I love waterlilies. Period. A friend taught me how to plant it some years back. When we moved house, I could not take my waterlilies with me so I gave them away. Now with the plants that TLY dug for me, I am contented to have waterlilies again in my garden. There is no doubt that waterlilies when in bloom are fascinating. The delicate looking and graceful flower rising above the water is very appealing The fragrance it exudes is a bonus.Waterlilies will open around mid morning, sometimes earlier, a light touch of sunlight will wake it up. In the afternoon when it gets abit too hot, the flower will close. This will happen over the next 3 to 4 days. When the flower stalk droop, the flower will fall back to the waters. In a week or so, the flower will rot, then 'burst'. Tiny seeds are dispersed, after a week or more, tiny baby lily plants will float around the pond. Eventually they will settled down to the soil and start to grow properly.
All one needs in order to grow waterlilies are some garden soil (if it is the loamy type, better still.) and a pot to hold the water. However the soil have to be washed and settled a few times to ensure that the water remains clear once the water lily is planted. Push in a fertilizer tablet that is prepared specially for aquatic plants. into the soil slightly away from the plant. Aquatic fertilizers can be purchased at the local nurseries or even in the Hypermarkets at the gardening section. The local nurseries will sell it cheaper though. Nurseries or even those outlets that sell pots do provide a good selection of waterlily pots.
Once the water is clear, (leave it overnight for a day or two) , release some guppies or small fish that eats larvae into the mini pond. We do not want mosquitoes breeding! The water will become green with algae, but not to worry. The water will turn clear after some time by itself. I prefer to change the water when it gets too dirty. Water used must be chlorine free, otherwise the fish will die. So leave water to stand in a pail overnight before using the next morning. To get the water out from the pot, I bought a small manual pump. After a couple of weeks I release a 'Bandaraya' ( sucker fish ) to help clear the excess algae and debris. Mr Bandaraya will work like a vacumn so in no time, the waterlily pot will be clean and free from too much algae.
The waterlily pot can be placed somewhere in partial shade. Waterlilies like sunshine, but the water might get too warm in direct sunlight, killing the fish. As long as the waterlily gets a dose of sunshine for an hour or two daily, it is good enough. Allow the pot to stand on a higher level, so one can smell the fragrance better . I normally trim off old leaves or excess leaves now. I do that at least once a week, depending on how the plant progress. If the water is clear, I enjoy watching the guppies swim happily around. It is very relaxing to follow the graceful movements of the fish playing in the water. Too much foliage crowd the pot. Top up with water when the water drops low. Waterlily leaves float on the surface of the water. Water lotus leaves will leave the water surface. Without water, the waterlily leaves will dry out. So keep at least 4 to 5 inches of water above the soil level. I tried growing the waterlily in a small pot of filled with loam and then submerged this small pot into a waterlily pot filled with water. So far this method seems to work as well.
The waterlily pot can be placed somewhere in partial shade. Waterlilies like sunshine, but the water might get too warm in direct sunlight, killing the fish. As long as the waterlily gets a dose of sunshine for an hour or two daily, it is good enough. Allow the pot to stand on a higher level, so one can smell the fragrance better . I normally trim off old leaves or excess leaves now. I do that at least once a week, depending on how the plant progress. If the water is clear, I enjoy watching the guppies swim happily around. It is very relaxing to follow the graceful movements of the fish playing in the water. Too much foliage crowd the pot. Top up with water when the water drops low. Waterlily leaves float on the surface of the water. Water lotus leaves will leave the water surface. Without water, the waterlily leaves will dry out. So keep at least 4 to 5 inches of water above the soil level. I tried growing the waterlily in a small pot of filled with loam and then submerged this small pot into a waterlily pot filled with water. So far this method seems to work as well.
