Want more water lily blooms in your water garden?

If your water lilies are not blooming as well as you would like, the problem is most likely one of three things:

1. They are not getting enough sunlight. How much is enough? Generally speaking and depending on where you live, five or six hours of sunlight is required for most water lilies.

2. Your plant is pot bound and needs repotting. Take a look at the pots they are in. Are the roots growing over the edge of the pot? or. . .

3. Your water lilies may need some vitamins. . . (fertilizer).

Some water lily hybrids will bloom better than others. Water lilies are heavy feeders and require regular feeding to bloom well, especially if potted in a small pot.

When do you feed aquatic plants?

Tropical water lilies can be fed as often as twice a month. They will utilize the fertilizer to reward you with more and larger flowers than under fertilized plants. Tropical water lilies are such fast growers that it is difficult to over feed them.

Hardy water lilies should be fed monthly during the growing season to help the plant produce the greatest number of blooms. Flowers that are well fertilized also grow larger.

Remember to use the proper composition of fertilizer for your aquatic plants. It is okay to use a fertilizer high in nitrogen (the first number in the analysis) when feeding a marginal plant that is grown for foliage and not for its flowers. However, when fertilizing water lilies and other plants that you grow primarily for flowers, it is important not to use too much nitrogen. You should select a fertilizer that has approximately twice as much phosphorus (the middle number) as nitrogen according to www.WaterGarden.com.

Applying too much fertilizer at once can burn or damage your plants. You might consider using fertilizer tabs which for the most part are formulated to slowly release fertilizer to feed plants over a period of several weeks.

Simply push one or more tablets into each pot, then push a little soil over the hold to keep the tab in the pot. A depth of about the length of your "push" finger will work. This may mean getting into the water garden several times each month to be sure your plants have a good food source. Once there, the tab will slowly release fertilizer into the potting soil without the danger of burning the plant or escaping into the water where it would contribute to algae growth.

You should begin fertilizing your aquatic plants as soon as you see new growth in the spring and continue on a regular basis. If you live in an area where frost is expected, it is wise to stop feeding your plants about one month before the frost hits.

Do I need to repot lilies. . . and when?

If your water lily has spent two or three years in a five gallon or smaller pot, then it is probably time to divide and repot the plant before you can expect good flower production.

Water lilies can be divided anytime during the active growing season. Once it is in a new larger pot, it will only take two or three weeks for your hardy water lily to begin active growth again.

Since hardy water lilies spend more than one year in a pot, be sure to choose a large diameter pot for the best growth results.

Water lilies do not need more than six or seven inches of depth since the roots are shallow and new growth is along the surface. A pot that is 14" to 18" in diameter will provide room for about three years of growth.

Unlike hardy lilies, it is not necessary for tropical water lilies to be in a large container if they are kept well fertilized. However generally speaking, the larger the pot the larger the plant will grow.

Yuck! Who removes all the dead lily pads?

Unless you have someone hired to care for your water garden, you get to do that. As water lilies grow older their leaves turn yellow and begin to decompose. These dead and dying leaves as well as spent flowers should be removed. Most blooms will cult up and sink to the bottom. If they are left in the pond to decompose, they will only serve to feed the algae and pollute the water. Once a week is best, but every other week will work too.

Sandy's Note: This article is adapted from information found on www.WaterGarden.com, other water garden sites, the Greater Phoenix Pond Society and from my own experience.

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