What happened to my water lily pads?

[Max Hadrian]

Hi, can someone please tell me what are those spots on my water lily pad and the solution is?

It's a juvenile tropical water lily (less than 2 months old and not flowing nor having a fully developed pads yet).

 

[Lisak1]

Welcome to the GPF!

What are you growing this lily in? Pond or small pool? It's hard to say exactly but those holes can appear if the lily is getting splashing on the leaves and it gets hot. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Just let them age out and remove them when they get too shabby.

 

[Max Hadrian]

Welcome to the GPF!

What are you growing this lily in? Pond or small pool? It's hard to say exactly but those holes can appear if the lily is getting splashing on the leaves and it gets hot. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Just let them age out and remove them when they get too shabby.

Thank you Lisak1.

I'm growing the lily in a pot, inside a bucket with full direct sunlight, almost a whole day. I live in Singapore where the weather can get quite hot in the afternoon, but it's been cloudy with small to heavy rain this past few days. I'm worried if those are sign of pest.

 

[Mmathis]

Agree, it looks like water spots that have been exposed to sunlight. The water droplets act like little lenses (magnifying glass) and concentrate the sunlight. Not saying that’s what it is, just that’s what it looks like. Could also be small caterpillars, but they usually look different. Check the undersides of the pads for insects/caterpillars.

 

[Max Hadrian]

Agree, it looks like water spots that have been exposed to sunlight. The water droplets act like little lenses (magnifying glass) and concentrate the sunlight. Not saying that’s what it is, just that’s what it looks like. Could also be small caterpillars, but they usually look different. Check the undersides of the pads for insects/caterpillars.

I just check out on the water lily. It's evening here and I read that many insects are nocturnal. I saw an ant and a tiny white insect that move quite fast on the pad and the water surface. I scoop em all with a net and top up the water.

I have several water lilies that I kept in a bucket for each one. Most of them are still young. Only two of them got these spots. The others are not. So if these are water spots, they should affecting all the lilies, right?

 

[Lisak1]

Not necessarily. Some varieties have more tender leaves I've found. But flip the leaves over - that's where you'd see pests that might be eating holes. Honestly though to me they just look like aging pads.

 

[addy1]

A lot of our lily leaves have that look mainly the old ones.

 

[Max Hadrian]

Ok everyone, it might be just normal aging leaves and I'm just being to worry. I've check the underside and no sign of insect. Thank for the answer. I'll keep checking on their progress of course.