This 'n That

March 31, 2009

Gonna give humic acid a try

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , — ccoke @ 10:21 am

Since I have been spending so much time outside tending to my ponds, i have also been taking note of improvements I need to make to my yard and gardens.  I have been reading more and more about how fertilizers can contribute to algae and water problems in a pond due to run off from rain, so I have been looking into ways to improve that.  While research various soil additives and alternate fertilizers I cam across something called humic acid.  Now, I dont know a lot about organics when it comes to gardening and such, but this sure didnt sound like something I would put in my yard.  However after reading about it and the way people have used it,  I am totally sold on the idea of using it in my yard, especially around my pond.  In a nutshell, humic acid is supposed to help your soil retain water better and make more efficient use of fertilizer, which to me reads “can reduce run-off”.  I have read where people use organic treatments in the yards surrounding a pond so that you can limit the excess fertilizers that make it to the pond.

So a couple of weeks ago I ordered some humic acid from a company called Natural Environmental Systems due to the high concentration level their product had.  The product arrived a few days after I ordered it and true to form, it looks very concentrated.  It is a dark brown…really black… liquid.  I mixed it up with some water and liberally sprayed it over the yard immediately surrounding my pond.  I dont know if it is wishful thinking, but it does seem like the grass in this area has grown a little faster than the rest, but it could be my imagination.  The people at Natural Environmental Systems told me it could take a couple of application before you start seeing the results.  Anyway, for as inexpensive as this stuff was I certainly think it is worth a shot and based on all of the stuff I read about humic acid, it sure seems viable.

March 19, 2009

Pond off to a bad start

Filed under: Uncategorized — ccoke @ 12:31 pm

So even though it is early in the season, I am already starting to have issues with my pond. I have had more algae problems so far this year than I can remember and to top it all off my pond pump went out, which is probably contributing to my algae now that I think about it. This week I started shopping the internet for small submersible pond pumps and ended up ordering a Quiet One 2200 pond pump from a site called Pondworld.com. I should receive it either Sat or Monday so maybe once I get it hooked up and get my filter running again this algae will control itself.  It is just a simple, plug and play unit, which is perfect for me and my small pond.  I dont have the patience to plumb in some big pump, nor is it really necessary at this time. However, it was good to see that these folks at PondWorld did carry a lot of options for other types and sizes of pumps and filters so if I need to upgrade, I have a source.

It still just amazes me how critical a good pump/ filter is for a pond.  I would think that having my filter down for just a few days would be such a big deal, but I guess this time of year the ponds are “awakening” and so there is a lot going on biologically and natural processes just need some help.

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