Do you love water lilies?

In short: You can grow water lilies without a pond – any watertight container at least 40–50 cm deep works, from a half barrel to an old bathtub. Choose dwarf varieties, place the container in full sun (at least 6 hours daily) and plant from April to the end of July.

Do you love water lilies - but don't have space for a garden pond? Try growing these floating enchanting plants in watertight containers right in your garden.

What to Grow Water Lilies In

First, consider your garden style. An old unused wooden barrel, bucket, or perhaps an exotic oriental mortar, or decorative metal tub might suit you. Place the container in a sunny spot in the garden where the water will warm up well. Ideally in a location with 4-6 hours of sun daily. Water lilies will bloom even in partial shade, but they produce fewer flowers and bloom later. The shallower water depth in such artificial containers, which warms up more easily, allows young plants to strengthen substantially and bloom faster.

A large water garden can grow even in an old discarded bathtub. Like other containers, it needs to be properly anchored to the ground, thoroughly cleaned and leveled with wedges. In such a large water garden, besides water lilies, you can also plant other aquatic plants that are compatible with water lilies. In a taller pot, you can plant, for example, lobelia, which tolerates moisture well. Its roots shouldn't be deeper than 20 cm below the water surface. So it's suitable for shallower containers, or you can lower the water level by using a taller pot.

How to Pre-Grow Water Lilies

Water lilies are propagated either from seeds or rhizomes. Some species can only be propagated from seeds. If you have purchased water lily seeds, let them overwinter in water at a temperature around 5°C. In spring, spread the moist seeds on sand, warm it up, and maintain a temperature around 18-20°C above the seeds. Water lily seeds germinate very quickly. Seedlings that have grown to 4-5 cm can be transplanted into water 10-20 cm deep. Once the plant is about 10 cm tall, you can transplant it into the container.

Lotus seeds should be scarified by filing. Germinating seeds develop runners underwater. When they have 3-4 runners ending in leaves, you can transplant the lotuses into the water container. If you're pre-growing plants in a warm room or indoors, always harden them off gently before transplanting into the pond. For example, gradually take them outside in a bucket, leaving them out for increasingly longer periods. Lotus can overwinter at temperatures down to plus 6°C.

How to Grow Water Lilies

Water lilies are planted in containers from April to the end of July. Water lilies thrive in still water warmed by the sun. The water lily (Latin Nymphaea) is a genus of plants similar to lotus. These two plants are often confused. The white water lily is the largest floating plant growing in the Czech Republic. Water lilies growing in the wild are protected and must not be picked. The entire plant is anchored to the bottom of the pond or container by a creeping rhizome. It prefers appropriate depth, heavy muddy soil poor in nitrogen. Adapt the container for your small water pond to the natural conditions for growing water lilies.

Creating a Mini Water Garden

Place the empty container in its final location. This should be a sunny spot. Secure the container firmly so it doesn't move and level it properly. Then fill it with water. The water should be approximately 15 cm below the container's rim. Plant the pre-grown water lily in a flat basket, using substrate designed for aquatic plants. A substrate mixed from clayey loam and peat is also suitable. If you don't have either of these substrate types, use universal gardening substrate. Using clayey soil for planting limits later algae formation in the pond. Cover the water lily tubers with approximately 2.5 cm layer of soil. Place pebbles around the entire basket surrounding the plant. Rinse the planted basket thoroughly with water to wash away loose substrate particles. This is to prevent them from releasing into the artificial pond later. This way, the water will remain clear and clean. Place the basket on the bottom of the container where you will be growing the water lilies. If you want to have other water-loving flowers in this container besides water lilies, plant lobelia in a pot, for example. Also cover the soil around the lobelia in the pot with pebbles. The top of the pot with lobelia should be level with the water surface. If you have a taller container, place a brick under the pot. Continuously clean this planted water surface from impurities to keep the water constantly clean.

TIP: Keep this small water garden constantly healthy. Remove dead leaves, faded flowers, infested leaves, rotting material and other debris. Use a net to remove dead fallen insects. Wipe the undersides of water lily leaves with a cloth to prevent pests from laying eggs.

Fertilizing

We recommend fertilizing water lilies just before buds form. We recommend water lily fertilizer in tablets designed for aquatic plants. One quarter of a tablet is sufficient for one planted basket. Insert the tablet into the substrate to a depth of approximately 2.5 cm. Then place pebbles back on the substrate. Fertilizer in stick form is also available for water lilies. Both fertilizers are available in our e-shop.

If you will be overwintering the water lilies, drain the water from the pond before storing and allow water to drain from the removed plant. After moving the plant to an overwintering container, such as a bucket, always add fresh water.

If this smaller water container becomes overcrowded with spreading plants, perform regular thinning. Keep the container from becoming overcrowded so that each plant has its own space.

Water lily care is not demanding at all. In warm weather, they bloom as early as May and gradually create beautiful flowers until autumn. It's important to fertilize water lilies regularly. In these small artificially created garden ponds, there's no threat of grazing by herbivorous fish and wild aquatic mammals as in nature. Keep water lilies clean. Remove dead rhizomes and leaves. Also remove larvae of aquatic insects. A water mini-garden will bring you joy and immediately catch the eye of every visitor.

Lotus

Lotus (lat. Nelumbo) is very similar to water lilies. It's often confused with water lilies. Lotus has flat, oval leaves. Lotus flowers are magnificent. You can also grow lotus in a container or pond where the depth is greater than 25 cm.

Author: Hana Michalíková