Consistent bad luck with water lilies/water gardens in general...

[Stephen Noble]

They grow in virtually anything (sand, mud, gravel etc.) but I found pea gravel and fluorite mix makes them really grow. I used fluorite simply because I had a bunch from planted aquariums and just used some of it. Cat litter works really well too. Just make sure it is pure calcified clay. There are plenty of people on this site who have all sorts of ideas and success so perhaps they will share their ideas. Add fertilizer. Most planting instructions say place them 12" deep but I found a little closer to the surface (initially) will get them started sooner. I've never planted Cannas in a container, only in larger ponds as a marginal. But why not try?

 

[JamieB]

You might test your water, see if the ph is way high or low. If you’re on city water, you might be getting chemicals that are reducing the plant growth, just guessing. Try collecting rain water for your water garden, see if it helps.

 

[Joshaeus]

The PH has never been absurdly high or low, and my aquarium plants grow fine in the same water conditions.

 

[Joshaeus]

Hi everyone! I know this thread has been inactive for a while, but since I am posting about a similar subject I opted not to start a new thread. Here is my current plan for the water garden, ordered step by step;

1 - Start the water lily(s?) indoors a month or two beforehand, in an aquarium;
1a - each lily is started in a 10 gallon aquarium, heated into the low 70's fahrenheit and planted in a 1-1.5 gallon container filled with either a 1:1:1 topsoil/clay cat litter/pool filter sand mix or simply with pea gravel. The tank will start with two 1650 lumen, 5000k daylight bulbs for 12 hours a day (resulting in 19 mols of photosynthetic light over the photoperiod...about 1/2-1/3rd full sunlight). I will add a third such light after a few weeks.

2 - About midway through May, the water lily (assuming it is hardy) will be moved outside to a 15-20 gallon resin pot and situated with the crown about 6 inches from the water surface. The pot will be started with a 200-300 watt titanium heater and shade cloth, which will be lifted a few inches every few days as the water lily adjusts to direct sunlight. If I attempt a tropical lily, it will be treated similarly except it will go out in early June and keep the heater the entire season. Lilies will be ferilized monthly.

3 - On September 15th, the heater will be unplugged. Any tropical lilies will be kept in an aquarium over the winter; hardy lilies will stay outside until they go dormant, at which point I will trim the remaining pads, place it in water garden water in a large ziploc bag, and place that in my fridge until next Spring.

How does this sound? Also, I have read of zeolite being used to reduce ammonia levels (and indirectly algae) in container ponds...how would that work?