Water Lily question

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I have seven pots of lillies which are weighted down with rocks, no dirt. I think its helping keep the water cleaner because the lillies are sucking the nutrients from the water not the dirt. As far as flowering, they started flowering like gang busters but have tappered off now. It may be a seasonal thing because we are now in the rainy season.
 
tuggerd;2170613; said:
I have seven pots of lillies which are weighted down with rocks, no dirt. I think its helping keep the water cleaner because the lillies are sucking the nutrients from the water not the dirt. As far as flowering, they started flowering like gang busters but have tappered off now. It may be a seasonal thing because we are now in the rainy season.

Thanks tuggerd for putting your experience. That means next season I can try the same.
 
Look for some pots like these. I used these as pots for nursery stock in temp. ponds (300 gal. rubbermaids). I grew out lillies and marginals in these while I build my permanate pond. They can be filled w/gravel, and the ones w/handles, can have larger rocks piled around the pot to hide it and prevent it from tipping.
Nik's Misc. Pics. 185.jpg
Nik's Misc. Pics. 186.jpg
 
yeh just use rocks to prop the roots in place in a well stocked pond the water collum is enough to feed them and as a bonus they help filter the pond.
 
Thanks to all for your comments. Yes, worth to try, otherwise the soil really makes the water look dirty. Next week also going to get some "Colocasia esculenta" (generally called elephant ear) and will try them as well bare rooted.
Will update. Thanks
 
lilies will do best in the aforementioned containers...i use lava rock to plant with, it's porous and the koi don't like the feel on their lips....
i don't care how often you feed koi, at some point in time, they will decide the roots are delicacies and shred the plants for the sheer joy of a new toy to play with. This generally comes with size... i keep plants till the koi hit about 2 ft...then the plants take a major hit.

another creative technique is sinking shepherd's hooks around the pond edge and hanging the lily pots so that the lillies are submerged below water level and spill over the top pot edge.

large black pots will blend against the liner and i know some that use black milk crates under pots to raise them toward the surface...

there are also floating planters or simply stick a pot inside a youth float ring, the greenery will eventually cover the ring.
 
Wow...sorry I've been away from this tread for awhile. To answer your question...they seem to grow better when I potted them.
 
tugo;2197248; said:
Thanks to all for your comments. Yes, worth to try, otherwise the soil really makes the water look dirty. Next week also going to get some "Colocasia esculenta" (generally called elephant ear) and will try them as well bare rooted.
Will update. Thanks

Thank you also saltiery and benzjamin13.

Well as you know water lilies are in the dormant period now. Will check and divide the rhizoms in february/may and than see which way to give into the water again.

Also my above mentioned Colocasia, bare rooted, start dying from the second day, given into the pond. Have potted it back to save and it survived well till mid december. Now it is also in dormancy.
 
saltiery;2617623; said:
another creative technique is sinking shepherd's hooks around the pond edge and hanging the lily pots so that the lillies are submerged below water level and spill over the top pot edge.

Oh sorry, my English was not enough to understand this system clearly.
Do you mean that with this way, the top of the pots/containers, stay just under the water surface, and so the koi can not disturb the soil?
If so, will such a little depth of the rhizom be enough for the growth of the lilies?

Need your help to understand. Thanks
 
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