Recently I have had small brown dots on my hardy water lily flowers and leaves. These are the hardy lilies of several varieties. Is there any control?

As a secondary question, something appears to eat my water lily leaves, particularly the tropical lilies. Could these holes be caused by the Koi and goldfish that spend a lot of time nuzzling the leaves?

The actual holes in the waterlily leaves may be due to fish nibbling. Snails also LOVE to leave holes in my lily leaves. They might also be waterlily leaf beetles that are causing the holes. See my section on them and two other insects that eat waterlilies at http://www.fishpondinfo.com/plant2.htm#other
If it's insects causing the damage, mosquito dunks may kill them. If it's snails or fish, then you would have to remove them. In the case of fish, you can also buy or build waterlily protector cages around the plants.

I noticed you said you had "dots" on the leaves. If these are not actual holes but things added to the leaves, then they are probably eggs. Are they on top or on the bottom of the leaves? If on top, they are insect eggs, perhaps dragonflies. My lilies get gelatin globs with itty bitty brown insect eggs on them on top of the pads in mildly damp locations on the pads. Sometimes I wipe them off when I'm in there. I'm not positive who layed those kinds of eggs but I have a ton of dragonflies laying eggs so it could be them.

The fish will eat the leaves if they're really hungry but they are also "nuzzling" the leaves to get at insects and their eggs. Yum!

On closer examination I now believe that the "dots" that are on leaves, flower petals etc. are actually tiny, relatively immobile insects (not green, but aphids?). I brushed them off and noticed that at least my smallest fish ate them. I then gave the leaves a heavy spraying with water, knocking more off. However, they are so numerous that when I went out today I saw there were just as many as the day before. Any suggestions?

Aphids will move if disturbed. I have a lot of aphids on my lily leaves, and it's common. If the bugs don't move much, they may be something else. I'm not sure what. Aphids are a real pain. You can wash them into the water for the fish to eat (mine don't care anymore though, too many bugs around I guess). There is also a product that works (but not that well in my opinion). I cover it and other aphid stuff at http://fishpondinfo.com/plant2.htm#aphids

Hi there. I'm new to this site - but noticed your question about small "dots" on your hardy lily pad leaves. I have them in my pond too. They kind of look like poppy seeds. I'm pretty sure they're tiny bugs of some sort, but I can't see that they're actually doing any damage. They're unsightly, though. Any luck in dealing with them? (Too many in my pond to wipe off...)
Barbara

Are the "poppy seeds" moving or do they move if you touch them? If not, they're not aphids since aphids move around a lot. The "poppy seeds" may be insect eggs from aphids, dragonflies, or who knows what. Are there holes in the leaves or do they otherwise show damage? I've never really gotten control over the aphids in my pond. You might try Herbal Aphid Control by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals. I don't know that it's helped with my aphid population control but I use some of it. Be sure to remove yellowing leaves ASAP to reduce aphid levels and wipe them off when you can.

No, they don't appear to be moving. The leaves do die off, but I can't tell if that's due to the "poppyseeds" or if it's just natural die back. How long (roughly) should a leaf last before it starts to yellow?

Great site, by the way--
Cheers
B

Are the still spots on the top of the pads? Are they actually attached to the pads as opposed to degeneration spots on the pads? If they are tiny black spots on top of the pads and actually not a part of the pads, they are probably insect eggs (dragonfly or who knows what).

Individual lily leaves will start to yellow after a few weeks normally. I remove yellowing pads as well as those that are the most damaged (fish, snails, insects, etc. all chew on them or they get split from the fish or I).

The spots are on top on the pads. They can be removed, if gently wiped. But, that's a lot of work for an entire pond (1600 gals) Maybe I'll just leave them alone and see if I get a big dragonfly population next. (that would make me feel betterr about the spots...)

Thanks and cheers
b

Yep, those are insect eggs. Now I can't say for sure what kind though!

something is eating the water lilies off at the base leaving the leaves and stems floating in the water? What can it be and what can be done?

They've been doing that in my pond too! Who is they? In my pond, it's got to be the goldfish or koi since I no longer have apple snails which love to do that! It only started in my pond a few weeks ago. I've not caught anyone in the act. Large snails do that but my pond doesn't have any. Maybe we've got a mystery monster with plant snips for hands!

Thank you for the info on the "poppy seeds"..I also have them here in Canada. We doget a lot of dragon flies in our garden so this may be the answer. I have brushed them off and the fish seem to nibble them....it looks unsightly on the leaves but if they are d'flys then they can stay :D
Great sight by the way...I did an google search and it is one that came up.
Thanks
Sue/vancouver