lilies and lotus

[broody rooster]

hey i wasn't sure where to put this so i assumed here seemed ok but on to the question i was wondering if any of you grow water lilies and water lotuses and could give me some information regarding the care of the species you have whether cold hardy, exotic, pretty, ugly so on and so forth thank you

 

[nchls school]

hey i wasn't sure where to put this so i assumed here seemed ok but on to the question i was wondering if any of you grow water lilies and water lotuses and could give me some information regarding the care of the species you have whether cold hardy, exotic, pretty, ugly so on and so forth thank you

In the past I have raised cold-hardy water lilies (ten years or so) and for a single season I had a lotus.

 

[broody rooster]

do you know what specific species of lily you had and did you leave the bulbs in the water over winter or dig you have to take those out

 

[nchls school]

do you know what specific species of lily you had and did you leave the bulbs in the water over winter or dig you have to take those out

No I do not remember the specific varieties. My pond was made of landscape timbers and was above ground. I left some lilies in the pond over winter and they survived. Some, after going dormant, I buried in the garden. These also lived to grow again in the spring. The ones I buried in the garden and replanted in the pond came back thicker and more robust. If your pond is below ground level, leave them in the pond to winter. I am from Wisconsin-minus 20 is a regular occurrence-pond above ground and the lilies came back in the spring, so if you are further south than I, leaving the bulbs to winter in the pond should work fine.

 

[broody rooster]

have you grown any from seeds before i'm trying to figure out which is easier to grow from seeds cold hardy or tropicals

 

[nchls school]

have you grown any from seeds before i'm trying to figure out which is easier to grow from seeds cold hardy or tropicals

The varieties I had did not form seeds; I assume they were hybrids. At any rate, I would not have use seed even if there were some. The bulbs grow quickly. It is an easy process of starting them from a piece of the bulb. In the spring, when the bulbs start to grow, a small piece with a shoot can be cut off the original bulb and planted in its own container. It will grow. Tropicals I do not know. Using slips off a bulb lets you know exactly what the flowers will look like. Not so with seed; you can not be sure what will result. I would leave seed propagation to the experts. Beware of buying seeds from off the internet. I have been cheated numerous times. Buy bulbs locally if you can. I would think it an easy matter to find out how to propagate tropical water lilies buy typing the question into a search box.

 

[broody rooster]

how would i replant this piece i take off? would it create a new bulb ?

 

[nchls school]

how would i replant this piece i take off? would it create a new bulb ?

Plant the bulb cutting in a pot with dirt (same as the original) and yes, a new complete bulb will form.

 

[broody rooster]

oh ok thankyou

does the size matter of the cutting or as long as it has roots

 

[nchls school]

oh ok thankyou

does the size matter of the cutting or as long as it has roots

The cutting does not necessarily need roots though that is good to have too. The cutting needs to have a growing shoot on it; rather like a potato if you've ever planted potatoes. When I started a new lily it tried to find a piece of bulb that was sticking out that had and few shoots on it and then cut it off a ways back from the shoot. Water lilies do not have round bulbs like many flowers, but bulbs with a very irregular shape. Similar in shape to an iris bulb. A water lily bulb cutting is very like an iris bulb cutting.

This is a picture of a water lily bulb cutting. It was cut/broke off the main bulb at the left side.





Cutting is the only word I can think to use, but really I usually broke off a piece as shown above. The bulbs of a water lily get huge with age and will over fill their container. When that happened I simply cut or broke off the pieces that had grown up and out of the container and then planted the piece in their own container and the submerged it in the pond.