The Ultimate Guide To Growing Waterlily: From Pond To Garden

Designing a Pond with Waterlilies: A Practical Guide

If you want to give your pond a priceless ornament, there is no better plant than waterlily.

With its charming shape and appearance, it spreads in the pond or on the surface of the pond. It creates an extremely attractive atmosphere that is enough to attract anyone’s attention.

Water lily is an attractive aquatic plant decorated with various colors such as yellow, pink and white, which blooms during the period from March to September and gives a very picturesque look to the water surface of the pond.

If we talk about the species, then it comes in a wide variety which you can grow from large ponds and lakes to small species grown in small ponds for decoration at home.

In today’s era, if you are creating a pond with the hope of a water garden, then water lily is essential as a useful plant, it is a useful plant for the protection of fish and for purifying water and it is also a useful plant for attracting various animals and birds such as bees and other creatures.

Water lily is a species from the Nymphaea family. It is found in almost all countries of the world but is mainly considered to be native to Australia, the northern hemisphere and South Africa.

As mentioned earlier, it is appreciated for its exceptional beauty and its characteristic feature is its large and wide smooth, delicate leaves and colorful flowers floating on the water.

If you are growing waterlily by creating a pond at home, you may not be successful in getting flowers on it, so you have to continue your efforts until it flowers, otherwise, it creates a stunning atmosphere even in a large pond outside the house, but it is a little difficult to keep as a house plant.

How to grow as indoor plants

It is important to remember here that this is not a common ornamental plant that can be grown indoors without much care, but for the cultivation of water lily, water with a suitable temperature is required, and the quality of water is also very important, and light is also important to some extent.

Types: According to the speed of growth and development, different types of waterlily can be divided into two main parts, which are mainly divided into about 50 different species, but they can be divided into two main parts.

1. Tropical and 2. Hardy water lilies

(1) Tropical water lily:

This type of water lily is used only for growing in ponds or lakes outside the house because this species occupies a very wide space due to its girth of 10-12 feet.

In addition, its leaves are also wide, which usually float on the water, and the flowers are also variegated yellow, white or pink.

They are among the most expensive water lily varieties in the world, but they are not advisable to grow indoors. In addition, these flowers grow continuously day and night for three to four days.

(2) Hardy water lily:

This species grows only in certain regions. In addition, the flowers of this species are much smaller than tropical water lilies and look less beautiful than tropical species.

In addition, it is often seen that some varieties of hardy water lilies also change color after some time. In addition, as mentioned above, this species is an excellent option as a plant to grow in a pond indoors.

How to plant

As the name suggests, this plant needs water and also needs adequate sunlight. To plant the seeds, dig a 20 cm hole and place them inside to germinate.

All this should be done during the growing season, then during the autumn season, any leaves that seem unnecessary should be removed.

Also, care should be taken to ensure that they do not get damaged by the effects of frost during the winter season. Let’s know about this step by step.

Which species of water lily should be chosen depends on the size and shape of your pond or lake.

But if the water surface is 75 cm, then it will be ideal for a large type of water lily. In a small water lily, this surface will be 20 cm and for a medium-sized species, the maximum water surface will be 50 cm.

If the surface is more than this, the seeds will be hindered in germination and growth and may be destroyed. In addition, the period from April to September should be chosen for this.

If there is not such a surface, it will be necessary to make an artificial bank or an “aquatic basket” can also be used.

Thus, plants that prefer still water or gently flowing water can also be grown in plastic plant pots that are made for growing plants in water.

This plant pot is made of plastic and has a diameter of 18 inches and a depth of 10 inches and also contains a special type of fertilizer that helps the seeds grow the design of this plant pot is such that special care is taken to ensure that the plant pot and the fertilizer inside do not come to the surface of the water.

As mentioned earlier, these plants are not available in normal nurseries or shops, so for that you have to call an expert and get all the procedures done by him.

For this, you can fill the plant pot with “pea gravel” about 1 inch thick on the surface and then place the entire plant pot in a pond or lake around the house to a depth of 18 to 24 inches if there are large water lilies.

For this, it is necessary to pay attention to some things, such as

(1) How to grow it at home?

Temperature and humidity level:

The temperature of the room or part of the house where you want to grow water lily should be normal.

If the water lily is of the tropical type, then this species will die at a temperature of more than 70 degrees Fahrenheit and similarly, if the water lily is of the tropical type, this plant will die at a temperature below 60 degrees Fahrenheit, so it is necessary to maintain the right temperature.

Hardy water lily species are not particularly sensitive to temperature, meaning they can flower properly at normal water temperatures, but if you live in a cold region, you should maintain a temperature of at least 68 degrees Fahrenheit.

For this, it is necessary to install a water heater for the aquarium.

Artificial light

If your house does not have a natural sunlight system, you can use artificial light bulbs available in the market.

As mentioned above, to make up for the lack of at least 8 hours of sunlight, you have to keep the artificial light bulbs on continuously for 16 to 18 hours during the day.

If this amount seems to be increasing less or the desired result is not obtained, then you can also change the artificial light bulbs (grow lights) because different bulbs differ in size and capacity.

If you already have a heated greenhouse system, then there is no need to worry much.

Tips For Preventing Waterlily Plants From Becoming Overcrowded In Small Ponds

Water maintenance level

Generally, it is appropriate to have water at a level of 12 inches above the aquatic bucket. If the water level decreases, new water should be added.

Another thing to keep in mind is the water pump etc. As mentioned earlier, water lily can grow well in still water or gently flowing water, so if it is an aquarium-type structure, the materials (Air Bubbler) used in it pollute the water so you need to change the water frequently.

If this type of structure is in a water garden, then the water lily should be kept away from a water pump or Air Bubbler, or it should be kept away from such a fountain or arrangements should be made to grow it as far away as possible.

Fertilizer quantity

If you want to plant it in an aquatic basket, first wrap it around a large piece of cotton and then fill it with fertilizer completely in that part but keep in mind that its roots remain in contact with the soil and give more fertilizer from above.

In the next step, fill the remaining part of the gravel with sand so that the filled fertilizer will not float on the top of the water, or in other words, the gravel will keep the fertilizer stuck to the bottom of the water so that the water lily plant gets nutrition and necessary salts.

Arrange for Sunlight and Artificial Light

Since water lily is a sunlight-dependent flower, this species will need at least 6 to 8 hours of full sunlight. Of course, water lily needs more sunlight than that. Getting the right amount of sunlight to the water lily plant will speed up the growth of the plant and the number of flowers will also increase.