How to Pot up a Water Lilly

Water lilies can be tropical or hardy. Tropical water lilies grow in zones 8b and 9 of the USDA zone areas. Some tropical water lilies bloom at night and some during the day, but all grow vertically so they can be put in a smaller pot. They generally do not last through a freeze unless special care is taken. Hardy water lilies, on the other hand, grow anywhere. They die in the winter and return each spring. Hardy water lilies grow horizontally, so they need a wider pot.All lilies will grow larger if they are planted in larger pots, so don't be afraid to use a large pot.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Aquatic plant pots, at least 10 inches wide for tropical lilies and 14 to 16 inches wide for hardy lilies
• Water lily tubers
• Aquatic soil or a loam garden soil.
• Aquatic plant fertilizer
• Washed pea gravel

1. Fill the pots about half full of garden loam. Add between 2 and 4 aquatic plant fertilizer tabs, usually one tab per gallon of pot. Fill the pot to within 2 inches of the top.

2. Set the tuber in straight and gently tamp the soil. Add 1 inch of pea gravel to keep the soil in the pot, but do not cover the tip of the tuber or the crown, leaving the pea gravel an inch away all around.

3. Put the lily in the water to a depth of 6 inches below the top of the pot.

4. Prep hardy water lily pots almost the same way as tropicals. The difference is that they grow horizontally, so plant the rhizome at a 45-degree angle at one edge of the container with the top of the rhizome exposed. Again, cover with pea gravel, but leave the top and about 1 inch all the way around the rhizome uncovered.

5. Lower the pot to 12 to 18 inches below the surface of the pond as the leaves of both types of lilies reach the top of the pond. Continue to fertilize every 2 to 4 weeks throughout the summer months until the lilies go dormant in the fall.

Tips & Warnings

• If you have tropical water lilies, buy both night bloomers and day bloomers. That way you will have blooms day and night.
• Fertilize every 2 to 4 weeks. If the pads get small or the lilies stop blooming, you are not fertilizing enough. You may want to stagger the fertilizer schedule so the pond does not have a an algae bloom, as fertilizer feeds algae too.

Resources