Sitting here going thru old pond posts and ran across this one. Wondering if you ever came up with a plan for your Florida pond. I live in IL but have a vacation home in south Florida on the Gulf side. The house was purchased pre=foreclosure in 2007 for use as a vacation home. Like your house, it was a mess, covered in weeds and filled with junk. It also has a pond in the backyard that was icky. One of the first things we did after closing was drain the pond so we knew what was living in it. It's not a big pond - about 12' x 6' oval shaped and 24" at deepest point and also made of concrete painted sky blue. Lots of leaves, pine needles and tadpoles plus a few mosquito fish which I scooped out and saved. After refilling I put in a pond pump and the tads and fish. We were there for 4 weeks that time before we returned to IL. The pump was removed from the pond before we left FL. Next time we went down, put the pump back in and netted out what debris was in there but water was back to icky. What I did was find water hyacinth plants - can import them to FL and they are not sold in the stores near me. So I found a local guy who had some in his pond. He gave me about 12 large plants for free since he had an overabundance in his pond and was tossing them in his burn pile. It's been over 2 years since I added the hyacinths and pond remains clear even without the pump going. Only filtration is the hyacinths. Pond life is abundant. Neighbor tells me she can hear the toads at night. We only go down to the house a few times a year so when we put the pump with a bubble spray in while we're there, it's only for the sound of the water bubbling. Hyacinths are all over Florida in ponds, swamps, creeks, etc. If you're willing to harvest some yourself, you can get them for free. I would get emough to cover 1/4 of the surface because they will multiply like crazy. When we visit our house, the whole surface is covered so we have to pull out at least half of them and burn them. Hope that helps.

I'm on my third year of a variation of Gatormom's method and I get great results and save my back all that digging. I actually trim everything in the yard in the last few weeks of August and throw all the trimmings in the area where the veggie garden will be, even big limbs. At that point in the season, it's already got really great grass - better than anywhere else in my yard I'm afraid. I also cycle my composters, spreading the summer's compost all over the bed. I don't even bother to mow down the grass, because I'm about to kill it anyway and I'm going to use the bags of mulch to squish it down. When I buy mulch, I leave the bags on top of all the trimmings and compost for a week. I do this in one-week cycles, buying seven bags of mulch, leaving them there for a week, buying seven more, then using the first seven to prep a portion of the bed. I do this to squish down stuff that otherwise would stick up and let in enough space to let in weeds and such. I spread newspapers under the mulch each time I spread it. I've used cardboard too, but found it actually broke down too quickly compared to newspapers. I know others here have had really different experiences with cardboard versus newspapers, but for me newspapers work best. I lay them pretty thick. (And if you're at all worried, six months after I've put down newspapers, I can't find them anymore. They decompose completely. Same is true for cardboard, but I find they get weedy faster than newspaper does.) In a few weeks with this system, I've got a giant prepared bed for veggies, full of organic stuff, nicely mulched, ready for the baby plants to go in the ground. And that bed is getting better and better each year. As the winter goes on, I also add more compost, so that keeps improving it. This is just about the least work I can think of for my yard - I don't haul the clippings out to the street, just over to the veggie bed and I don't dig up everything. Laying the newspaper under the mulch isn't as easy as just spreading mulch, but it works so much better it's worth the work. And using the bags of mulch to squish down the organic stuff so it doesn't poke through the paper and mulch saves having to cut it up into smaller pieces, plus, being stuck under plastic bags for a week starts the decomposition process nicely. Susannah

This pot does have two fairly large holes in the bottom, as most bonsai pots do; so the pot is definitely able to drain as necessary. I do agree with you all though; the soil is inappropriate and keeping and I haven't like it since after the first week of putting the Fujian Tea in it. I just looked through the different bonsai soils I have. I do have a small amount of a tropical/sub-tropical mix leftover that is recommended for Fujian Teas. Do you think I should swap the current soil for this tropical mix now? There's not enough left in the bag to fill the pot (if I'm lucky, it might fill half the pot), so I would have to mix it with whatever potting soil my mom has leftover, which would probably end up being soil like what is currently being used. Though, I do have a bonsai mix that I bought for a couple Junipers I had. Maybe, instead of half tropical bonsai mix--half inappropriate potting soil, I could do a mix of half tropical bonsai mix--quarter conifer bonsai mix--quarter inappropriate potting soil. I kind of want to put some of that potting soil in the mixture to prevent the plant from becoming too dry. As Al mentioned, the Fujian Tea likes to stay at least a little wet; if I forget to check up or am unable to check up on it for a few days and it becomes too dry, I can basically just kiss it goodbye.

