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Pond plants turning anaemic

AstraeusAstraeus Posts: 336
in Problem solving
I'm having a bit of an issue in our pond with certain plants' leaves going pale, as below:



Most other plants are just fine but this zantedeschia and juncus aren't looking great.

Any ideas what I can do?

Posts

  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    I’m not so sure both of those should be completely submerged .
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • AstraeusAstraeus Posts: 336
    Thanks @Lyn. You gave me cause to double-check but a few websites agree that they are right to have 0-10cm of water over their crown. At the moment, they're both at about 5-8cm depending on water level.

    I wonder whether they just need to adjust their growth so that the stems are submerged but the leaves are not? The foliage above the water looks great and continues to grow whilst that underneath withers away. Perhaps they were both being grown in shallower water before I picked them up.
  • thevictorianthevictorian Posts: 1,279
    I think they are a little deep as well but underwater leaves are different to emersed leaves and I think what you are seeing is the plant adapting to the conditions. We have the corkscrew rush and like the normal species they tend to do better with just wet feet and no water above the crown. The only zantedescia we grew did well for the first year but never returned the next but other similar species, again, seemed better with just wet feet and no water above the crown. 
    I am into planted aquaria and most of the plants are grown in very high humidity greenhouses, emersed, and we have the exact opposite problem where many plants completely die back because they need to develop underwater leaves instead of emersed growth.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I have that rush too, and anything a bit deeper gets faded/rotted and I just remove it. Mine only just have the crown lightly covered. The soil level in the pot is more or less at the water level. 
    Both those plants are happy just in damp soil, so it might be better to get them into a higher site, or even just at the pond edges. I  have a piece of the corkscrew rush which is in damp soil. It generally looks better than the one in the pond  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • AstraeusAstraeus Posts: 336
    Thanks @thevictorian and @Fairygirl. Looks like I'll be shoving a brick under both baskets so that they're only just at the water level!
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