Wow- Already? Sheesh how the summer flies by, especially for those up north. The good thing Patty is that you get to see your fish all year. :) Hope you catch them fast and get them in their indoor home without incident. Until next year.......

Me too wow. Usually it's mid to end of October but this year has been unseasonably cold! The forcast for the next two weeks is 35F at night and warmest day the 28th up to 55F during the day. I'm working so much that I figure may as well bring them in now as it's not getting any warmer out there! The poor farmers--crops have been cut but are just lying there as not only has it been cold but raining nearly every day.

My taros are all drooping from our cool night and I can't decide if I should bring them in or not. Some of them are almost 5 ft. tall. our first frost date is supposed to be Sept 15 but I can't remember it hitting that low that early in this part of Indiana. It seems we just got started.

I love to be able to send you some warmer weather up north. We have had temps in the mid 90's all week with mid 60-70's at night. Hoping for a bit of cooler weather. Worked outside all day, cleaning around house, mowing and burning tree limbs. It was a hot one. I know it will be my turn here in a month or so. Hope the pond work goes well.

Wow... I walked outside this morning, and the air temp was 67, and I felt cold...

Water temp this morning is the coolest that it's been in several weeks- 80.

I always wait till the last moment. My plants are all hardy and overwinter in the pond with the fish. I hate putting them to bed for the winter, it can be April before I see them again. I can usually keep it running till late November. As long as I get the pond "tent" up the hill before it snows (the tractor wont go up the hill in the snow)I can leave it running until a long hard freeze or a snowstorm shows up. I have been known to be out there shutting it down in a snowstorm.

I didn't shut it down today after all. I took out the dead hyacinth and some lily leaves but the water temp is registering 45F. The fish are still too active to catch! I don't know what other people do who bring their fish in but I bring pond water and fish in at the same time. That way the temps are the same. It does mean I have to monitor the ammonia carefully and I do a water change within a week. I will pull the bottom drain tomorrow and run the pond off the skimmer. Hardin I'd love your climate. I hate winter! At least in your climate you can leave your fish out all winter. The 2 ft thick ice we get here is not great for fish ponds. Patti

I do love our climate too. The 100+ weather gets hard when its humid. The humidity makes it harder to stay out all day. I hate winter too. The past winter was hard, as there were more snowy/cold days for longer periods at a time, which is rare. When spring finally arrived, I just wanted to lay down outside and soak up the heat and thaw out.