"I've tried the vinegar and dish soap trick- nothing." When using vinegar on plants, the poison is in the dose. IOW, a little mixed in water each time you water can help raise the pH of the soil solution (water in the pot) which can help if you have pH related nutritional deficiencies, but not with insects. The strength of the solution needed to kill bugs would be strong enough to injure insects. Dishsoap in any strength solution is harmful to plants because it breaks down wax in the leaf cuticle (skin) which prevents excess water loss, denies insect access to plant sap, and prevents disease pathogens from entering the plant. The only question is how serious the damage will be. If household cleaner solutions make their way into the soil solution, they destroy root lipid membranes and making water/nutrient uptake more difficult. It doesn't matter if 50 million people tell you they've done it and there is no problem, there's a problem. Appropriate/ inappropriate are not terms that turn on popular opinion or even consensus. also the 70% rubning alcohol mixed with water, still nothing. 70% rubbing alcohol mixed stronger than 50/50 with water can also break down cuticular wax and destroy lipid membranes, so it should be kept out of the soil/ soil solution and when applied to leaves it should be diluted 1:1 or 1:2 alcohol:water. is there a way to save the plant from them? If the infestation is serious (populations high) they will feed on living roots. Using a medium that holds less water is usually enough to limit their numbers or rid plants of them entirely. I never have gnat issues. Determine watering intervals by using a "tell" (see below). Unless a pot is 5" deep[ or less, the advice to water when the top inch or two of the soil feels dry to the touch is pretty much the recipe for over-watering. Using a "tell" keeps you apprised of what moisture conditions are deep in the pot, where it really counts. In most cases, roots in the upper third of the grow medium are devoid of the almost microscopically fine roots that do nearly all of the plant's heavy lifting. These heavy roots serve mostly as plumbing and anchorage and are normally removed during full repots to make room for more fine roots. Using a 'tell' Over-watering saps vitality and is one of the most common plant assassins, so learning to avoid it is worth the small effort. Plants make and store their own energy source – photosynthate - (sugar/glucose). Functioning roots need energy to drive their metabolic processes, and in order to get it, they use oxygen to burn (oxidize) their food. From this, we can see that terrestrial plants need plenty of air (oxygen) in the soil to drive root function. Many off-the-shelf soils hold too much water and not enough air to support the kind of root health most growers would like to see; and, a healthy root system is a prerequisite to a healthy plant. Watering in small sips leads to avoid over-watering leads to a residual build-up of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil from tapwater and fertilizer solutions, which limits a plant's ability to absorb water – so watering in sips simply moves us to the other horn of a dilemma. It creates another problem that requires resolution. Better, would be to simply adopt a soil that drains well enough to allow watering to beyond the saturation point, so we're flushing the soil of accumulating dissolved solids whenever we water; this, w/o the plant being forced to pay a tax in the form of reduced vitality, due to prolong periods of soil saturation. Sometimes, though, that's not a course we can immediately steer, which makes controlling how often we water a very important factor. In many cases, we can judge whether or not a planting needs watering by hefting the pot. This is especially true if the pot is made from light material, like plastic, but doesn't work (as) well when the pot is made from heavier material, like clay, or when the size/weight of the pot precludes grabbing it with one hand to judge its weight and gauge the need for water. Fingers stuck an inch or two into the soil work ok for shallow pots, but not for deep pots. Deep pots might have 3 or more inches of soil that feels totally dry, while the lower several inches of the soil is 100% saturated. Obviously, the lack of oxygen in the root zone situation can wreak havoc with root health and cause the loss of a very notable measure of your plant's potential. Inexpensive watering meters don't even measure moisture levels, they measure electrical conductivity. Clean the tip and insert it into a cup of distilled water and witness the fact it reads 'DRY'. One of the most reliable methods of checking a planting's need for water is using a 'tell'. You can use a bamboo skewer in a pinch, but a wooden dowel rod of about 5/16” (75-85mm) would work better. They usually come 48” (120cm) long and can usually be cut in half and serve as a pair. Sharpen all 4 ends in a pencil sharpener and slightly blunt the tip so it's about the diameter of the head on a straight pin. Push the wooden tell deep into the soil. Don't worry, it won't harm the root system. If the plant is quite root-bound, you might need to try several places until you find one where you can push it all the way to the pot's bottom. Leave it a few seconds, then withdraw it and inspect the tip for moisture. For most plantings, withhold water until the tell comes out dry or nearly so. If you see signs of wilting, adjust the interval between waterings so drought stress isn't a recurring issue. Water When the Top Inch or Two of Soil is Dry? I don't think so. Most growers unfamiliar with how water behaves in container media are prone to repeating the title mantra. But let's look at some facts. A saturated or partially saturated medium is limiting in a number of ways. Roots need an ample supply of oxygen in order that roots can function normally. Saturated soil surrounding roots limits oxygen required to drive root function, thereby impairing root efficiency and possibly setting the stage for any of a number of fungal pathogens that thrive in anaerobic (airless) conditions. Soil saturation limits gas exchange, so waste gases like methane and CO2 in the root zone are less able to leave the soil, also limiting root function Soil saturation kills the fine roots that do the lion's share of work involving water uptake and nutrient distribution. When this occurs, chemical messengers tell plant central injury to the root system has occurred. Top growth stops immediately, because root growth always precedes top growth – the top will not grow if the roots cannot support the growth with water/nutrients. The plant is then forced to regenerate dead roots, using energy which otherwise would have been devoted to additional top growth, keeping the plant's systems orderly, keeping the plant wearing a 'healthy glow', and improving the plant's ability to defend itself. In short, the wasted energy would have kept the plant looking/ growing better, and healthier. If a pot is 10” deep, the top 2” can feel completely dry to the touch, even while the bottom 6” is 100 saturated. That means 60% of the medium would be fighting you tooth and nail for control over the plant's vitality …… and this is the point at which you should water again? Does that sound reasonable? We don't care even a whit if the top 2" of the soil are dry. Roots there are largely plumbing and anchorage, with essentially none of the fine almost microscopic roots that do the lion's share of the plant's heavy lifting. Ficus species are all good at retaining water in their roots in case of drought. That doesn't mean you should test them to see what they'll tolerate, but it does mean you can and should let the soil dry down so you can only detect moisture (by using a 'tell') in the bottom inch or two of soil. Let me know if you're unfamiliar with the term 'tell'. Al