Tropical lily advice?

[piscesmoon]

Hi, I am in Florida zone 9a. The current temps are ranging 60-70F during the day but anywhere from 45-55F at night. I received 3 tropical water lilies in the mail that I thought were going to be sent out next month lol-but surprise they are here early! One is actively growing and has roots and pads. The other two are still dormant bulbs. I am planning to grow these in water containers (big tubs).

Should I go ahead an pot them up and put them in the water tubs now or should I try to do something else with them until my night temps get higher? Usually March 5th or so is our supposed last frost date although we don't freeze often.

 

[addy1]

you would probably be fine to put them out now. Those that grow them all the time will chime in, I have had a few and have put them out when it was still cold and they did fine.

 

[piscesmoon]

Hi, thanks for your reply, I guess I spoke too soon because now tonight they are predicting 32F LOL! Its always kinda iffy until March here so that's why I was a little worried. I'm not as worried about the dormant looking ones as I am about the growing one. I took them out and put them in some room temp water (we have well water) in a tall container in my bathtub by the window for now. I hope that is okay! If its nice out tomorrow I guess will go ahead an pot them up.
I have another question....On one of the dormant looking tubers that I received, when I took it out of the ziplock, it has a sour odor to it. Does that mean its bad? It feels firm. I rinsed it off and very gently trimmed off the dead vegetation (old black roots) from the bottom of it. It smells a little better now but I can still smell the sour a little lol.

 

[addy1]

Best bet since they are babies, keep in the house in a tub of water in a window with the most light you have and warm. That will get them going a little too. My guess is the odor was the dead roots rotting a little. It should be fine as long as the tuber is firm

 

[piscesmoon]

Ok thanks!
I have another waterlily question but I want to post some pics too so I am trying to get enough posts to be able to post the photos lol.. A few years ago, I had 2 tropical waterlilies (Panama Pacific and Red Flare) that I grew in large water tubs. They did really well that way. We moved to another house and I had put all my lilies in a bog type planter (very large) until I could get everything situated at the new place. Well I found the yellow hardy waterlily I had in there and potted it into a different water planter. I couldn't find the 2 tropical ones. A few days ago, I decided to dump that bog planter and redo the whole thing. Well deep in the mucky mud near the bottom I find what really looks like 3 tropical water lily bulbs!!! They are firm but look dormant. Now my question is: Is it possible these things are still alive but just dormant after 2 years?

 

[addy1]

you know I don't know that much about tropicals, but member adavisus really knows them, he may be able to answer that. I have hardies, just played with tropicals.

 

[piscesmoon]

Ok hopefully someone can chime in. I am posting some pics of the bulbs I found to see if anyone else thinks these are tropical waterlilies lol...hope it works lol

 

[adavisus]

Yup, they are tropical waterlily tubers, probably grown from viviparous starts of Panama Pacific. One looks like it has a sprout

They go from sprouting to blooming in about a month in conditions they like. A viable tuber will sprout in a week or two indoors. Keep greedyguts fish away from waterlilies when they are starting up!

Separate any that have any bad smell, that is not good. At all. Rotting tubers can foul water to the extent it stops others from sprouting

Regards, andy
http://swglist.wordpress.com/
http://www.pinterest.com/adavisus/pondering/

 

[piscesmoon]

Thanks so much for the speedy reply I am so happy that they could be Panama Pacific tubers! I do remember that one making baby vivips alot. I liked that one because they are so fun to watch the little babies coming off the leaves. I hope at least one will make it.
These 3 have no bad odor and the bulbs are firm. I was really surprised to find them after all that time.

One of the new dormant bulbs that I bought does have a sour odor. I notified the seller just in case, to see what they would say.
So that one should be separated from the others? Uh Oh, I had already stuck it in the water container in my bathroom with all the others LOL.
I will go pull it out right away and put it by itself. Darn, the smelly one is the one I really wanted the most grrrr. Is there anything that I can do to treat the smelly tuber? It is a SOUR smell. It did have some old black roots on it that I trimmed off but it still is a little smelly. The bulb feels firm though.
Thanks again!

