Water lilies and fertilizer

[lmbauer2017]

Pretty little water feature! Just FYI - those look like normally aging water lily pads to me. They don't last forever - they're always cycling through fading pads being replaced with fresh, new ones. I get into my pond & clip off the "ugly" fading ones every week or two during the growing season.

Reeeeally? Jeez that would be fantastic news. I didn’t realize the pads lasted such a short amount of time, and probably due to the lack of sunlight the new pads couldn’t grow fast enough to keep up with the old ones. This year I’ve moved the lily to a newly added container which is further from under the tree and (thanks to the HOA) had to remove my fence cover. So now it should get 2-3 times more sunlight. Thank you for the info!

 

[dinm]

I have a dwarf water lily in a very small (40gal) patio pond. There's a fence cover that blocks sunlight, and it's underneath a potted large esperansa tree. It get's probably 2-3hrs of direct sunlight lol. It grew a good amount of pads that were beautiful. The flowers didn't come though I'm sure partly because of the sun, but mostly the esperansa above it was dropping in leaves that had leafspot, which transfered to the lily pads really bad. Each pad had a lifespan of about 1 month

But! it's def possible and I think looked not bad for what I was working with haha.
View attachment 162600
(sorry for the nighttime pic, I work long hours and don't get to see the pond in the sun often)


And a couple months later when the leafspot started taking hold...
View attachment 162601

Good to hear someone that grows them in shade, but yeah that's just aging.

 

[KeeperOfThePond]

I live in NW Arkansas. I bought hardy water lilies at Lowes. I have never given them any fertilizer or divided them. Just placed them in the pond in the pots they came in. They bloom starting in the spring and bloom all summer. In the fall I pull out the dead parts. They have spread all over the bottom of my pond. I have 30-50 goldfish of different sizes, trapdoor snails (that are reproducing), frogs, toads, and a juvenile snapping turtle that passes through every year. My pond is 12'x24'x3' ft. I have 5 aerators that run 24/7 and a skimmer, biofalls that I put on for 10 min. every day ( I lose water when it runs). My water is crystal clear, but I get algae on the rocks. I don't feed my fish at all. I thought lilies would be hard to grow, but no!

 

[dinm]

I live in NW Arkansas. I bought hardy water lilies at Lowes. I have never given them any fertilizer or divided them. Just placed them in the pond in the pots they came in. They bloom starting in the spring and bloom all summer. In the fall I pull out the dead parts. They have spread all over the bottom of my pond. I have 30-50 goldfish of different sizes, trapdoor snails (that are reproducing), frogs, toads, and a juvenile snapping turtle that passes through every year. My pond is 12'x24'x3' ft. I have 5 aerators that run 24/7 and a skimmer, biofalls that I put on for 10 min. every day ( I lose water when it runs). My water is crystal clear, but I get algae on the rocks. I don't feed my fish at all. I thought lilies would be hard to grow, but no!

well naturally they grow where organic matter accumulates, I have seen though videos comparing fertilized lilies and non fertilized ones, the ones that werent fertilized were much less in comparison to the fertilized ones. But of course this could be due to people cleaning muck, im guessing it might be that. This would be my first year (though i planted them in november) where I bought a pot for them, put 2 in one pot, it's big but not big enough, I'm having already 6-7 pads under a tree. I haven't fertilized, the soil I used was my own garden soil.

Water fringes last year I grew in just rocks, it was small, had 5-6 pads but its water fringe so its not like its gonna provide some sort of great cover unless there's a ton of it.

Thinking of adding one or two more water lilies in the 24 inch section, as these ones I have at 3ft more or less.

 

[JMJ]

I live in NW Arkansas. I bought hardy water lilies at Lowes. I have never given them any fertilizer or divided them. Just placed them in the pond in the pots they came in. They bloom starting in the spring and bloom all summer. In the fall I pull out the dead parts. They have spread all over the bottom of my pond. I have 30-50 goldfish of different sizes, trapdoor snails (that are reproducing), frogs, toads, and a juvenile snapping turtle that passes through every year. My pond is 12'x24'x3' ft. I have 5 aerators that run 24/7 and a skimmer, biofalls that I put on for 10 min. every day ( I lose water when it runs). My water is crystal clear, but I get algae on the rocks. I don't feed my fish at all. I thought lilies would be hard to grow, but no!

You live in an awesome place, I lived 3.5 years in Fort Smith and spent a lot of time up towards Fayetteville.

I do much the same with my native water lilies, bare roots anchored down under flagstone, driftwood and other large rock and haven’ t fertilized with anything except an iron supplement a few years ago. I get about 1-1.5 months per pad. I’m on my 3rd bloom for the season.

 

[jimbo]

My water lilies are doing quite nice right now, almost reached the surface. I bought one of those pond baskets a while ago, filled it up with garden clay soil. But what kind of fertilizer do I need to use? I don't have the specialized water lily ones where I live, not sure if Osmocote slow release is okay.

 

[jimbo]

If you have a Koi pond or a pond with any fish, you might be concerned about the phosphorus in the osmicoat fertilizer. The plant fertilizers for pond use don’t have any phosphorus in it.

 

[BKHpondcritters]

If you have a Koi pond or a pond with any fish, you might be concerned about the phosphorus in the osmicoat fertilizer. The plant fertilizers for pond use don’t have any phosphorus in it.

Yes they do.

Amazon.com

 

[LHB]

I need help choosing a new pump/skimmer. I have an approximate 5000 gallon pond with a 4 tier waterfall. I HATE the aquascape pump that I have as it's very difficult for a woman with short arms to reattach the net elastic cords without falling in. My preference would be something smaller and a strainer that easily lifts out for cleaning. Any suggestions?

 

[j.w]

I need help choosing a new pump/skimmer. I have an approximate 5000 gallon pond with a 4 tier waterfall. I HATE the aquascape pump that I have as it's very difficult for a woman with short arms to reattach the net elastic cords without falling in. My preference would be something smaller and a strainer that easily lifts out for cleaning. Any suggestions?

Wow, beautiful falls! Can't help ya w/the new type replacement pump. I do like Laguna pumps due to their less power consumption but not sure they have one to fit your needs.

 

[jimbo]

Yes they do.

Amazon.com

The Laguna plant stakes that I use have very low phosphorus. I think if you were to use fertilizer with phosphorus in a few plants in the pond, it probably will not be an issue. However, if you’re going to fertilize a number of plants, you might wanna watch the phosphorus level in your water.

 

[dinm]

I haven't fertilized them since I replied, and in that time as it got more warm and now it's quite hot, they have blown up in growth. Even in shade it's spread is decent and it's just put out a flower bud which I hope it is because I've never seen a water lily bloom in person it certainly seems to be one.

It seems they really like the heavy clay soil I put in back November when I added them.

 

[dinm]

i just confirmed it is an actual bud. not even small it's just like on the images. very close to the surface. i am very surprised given this is 3ft deep so i guess it has plenty energy and sun (relatively speaking) if it can bloom.