites that plants will use. It will remove suspended solids and dissolved ammonia. It helps to add some oxygen by splashing the water coming into the filter or by adding an air line and bubbler. This keeps the good bacteria (aerobic) alive. The bad anaerobic bacteria will stink. This is the stuff that grows in a septic tank. Good aeration will help prevent this. The bio-filter media can be anything that will not corrode and has a lot of surface area. I started using gravel and lava rock, but it worked so well that it packed up quickly with pond muck and was impossible to clean. I then switched to plastic media of various types. I tried "bio-balls" specifically made for this. Worked, but too expensive. I now use plastic shavings. Plastic scrubber brushes work well. I've even heard of someone using recycled plastic spoons. Crumpled plastic window screen can work in a pinch. Put the media in net bags (laundry bags from Walmart), fill with media, and put in the filter container, trying to seal any open water paths.