 

[adavisus]

What is the one that is a bit whiffy? If it is cold killed or the starch of the tuber is rotting, I would not be optimistic

Regards, andy
http://swglist.wordpress.com/
http://www.pinterest.com/adavisus/pondering/

 

[piscesmoon]

Hi, the smelly one is King of Siam, one I've been wanting to try for some time. The seller got back to me and told me to go ahead and plant it and see if it grows. They said if it doesn't grow they will send a new one which makes me feel a lot better
Hopefully everything will be okay. The smell does remind me of some colocasia bulbs that I had one time that started to rot...I will pot it and keep it separate from the others until I am sure what is going on with that one. Crossing my fingers

The good news is that I just checked the other tropical bulb that looked dormant that they sent me "Red Cup" and it already grew some little roots and sent up a 2" shoot since yesterday! Yeah !

 

[addy1]

I have a friend that sales growing tropical lilys during the summer, beautiful plants, one is king of siam. I have bought a few, but they just don't like my area. If yours don't do well I will see if she has some for sale later in the summer.

 

[piscesmoon]

That's so sweet thank you.

 

[addy1]

Glad to help

 

[adavisus]

You may see Red Cup twiddle its thumbs in cooler temps, the night bloomers generally prefer higher temps to get going. King of Siam does well in cooler waters, at room temp under a good light I'd expect a KOS to take off fast, while the night bloomer dawdles some. It's possible a dead, dying tuber can sprout a new plant from it's growing point when on its last legs. I hope they are not costing you more than $15...

Regards, andy
http://swglist.wordpress.com/
http://www.pinterest.com/adavisus/pondering/

 

[addy1]

I paid 8-12 bucks for the growing plants and shipping.

 

[piscesmoon]

I don't think I paid too much for it but kinda expected an actual plant rather than a dormant tuber because that's what was advertised. The red cup is looking even better today. Nothing from the King of Siam yet. I am going to go ahead and pot them up and put them outside tomorrow. We are supposed to be in the high 70's-80 F the rest of the week so I think they will be okay. I can either cover or move the containers into the greenhouse or somewhere, if I have to, if it freezes again. I will be glad when the weather straightens itself out. I am going to have to go buy some more water container for my hardy yellow ones. Now that I found those Panama Pacific bulbs I am short on containers lol.

 

[adavisus]

A tuber is more practical to post, assuming they are in good condition they are much tougher than a grown out plant. If when planted a cold spell swings in plant shock can destroy grown out soft celled plants. Heat waves can do the same, far more vulnerable to plant shock.

Best thing about tubers, you see a pristine plant start up, rather than some gnarly roots, jaded leaves, kinda sorta thinking about adapting to a different pond, with a few new shoots muddling through. If the weather turns nasty it's much easier to scoot the sprouting tuber back indoors...

Regards, andy
http://swglist.wordpress.com/
http://www.pinterest.com/adavisus/pondering/

 

[piscesmoon]

That does make sense. No growth from the King but the smallest Panama Pacific tuber has some tiny roots growing from it. The Red Cup still looks really good. I planted them all outside yesterday in their permanent containers. The one that is a plant, Pamela is loving the sunshine and putting up a new tiny leaf already.
I am getting some lotus pots ready so I can grow lotus again. Got the pots repainted and now resealing the insides.
I haven't had lotus since we moved here. I used to grow some smaller varieties in containers and kinda miss having them.
Does anyone know a good source for the smaller or bowl type lotus tubers that is not too expensive? I haven't been able to find any locally.

 

[piscesmoon]

Just an update on the Panama Pacific Tubers that had been dormant for 2 years in the bog. All three have sprouted and have quite a few leaves now. The leaves sure are reddish in color so I will know for sure when they flower if they are Panama Pacific or the Red Flare waterlilies (Those were the two that I had in the original tub when I found the tubers).