I have questions about water plants in containers. I have a 25 gal pot which from my research seems to be large enough for a single plant of water lily Fabiola plus some submerged plants. My question is about the amount of sun needed and the temperature of the water.
I have drawn tap water to fill the pot and let it outgas the chlorine prior to planting. I had placed the pot in a sunny location on the back porch (southfacing , no shade). The water became quite warm, very quickly, probably around 101F. Is this too warm for water lilies? Everything I have read stresses the need for 4 or more hours of sun, but so many of the books and other materials are aimed at gardening in cooler zones that I wonder if I need to adjust for our long, hot and humid south Georgia summers many things that take full sun in the north need some protection here.
I can add shade to water suface by a trip to a local state park. The rangers there have offered me truck loads of water hyacinth for my classes. Would that be helpful?
Thanks,
Beth C.
New container water garden
Here is my water container.
Kaleem
Your pond container looks as though it might be a bit wider than mine ,but I think that they are very close in size.
Do you provide shade in the hottest part of the day?
Yes .... second time of the day ... container is under shade . I mixed clay, manure and pebbles at the bottom of container. So my plants are very healthy and expanding day by day.
Kaleem
Looks great, Kaleem!
:) Donna
I have an old clawfoot tub, made of iron, that I made a watergarden. It gets very warm but my plants grew well and the waterlily bloomed. It was to warm for fish though and the skeeters loved it. Thought it was their own personal nursery. Once your plants cover the surface the water will be a little cooler.
I was our of town from Thursday until Sunday and was really surprised by the changes when I checked the container water garden on Sunday afternoon. The duckweed that covered about 4 -6 sq. inches of surface on Thursday, now covers an area the size of a dinner plate. The lily leaves which were about an inch above the tuber are now floating and expanding on the surface of the water. The stems lengthened 12 inches in less than four days. I need to top the pot off there has been quite a bit of evaporation over the weekend.
Can some one tell me about tropical water lilies? Most of the literature advises to treat them like annuals, but for my pocket they seem pricey to toss come winter. Can they be successfully overwintered? If so, how do I do ir.
Thanks
Beth
Hi, Beth,
I'm new to ponds & container gardening too, and like you, I was worried about heat. I had to put my water lily in a stand-alone container this week while I cleaned out my filtered pond. I moved it to a full-sun (10 hours) location while I did the work on its permanent home. The water in the tub got so warm that I could've bathed in it. My little pond--which is also in full sun--gets nowhere near that hot. The only difference is the pump which keeps the water circulating in the pond. Maybe you could try a little inexpensive pump with an airstone, and see if that helps?
Thanks, pbtxlady,
I may need to add a pump. The water has been cooler since the plant growth took off and has begun to shade the surface. We were gone over the weekend, and when I came back today I had to remove duckweed and azolla from the surface before I could check and see how the fish were doing.
Since I put them in last week, I have lost 2 of the six gold fish I put in. However the ones that I personally chose are doing well (so far) the two that died were the easily caught extras the Wal Mart clerk scooped up to make my quota. They were all about the size of female guppies , some of the smallest goldfish that I have ever seen.
I added parrot feather just now , that I had taken from a lily pond at the lake house we guested at this weekend. I love the color and texture of that plant.
Hi Kaleem,
That is such a grand container!! About how many gallons does it hold? You have put together such an attractive arrangement :)