Anyone tried growing (low nutrient level!) in a backyard pond?

stsin

Well-Known Member
My current (legal) designated garden spot is getting a bit crowded, and shielding the 14 foot tall trees from public view is getting harder, so I'm considering using my backyard water feature / pond (it's ~ 350 gallons with a waterfall to circulate water) if I opt for very light additional nutrients could I be able to get away from the usual hydro water change? The pond does well for lilies, and since today I've removed most of the tree cover directly over it (damn wind storms!), it now should get a healthy amount of sunlight for plants (4-5 hours *FULL* super intense sun, rest of the time, useable partial sun) , plus it's much further from the sidewalks in front of the house and would allow me to drop the number of plants in the current medical garden from 10 (6 med + 4 rec, thanks oregon!) down to 7 or 8....


Thoughts other than I'm insane? Thanks all.
 

Larry {the} Gardener

Well-Known Member
I do what I call a red neck rain gutter grow system for my tomatoes. It's a plastic lined trench with 2 inches of water in it. I put the plants in grow bags or 5 gallon pots of soil mix. Works like gang busters with tomatoes. Don't see why something like it wouldn't work with weed.
 

stsin

Well-Known Member
It seems the consensus around here (locally) is that it should work, BUT I'll need to flush the pond once with straight water for the last couple of weeks (unless I do extremely weak nutes, then maybe not...) I was hoping there were a few people who were crazy enough to do it to prevent me from reinventing the wheel. However, depending on how this years crop goes (I think overcrowding is going to hurt the final tally, but as I have a solid sea of green some 12 feet up, perhaps I'm overly pessimistic) I think I'll donate 2 plants next year to testing this and giving the lillypads some competition. If it works, great, then I have a solid plan for future grows at this house as I hate growing so close to the street / having to go to such extremes to keep it out of view...
 

Lucky Luke

Well-Known Member
People grow in Kiddie pools with fabric pots so i dont see why it wouldnt be the same deal but better due to the pump moving water and adding O2.
 
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