Fertilizer for Water Lilies

[BobDE]

I have been doing this for quite some time and have never fertilized my water lilies. I had someone tell me that I did not need to when I first started, so I didn't.
I now feel like I should try it. Just wondering what type everyone is using and where they get it?
I do not use soil in any of my plants. Only stones. River stones, mostly 1 inch or larger.
Thanks!

 

[mrsclem]

I use Pondtabs but when I repotted this year, I used Osmocote under the litter. Not sure if you can fertilize with no soil. How have your lilies been doing? If you have a lot of fish, they are taking care of it for you!

 

[BobDE]

And that is exactly what I was told. I just feel like my lilies could be doing better......

 

[addy1]

I put osmocote under the litter, seldom add pond tabs

 

[BKHpondcritters]

I have done both - years I fertilized the lilies a lot, and years I never fertilized them. I definitely get much better performance out of them when I use Pondtabbs every two weeks.

 

[BobDE]

Thanks foe the replies!

 

[seandelevan]

Yeah for the first 5 years or so I never fertilized them but began to notice fewer and smaller blooms. Started with the spikes. Made no difference. So last fall I addd a healthy dose of osmocote to their containers. We’ll see what happens.

 

[brokensword]

use a fertilizer high in phosphorus as that is the ingredient for blooms. If you think you should have more pads, then use high in nitrogen. Water lilies tend to be heavy feeders, though don't necessarily clean the water column that well.