Ideas for Koi proof water lily baskets

[worksopowl1867]

Hi all,

Before i look to reinvent the wheel , has anyone come up with or can direct me to a source for a basket that i can just put water lilies directly into, in the pots they were purchased in , then into my pond.
I have had various attempts but my Koi are devious buggers and always find a way in to uproot the plants !

Any help would be greatfully received.

Cheers, David.

[Old Dragon]

The only thing that worked for us was dustbins, viewtopic.php?f=24&t=246

[pacman75]

I followed this advice having first purchased an established lily. Whilst I didn't get flowers last year I did get leaves to reach the surface and the lily to stay in the pot so the plan definitely works. I also used alfagrog in the pot forcing it to use the nitrates up from the water rather than from aquatic soil

[Feline]

I never found a satisfactory solution- no matter how big the rocks I put on top the koi got big enough to dislodge them, and chomp off the new shoots anyway. Totally cured the problem now though .... by having no plants

[finn]

i use a large oval plant pot filled 3 quarters full of soil then topped up with 2 inch white pebbles and my Lilly comes up great every year and some of my koi are 2 ft long

[Rich5ltr]

I partially solved this by fitting a hanging basket, of the same diameter as the planting basket, over the top of the lily and zip tying them together. So a 18" aquatic planting basket for the lily, cover in stones as usual, and then an 18" hanging basket over the top. The lily pushes through the mesh of the hanging basket but it deters the koi from getting to it. The smaller goldfish get in but they are less destructive!

I don't know if this link will work but it's thread from a few years ago on the same subject and showing my contraption. (It's raised because it was a small lily and it went into deep water) viewtopic.php?f=24&t=11737&start=10

[Nobuzz]

I use a section of filter grid cable tied to the top of the basket. Koi nibble a bit at the leaves but cant get at the pebbles.

[worksopowl1867]

Thanks all, i ended up using the bottom half of a plastic dustbin with holes drilled in the side to allow water flow and plastic grid mesh fixed to the top so the plants get through but the Koi dont.
Seems to be working for now, ill keep you updated.

Regards, David.

[Rich5ltr]

I partially solved this by fitting a hanging basket, of the same diameter as the planting basket, over the top of the lily and zip tying them together.

Well a few years later I can say that my hanging basket idea still didn't work. The koi just munched on all the leaves and buds as they came through and the plant died. So...

... I have a solution - I grow the 'brandy bottle lily' - Nuphar lutea. y koi at least don't eat this. I got the idea from walks along the Thames where it is established. I thought that if it could survive in the Thames it must be tough and so it proves to be. So that's there plants that my koi won't eat:

- Brandy Bottle Lily / Nuphar lutea
- Water Hawthorn / Aponogeton Distachyos
- Hornwort / Ceratophyllum dermensum

Well they do munch the hornwort but it lasts longer than elodea which they treat as a green salad to go with the pond pellets!

[Nobuzz]

I’ve cable tied filter grid over the top of the standard black plastic pots. Lily’s grow through the grid. No problems after 4 years or so.