Poor lilly

[James_Pond]

My pond is just over a year old. I put a lilly in it straight away and got lots of leaves last year, but no flower. This year, again I've had a few leaves, but they are very dark and seem paper thin. They have each ripped fairly soon after appearing, almost like a triangle has been sliced out of it.

Is there a reason for this?

 

[sissy]

not enough fertilizer ,plus is it getting enough sun

 

[James_Pond]

Fertiliser?

The pond is south facing and is not in shade so it does get as much sun as it possibly could. I am in Scotland so it's never going to be tropical.

 

[tbendl]

James you can add a fertilizer stick to the lily pot and it might help.

 

[James_Pond]

I don't have it in a pot. I don't have any pots in the pond. I'll see if I can try something like that though.

 

[MitchM]

If you're in Scotland, your water temperature may not get high enough.
Check that before fertilizing.
Let us know what the water temperature is and which water lily you have.

 

[addy1]

Mine are behind this year, our water temps have stayed in the 60's with this swinging up and down temperatures we have had. They started growing in March, then slowed way down, just now starting to get going. Water temp now high 60 low 70.

 

[mrtrumpet]

Do you have koi? They love to eat lilly roots. I get an occasional bloom but, for the most part. not...

 

[James_Pond]

I have no fish in the pond. It's a wildlife pond. I suspect it's just the temperature. My neighbour has a small bucket pond and her lilly has never flowered either.

 

[adavisus]

Depends on the waterlily, some are shy bloomers, or have low bloom to pad ratios, like one bloom to fifty pads.

Fertilising does double and triple blooms, a handful of wood ash and two cubic inches of a well balanced fertiliser inserted within the plant tub should find out what it can do....

Ponds can be over planted, where competition for yummy nutrients is such that heavy feeders like water lilies pout...

Similar happens if your ph levels are over 8ph

 

[James_Pond]

I don't have it in a basket. I have literally plonked it on the bottom, held down with a few rocks. I've done that with all of my plants. The pond is not over planted. I actually think I don't have enough. I guess because I have taken away a lot of the soil that was in the pot that could be the reason. Hopefully in time the roots will grow more and grab all of the nutrients available in the pond. The leaves certainly grow well. I have 4-5 constantly and as quickly as they are ripping up they are replaced with more leaves.

 

[cas]

Similar happens if your ph levels are over 8ph

So water lilies like a pH less than 8?

 

[tbendl]

Hmm that might explain why my lilies are slow to grow this year. Although I have no idea what my ph was in previous years

 

[cas]

I just put some aquatic curly mint in the pond and the leaves are starting to turn yellow. I wonder if they don't like high pH too.