Water lily with splotches on leaves -- cause?

[Mmathis]

@addy1 @minnowman @adavisus @fishin4cars

Yesterday I noticed that some of my lily leaves were developing spots (see pic). When I repotted them a few weeks ago, I added Osmocote. But this looks like some kind of deficiency. I don't recall what lily this is [a hardy], but I don't think I bought any that had naturally mottled leaves... Any thoughts?

 

[Lisak1]

It looks like it might be some of the earliest pads that are spotted? Mine will do this as they start to die off and the first few pads seem to be more fragile than they are once the plant really gets to sending up pads.

 

[Mmathis]

@Lisak1 Thanks for responding! So it might be simply the early stages for the natural pad to die off? I tried to Google this, but couldn't find a thing that described these yellow dots.....

At first, only one plant had this, but yesterday I noticed that all 4 of them have at least one yellow-spotted pad. There are some that are turning the normal yellow, as well, and there are plenty of new pads being formed. To me, it looks like the spotted ones are pads that are in their mid-cycle life period -- not the oldest ones, not the youngest ones. And I don't recall seeing this in the past.

If it's a disease or a deficiency of some kind, want to nip it in the bud -- "nip it, nip it, nip it!" [to quote Barney Fife]

 

[addy1]

I don't pay that much attention to mine to even notice spots. As long as pads come up to replace the dieing ones I don't worry about the plant. They grow like weeds, bloom constantly.

 

[fishin4cars]

Maggie, I've seen this before, usually on hardies. I think some of it is a nutrition deficiency, and or excessive nutrient reaching the plant. Personally I wouldn't worry a whole lot as long as it's the splotching of coloration in the leaves. you can try changing planting media, and or change what your feeding. I started mixing in crawfish castles that I mix with a little water and a drill mixer, then add river sand. I started trying to do this with kitty litter and it worked ok, the crawfish mound idea I got from minnowman and I've noticed improvement in growth and the # of flowers and feeding them less.

 

[addy1]

up here in the cold north I have never seen a crawfish castle..........so sticking with kitty litter

Neat idea

btw I looked at my lilies, after reading this, none have the splotches, all are planted in kitty litter with osmocote on the bottom

 

[Mmathis]

Maggie, I've seen this before, usually on hardies. I think some of it is a nutrition deficiency, and or excessive nutrient reaching the plant. Personally I wouldn't worry a whole lot as long as it's the splotching of coloration in the leaves. you can try changing planting media, and or change what your feeding. I started mixing in crawfish castles that I mix with a little water and a drill mixer, then add river sand. I started trying to do this with kitty litter and it worked ok, the crawfish mound idea I got from minnowman and I've noticed improvement in growth and the # of flowers and feeding them less.

We call them crawfish chimneys, but I know what you're talking about. So, is this the planting media? And is the overall effect meant to control the consistency of the media?

up here in the cold north I have never seen a crawfish castle..........so sticking with kitty litter

Neat idea

btw I looked at my lilies, after reading this, none have the splotches, all are planted in kitty litter with osmocote on the bottom

When I repotted earlier in the season, I mixed sand with kitty litter and spread the Osmocote on the bottom. Maybe I used too much....?

 

[Mmathis]

I had a silly accident last week. A piece of air-line tubing was caught in some pads, and when I tried to pull it free, the entire lily & crate combo tumbled over! So...... I went into the pond to fix things [so nice -- I DO love the water]. I envisioned a royal mess, but the lily roots made a nice mesh that held everything together, so the only issue, really, was scooping up the gravel. I just popped the lily back in its pot [a WallyWord oil pan]. Of course, my "layer" of osmocote was either already absorbed or was now free-flowing in the water, LOL!

Then I went around to each lily [of 4] and cut off all the splotchy, yellowed, and almost-gone leaves. Now I can observe with a fresh start -- to see what chain of events happens with the pads.

This particular lily was the one with the majority of the yellow splotched pads [each of the other 3 had maybe 1 or 2 with slight splotches]. It's going into its 3rd season. When I repotted it earlier in the spring, I don't recall that there was much root mass. Yet, when I "rescued" it last week, the root growth was massive! I would say it was very close to being root-bound in that WallyWord pan. Yet, it's still producing pads like crazy. Has had 1 bloom this season, but it was never much of a producer in the past.

So, @addy1 and @fishin4cars, based on your previous insights......

1. Wondering if the size of the pot [WallyWorld oil pan] is an issue? Or do they like to be slightly root-bound? This one is growing so well that I would hate to do anything with it now other than re-pot it into a larger pot. BTW, all of my lilies are of the "small to medium" size range, if that makes a difference.

But I don't want to be re-potting lilies mid-season every year, so ideally would like to have and start out each season with each one in a pot that will acommodate it. I saw some livestock feed bowls at Tractor Supply that are round, but a little larger and taller [but not by much] than the oil pans. Very heavy and indestrucable [think horses eating from them, stomping them, flipping them over, LOL!].

2. Or did I add too much Osmocote? I used a couple of scoop-fulls......

 

[addy1]

All of mine are in wally oil pans. All in kitty litter, all with a clump of osmocote in the bottom around 1/4 cup.

 

[Mmathis]

Lily pad update: ( go back and read initial post....)

It's been a week since I snipped off all of the splotched and/or dying pads.

The yellow spots are returning ( see photo* ) and they seem to appear on pads at every stage of "life" (see the baby pad I circled). Really, is this something I even need to worry about.....?

*I couldn't get a good exposure of the pads (iPhone camera), so I tried to darken the image -- I hope you can see the spots. They are much more pronounced in real life!

 

[addy1]

IMHO no

 

[Mmathis]

IMHO no

Then I'll stop worrying

Thanks!