General advice? Planting/overwintering plants indoor-Sweetflag, Arrowhead, Marsh Marigold, Corkscrew Rush, Lilies, Cann

[Duxwig]

First "real" year with the pond and first winter, decided to bring plants indoors due to the frigid temps here. (and Hello to 13.5" of snow yesterday)
Need some advice other than "just keep buying new" plants each year because can't say I have a green thumb or it went well :)

The pond is too shallow and freezes entirely in Zone 5a. No fish. No breather to keep it unfrozen (and zero desire to go this route).
Sweetflag, Corkscrew Rush, Lillies, and Canna were put in the pond late July/August some time I recall after a reconstruction, young plants.

Planted them all in homemade fabric pots with plain unscented kitty litter. Root growth seemed significant, LOTS of roots. The greenage survived and looked fine, but didn't seem to strive and grow much after putting in the pond. Late season, not enough fert, soil comp,did but not noticeably, etc as "possible" question areas.

In any regard I decided to try to overwinter two different varieties of sweet flag, corkscrew rush, three different kinds of water lillies, and a canna.

I ordered Marsh Marigold and Arrowhead off Etsy in early February and planted the bare roots. Just planted in plain top soil w/ some starter fert. Water level for the marigold was covering 1/2-3/4 of the roots, and crown out of water. Over the month, they did "well," they each had 3-4 leaves form and one flowered already. Arrowhead started off good as bulbs, small leaves on two, and the other big bulb also had a nice leaf. Arrowhead i put in top soil and water was about 1/2 inch above the soil, with the bulb tip exposed. Went seemingly ok for the most part.
As far as watering the others, sweet flag/rush had mainly wet soil with draining containers.
Changed the water that marigold and and arrowhead had sitting there every week or week and half.

Sweet flag / rush / lillies were in the garage most of the year @ ~35-40 degrees, moved sweet flag/rush indoors w/ the grow light around February in a room that was ~70 degs to get some action going. Canna was in fridge and didn't seem rotten or soggy, dried out if anything - wrapped in damp papertowel that i rewett like 3 times through the winter.

Things seemed to be going well until I got greedy and put "enough" starter fert (10-10-10) on everything. The rush is seemingly dead now, marsh marigold got nuked, sweet flag seems to say "give me more MF'er!", and a white mold/fungus started on the base of the arrowhead and now its starting to go.
Just recently made a sand/soil/litter mix and put the lillies in the storage container of water and the 5 gallon bucket. Doesnt seem like any action over the past 2 weeks and and upper left one looks like a white mold growing under water on it probably? Canna has done nothing. Soil very moist, but nothing pooling on bottom.

I took the rush, marigold, and sweet flag out, washed the roots and replanted in different non-ferted soil to try and save them but I think they were nuked. I didn't swap soil on arrowhead yet, was planning today but also feeling 'aw whats the use' syndrome.

I ordered 3 more marsh marigold and 3 arrowhead on Etsy the other day to replace them and know better but still need some advice to improve my outcomes and stupid ideas like over-ferting.

Send your better expertise way for improvement! :)

IMG_0011.jpg (195.45 KiB) Viewed 892 times

IMG_0010.jpg (317.16 KiB) Viewed 892 times

[Duxwig]

More pics in more natural light.

IMG_0013.jpg (314.16 KiB) Viewed 891 times

IMG_0014.jpg (266.65 KiB) Viewed 891 times

IMG_0015.jpg (186.13 KiB) Viewed 891 times

IMG_0017.jpg (127.92 KiB) Viewed 891 times

[brokensword]

Hello, Dux; nice to see you.

To me, upon finishing up the read, it seems you're overthinking and over doing this. I have many of yours and leave them IN the bog--where it freezes-- and they all come back. Have had marsh marigold for 12 years now and every year, it grows a bit larger. Marsh marigold, btw, will bloom early, almost a winter bloomer but not quite. Anything that is supposed to be 'hardy' in your zone, should just be left out. They can handle freezing, unlike water lilies. Now, the canna, that has to come in but the others should be okay. I'm in zone 5b and pretty much parallel with you, I think, so you should not be experiencing that much colder temps than me. MY arrowheads are the first to go dormant in the fall and last to come up in the late spring. They also freeze solid in the bog.

So, once temps are such that you can put whichever back into the pond or along the margin or even in your bog, just do so. Now, your bog should be full, not empty, as that is what will kill any plants IN the bog. Frozen is fine, dry is not. And as you found out, direct fertilizing isn't a good idea. When in doubt, weak solutions or as I do re water lilies, Osmocote slow release fert. The others should get all the nutrients they need from your bog and pond.

Live and learn; tis how we grow!

btw; I've had some success overwintering in my basement under lights but it's always a challenge. They generally don't get enough light or even temp. Some struggle and then do well once I put them back in the pond. Some I've lost but have learned which to make an attempt with. Hyacinths have been a bane for me but this year, half way through, I decided to try an experiment with them; I got a bucket, placed a 75W light 4 " from the top, put in a heater to get 70+ degrees of heat, and a bubbler. Whaddya know but I revived my small group of pathetic looking hyacinths! I now have 2 which look healthy and are growing great! And I've been trying this for years now, so you see that overwintering is more like keeping them barely alive. Hence, those that can, should be left in your pond. Those you want to baby and carefully oversee, you learn which these are and what to do. Otherwise, yeah, just buy new ones every year; shouldn't have many to replace and the cost isn't exorbitant, usually. If you're going to go with any hyacinths or water lettuce, which I recommend for helping filter the pond, do so late in the spring when it's warmer; they'll do better.

[j.w]

I agree w/all the @brokensword said above! I leave all my plants out there all year long. Don't have any that I bring inside anymore. Too much trouble. Hardy waterlilies, Sweet Flag, Parrots Feather, Creeping vine type of Primrose, Black Mondo Grass, Creeping Jenny, Dwarf Cattails, Sedge and some kind of little floating plant the looks kinda like a water lily w/yellow flowers and tiny pads. Have Anacharis in my frog pond. All these do well and come back after freezes.

[Duxwig]

Sounds good I will leave and try it out the following year but think I’ll need to figure out a solution for canna as it doesn’t seem to be budging after I replanted it a month ago indoors in soil.
Think lilies dead also. Not doing much after 2 or 3 weeks. Just white film which makes me think decayed but the root tuber thing was solid and not mushy when I replanted.

Order more marsh marigold and got duck potato bulbs. Corkscrew was trimmed back but appears it’s dead.




What type of planting medium is best? Did straight kitty litter w a fert tab last year. Making more home sewn fabric bags.

[brokensword]

I use the kitty litter and Osmocote for the wLilies; it's cheap and easy to use with only a little misting upon submerging. The plants in the bog are all in pea gravel.

[j.w]

Me too use just kitty litter and for fert I use Osmocote or sometimes fertilizer spikes or tabs. I put the Osmocote in a small piece of paper towel and jab it down deep.