Fertilizer tips, anyone? Water lily question.

[Mmathis]

I’ll bet you never thought you’d be seeing anyone complain about having too many lily blooms! I repotted these guys in the spring and initially they put out just tons of pads — and it’s really the pads that I want! I need the surface coverage more than I need blooms. And now that the plants have gone into hyperdrive on flower production, the number and size of the pads is suffering.

I used a 10-14-8 fertilizer tablet. I know that the numbers tell you the proportion of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium available to the plant. I can never remember which element does which, but I think I need more of the one that promotes lots of green, leafy growth and less flower production.

Yesterday I had a record 8 blooms on Sioux (yellow in foreground), and 4 on a mystery white (background). But the pad production has diminished— just when I really need the coverage the most! Our temps are already hitting triple digits.

Fertilizer recommendations, anyone? Or am I just over reacting, and this is normal.....?

 

[mrsclem]

That is an odd problem TM! Most of us want more flowers. I believe the 1st number is for plant growth and 2nd for flower production. I have over fertilized my lotus and now have 7 buds and a plant that has jumped the pot and will soon fill the pond. I was going to ask if you could shade the pond but---DUH! Obviously, that's the reason for the post! You may end up with enough flowers to shade your pond.

 

[bagsmom]

I saw a thread on here a couple of days ago -- discussing lilies and saying that Sioux is a crazy bloomer! Flowers and pads are all very pretty!

 

[Lisak1]

OK - now you're just bragging. haha!

Some things I've read say high phosphorus makes for more blooms; others say that's nonsense. And still others say it works but only if your soil is low in phosphorous to begin with. So there ya go! Was that helpful?

Do you groom the dying pads? I'd get in there an pull anything that shows any signs of aging. Mine produce pads much faster if I keep them aggressively groomed. My husband always panics after one of my grooming attacks because I pull too many "still OK" pads - but within a few days we'll have lots of new ones coming.

 

[Mmathis]

OK - now you're just bragging. haha!

Some things I've read say high phosphorus makes for more blooms; others say that's nonsense. And still others say it works but only if your soil is low in phosphorous to begin with. So there ya go! Was that helpful?

Do you groom the dying pads? I'd get in there an pull anything that shows any signs of aging. Mine produce pads much faster if I keep them aggressively groomed. My husband always panics after one of my grooming attacks because I pull too many "still OK" pads - but within a few days we'll have lots of new ones coming.

I will try that! I try to keep them trimmed, but this year I have both pots closer to the center of the pond so it’s harder to get to them with my trimmer. Guess I’ll just have to get wet!

 

[Bluerooster]

How close to crop the stems when "grooming"? I've been just reaching in as far as I can without falling in, anf pinching off the dead pads, and blooms.

 

[Lisak1]

How close to crop the stems when "grooming"? I've been just reaching in as far as I can without falling in, anf pinching off the dead pads, and blooms.

That works. Sometimes I get them at the base - if they're real soft they break off near the bad. It's all good!