Water
Lily and Hardy Lilies
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Water lily
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Louisiana iris
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Water hyacinth
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Hardy lilies
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Tropical plants
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Floating plants
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Oxygenating plants
Water lily PLANTING INSTRUCTIONS
The most frequently asked questions about Water
lily , are what kind of soil do I need to plant my lilies and my other aquatic plants? What type of container should I use? Exactly how are the plants to be planted in the container? How deep should the plants be in the pond once they are planted? How often should I fertilize and what type of fertilizer should I use? Do all the aquatic plants require fertilizer?
We will try and answer all these questions and more, if you have any questions that we do not cover here please feel free to call us and we will be happy to help you.
LILIES, Water Plants
Our LILIES are mature and have leaves and sometimes even blooms on them,
the LILIES are not just a rhizome or dry root as you sometimes find in some of the nurseries or hardware stores where lilies are sold.
We recommend that you use pots that are at least 12 inches across, LILIES
need plenty of room to grow properly. We use squat pots or aquatic pots here on our farm. These type of pots are shorter and have no holes in them. If you have regular pots this will work, just plug up the holes so the nutrients and the dirt won't leach out into your pond. Some of our customers like to use the aquatic baskets, these are fine, however they are more expensive, the choice is yours. We suggest 2 gallon squat pots for medium to large lilies and 1 gallon squat pots for small and dwarf type lilies.
Lilies grow best in rich garden soil, and clay like soil is even better. Be sure there is no peat moss, humus, or chips of wood in your soil this will make a mess and rot under water, this could cause some problems in your pond. You can use kitty litter also however be sure it has no perfumes or chemicals added to it, and you will have to fertilize our plants more often if you chose to use this type of soil.
Now you are ready to plant your lilies. We suggest you soak your pot first before planting, and be sure to pack the soil down as hard as you can while soaking.
We need to explain at this point that you do not want to cover the Crown. You may or may not be asking yourself what is a Crown? Well this is where the leaves and the flowers grow out of the lilies
rhizhome. If you cover this part with soil; the plant will die. Look closely at the plant and you will see where the crown is. Now take the plant and gently push it into the soil, this should be easy to do since you soaked the pot before hand. You should be going at a horizontal angle how much of an angle depends on the crown. Now take some pea gravel and place about 1/2 inch to an inch on top of the soil, this will keep the dirt in the pot when you put it in the pond. Be sure to fertilize our lilies before placing them in the pond, lilies are heavy feeders, be sure not to let them go hungry!!! This is especially true during the growing season. The growing season is between April and October depending on what part of the country your in. Lilies should be planted between 12-24 inches below the surface of the water, however, at first they should be introduced into the pond gradually, stand the pot on one or more bricks, so that the crown is a couple of inches below the surface of the water. Remove the bricks as growth increases, until the plant reaches it's permanent base in deep water. Again be sure to fertilize your lilies every 4-6 weeks during the growing season, this will give you maximum blooms throughout the season.!!
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lotus
LOTUS
When handling lotus tuber's the main thing to remember is HANDLE WITH CARE!!! The tuber's
Are very fragile and the growing tip can break very easily, and in most cases this is the main cause for
failure with lotus. The second thing to remember is not to plant the tuber to deep.
Lotus require good rich soil as the lilies do. Same rule applies to them, no peat moss, or humus, or wood chips, and the lotus require plenty of room to grow. You can use the aquatic lotus pots, again no holes, or you can use a large plastic tub. We use many different sizes, to start with you can use at least a 4-5 gallon pot or tub.
Soak the soil and gently lay the tuber horizontally onto the soil, being very careful ,and be sure not to put it to deep into the soil. After you plant it you should still be able to see the whole tuber.
IDEALLY YOU CAN JUST BARELY BURY IT AND PUT A FEW SMALL ROCKS ON IT TO ANCHOR IT, IT WILL SHOOT OUT ITS ROOTS AND ANCHOR ITSELF WITHIN 6-8 WEEKS.
The tuber's new runners will travel on top of the soil and in some cases will travel deep down into the soil and it will keep winding around the pot.
Fertilize your lotus before putting it into the pond, they will need to be fertilized at least every 4-6 weeks after that. Place the pot about 6 inches into the water and as the weather gets warmer you may submerge it at least to 12 inches deep. Remember if the lotus is submerged to deep and water is colder at that depth the lotus may go dormant for another season.
Lotus like water temperature's of at least 80 degrees, for at least 3 months in order for them to perform at their best and give maximum blooms. The season for the blooms is usually from end of July through the end of August. This is for zone 5 where our farm is located. The season's will vary depending on what part of the country you live in. In some cases if it gets to hot the Lotus will go dormant. Lotus can be very temperamental but once established they will take over your pond. So be careful, if you want to control them, the best way is to plant them in containers. Once they start blooming all the work and worry is well worth the beauty you will enjoy!!! Please be aware, that there are some companies that sell runner's, these are usually sold throughout the summer. The runner does not have enough energy stored in it to take off and be a mature plant. The roots will dry up and die very easily. Also some lotus are sold which come from seeds, and these will take 5 to 7 years to produce a flower, and the flower will not be true to its name.
