Water Lilies

[Curious_George]

Hi

I'm a complete newb to garden ponds, so please be gentle

I've been building a small fish pond these past few weeks and now am gradually introducing some plants:

Bought a water lilly at the weekend, which had a recommended planting depth of 12-36 inches.

On the internet I've read that people think lilies seem to do well at a deeper depth.

Though I'm a bit worried planting them deep as the pads are totally submerged.

At the moment its at about 15 inchs with half the pads at the surface, though ideally id like it to go down to 2 feet

My pond is a max depth of 3 foot, with shelves at 1 and 2 foot deep, i can also use some bricks to adjust the planting depth.


Any thoughts?

Thanks

 

[falconut]

I'm a noob too. Just built my 400+ gallon pond this spring. Got 3 lillies and set them on shelves 12" & 18" deep. They're all doing great. From what I've heard, the pads will rise up to the surface, so you should be able to place them lower if you'd like. Here's some photos of mine. The ones on the right are 12" down & the left one is 18" down. There's many more pads now as these photos are a month old. The pads from the left and right now merge. I love the look and the fish love the cover and spend the day weaving in and out of them.

 

[Curious_George]

Thanks for the reply.

I might lower mine a little bit then, they look healthy at the current depth though i'm a bit concious of cluttering my pond up with bricks, would rather they sat on the shelf i built for them.

Yours are looking very nice, i'm impressed with the flower, i hope mine flourish as much as that!

 

[Mmathis]

Hi

I'm a complete newb to garden ponds, so please be gentle

I've been building a small fish pond these past few weeks and now am gradually introducing some plants:

Bought a water lilly at the weekend, which had a recommended planting depth of 12-36 inches.

On the internet I've read that people think lilies seem to do well at a deeper depth.

Though I'm a bit worried planting them deep as the pads are totally submerged.

At the moment its at about 15 inchs with half the pads at the surface, though ideally id like it to go down to 2 feet

My pond is a max depth of 3 foot, with shelves at 1 and 2 foot deep, i can also use some bricks to adjust the planting depth.


Any thoughts?

Thanks

Hello, and welcome!

OK, I promise to "be gentle" on one condition..... Where is Somerset? And if it's in the UK, you can't say, "It's in the UK." See, I'm a "UK Newb," as well as a pond newb -- my ponding education is coming along, but my geography education, well, leaves a lot to be desired.... Soooo, I need help to learn about the UK!

Can't help too much about lilies, as I usually just do whatever they (the GPF members) say. I do know that of the varieties I have, some like to be a little more shallow than others, so I play it by ear. You can start out on the shallow side, then lower them a little, gradually -- I just recently read something about how to know when they're at the best depth, but I don't recall what it said (sorry, not much help there, am I?). I would guess that too shallow would be better than too deep. And your pads WILL grow up to the surface, as falconut mentioned. You're probably OK with either your deeper shelves, or you could add something at the 3' depth to sit the pots on if you wanted them deeper. I'd recommend using something that's open -- like a plastic crate -- as opposed to bricks or blocks. The reason being, the crate not only won't displace much water (IOW, take up valuable space), but it gives the fish a nice place to hide.

Would love to see pictures of your pond!

 

[cr8tivguy]

I purchased two lilies from a local guy and expressed my concern about the leaves not being long enough to reach the surface. He said that they will grow to the surface and not to worry about the leaves being underwater. I thought this sounded weird to me since all I've read is placing lilies on shelves in ponds, etc.

But looking at his 100+ plant collection thriving, I figured he knew what he was saying, so I just submerged my plants.

The leaves were a good 12 inches below the surface when I installed the pots. Within a couple of days, the leaves were on the surface floating-like they were suppose to. Now, I have blooms! It's been less than a month.

They are hardy lilies (white blooms with yellow centers). I have no idea what the variety is other than they are a hardy variety.

Note: the lilies I purchased were fully leafed out- not rhizomes and that could be why they were able to be completely submerged. Also, they are submerged in 3.5 feet of water.

 

[falconut]

Thanks for the reply.

I might lower mine a little bit then, they look healthy at the current depth though i'm a bit concious of cluttering my pond up with bricks, would rather they sat on the shelf i built for them.

Yours are looking very nice, i'm impressed with the flower, i hope mine flourish as much as that!

Thanks. Was happy with their growth as well. I've had around 10 flowers so far this summer. I push in 1 aquatic fertilizer tablet every month for each one as people have directed. Good luck with yours.

 

[addy1]

I have mine from a foot to 3 foot deep they all grow about the same. (hardies) One is only around 8 inches deep it never stops blooming

 

[CountryEscape]

I had a lily on a shelf, it fell off and went to the bottom, and is doing just as good as it was on the shelf. Doesn't matter if they have leaves or not, you can put them at whatever depth you want them to be in. In the spring, when the water is colder, sometimes people will repot their lilies, and keep them closer to the surface to get them growing faster. Other than that, they can go at whatever depth you put them in. I just recently got a tuber from another ponder, put it in 3' of water (it had leaves on it, too) and the longest leaf was still under water. Within 1 day there were 3 leaves on the surface, and within 4 days there was a bloom. Granted, the bloom was already started, but point being they will grow to the surface. So, plant away, put them where you want, and then enjoy them!
It helps to fertilize them when you first plant them, and then at least once a summer, more often if you think of it while they are blooming. I found that one of my lilies must have been fertilized early, when I repotted it, then again about a month later, and I must have overdone it both times. LOL Now I have HUGE dark green leaves that are bunching up on each other, and the buds are having a hard time getting through the mess. So, don't overdo the feeding. If you use plant tabs, 1-3 per plant is good. If you use granular, you can wrap it in a piece of paper towel, make a hole in the potting medium, and push it down, then cover it with medium or a rock. The paper towel will slowly dissolve, and the fertilizer will do the same. Works well, and granular is much cheaper than the plant tabs. Get the stuff that has the high number in the middle (i.e. 8-20-8). Good luck!

 

[JBtheExplorer]

On the internet I've read that people think lilies seem to do well at a deeper depth.

Well, I'm fairly new to this too. The only thing I can say is that last year I had the top of the pot they were in about 8" or less under water because they were in a tiny 30g pond, but they did very well. I found myself cutting pads off daily because they were overpowering my tiny pond. This year, they had a slow start. I didn't get them outside until late April and they've just begun reaching the top of my new 400g pond, so I don't really have expectations for them this year, and I don't really have experience with them at different levels.

Here is a photo of last year when the first flower bloomed:

 

[Frankp]

Is there a trick to getting them to grow? I bought two lillies from Menards that were already potted and supposedly all that is required is to put it in the water. I did that over a month ago and so far have not seen any growth. Is it possible the koi are eating the plant?

 

[JBtheExplorer]

Is there a trick to getting them to grow? I bought two lillies from Menards that were already potted and supposedly all that is required is to put it in the water. I did that over a month ago and so far have not seen any growth. Is it possible the koi are eating the plant?

My current water lilies are from Menards. No trick. From what I remember it was around two weeks after I got them they began putting up pads. You can see the photo above of how they looked in late summer after having them about 3 months.

However, like I said in the last post, this year they just started growing about two weeks ago. I thought they were dead so I was about to through it out. Instead, I split some of it and kept them and they began growing a couple weeks ago. I'm not exactly sure why they took so long, maybe because they were indoors until late april.

 

[CountryEscape]

If you got them from Menards, and could not see any growth (did you peek in the dirt before you put the pot in the pond?), they are probably dead. At the Menards in Effingham, IL, I probably would not have purchased one after about a month of them having them on the shelves. I doubt any that are left will grow. Last year, they had them in plastic bags covering the tuber in a tiny pot. You could see the tuber coming up out of the pot, and knew it was alive. This year they did them differently. I would guess if it didn't grow yet, it's dead. Take it back. Best part about Menards is they don't even hassle you, they will take it back. If you bought with Menards card, you can get a new receipt from their machine. Can you tell I shop at Menards at LOT?! :blueflower: And, that all being said, my original lilies were ALL from Menards. The only one that did not grow was one that I really wanted the color (dark red) and although I didn't see any growth, I was hopeful. Nothing ever grew from it, and I didn't even think of returning it. If they have any still on the shelves (they do here ...), open them up and try to see if you can feel a tuber in the dirt, and if it's still firm. If it's mushy or soft, it's dead.
OK, so if you want a "live" lily, just let me know. I have a BUNCH in my pond, far too many, been giving them away for the cost of postage. I'd be happy to send you a couple or few or whatever you want! I have dark pink and white for sure, maybe a light pink, too. Again, they are from Menards originally, and are blooming well. They will be big, so keep that in mind. What size pond you have will dictate how many you want or should have. Most of mine from Menards spread out about 3' in diameter. PM me if you're interested.

 

[Frankp]

Went and pulled one of the pots out and took a good look and found a couple of small sprouts, must be slow starters LOL. appreciate the help and the offer Country, but my pond is not very big so I better stick with what I have for the time being.