Hi, I don't know too much about hardy water lilies. I just bought one for a friend and need to pot it up. The info that came with it said plant in top soil. So is it ok just to get a bag of top soil from one of the big box stores? Any kind better than the other? Any advice is appreciated.
water lily soil
I would recommend just potting it up in soil from the flower bed or garden. You have to be careful with bagged potting mixes, a lot of them contain ingredients that will just float out to the surface of your pond and then you will have a mess. Mix up some time released fertilizer in with the soil before you pot up your lily and submerge it.
A lot of the bagged potting soils have fertilizers and other elements that are poisonous to fish. I would either use unamended garden soil from the 'backyard' or I would buy one of the commercially available potting mixes that is specifically for Water Gardening. Then as Tetleytuna advised, I would use a fertilizer spike or tab that is specific to waterlilies.
My own personal experience is such that if I use the tabs that need to be utilized on a monthly basis, I probably won't do it. I have used the fertilizer spikes that last a year on my waterlilies and have had the best results with those. They can be a bit on the pricey side, depending on how many waterililies you are fertilizing, so I have put that on my Christmas want list for Santa or a well meaning Elf to put under the Christmas tree for me.
Carolyn
Thank you both. I think I will use the soil from one of my flower beds. I got a fertilizer tab with the lily but will look into the year long spike too. Wish me luck. :)
Carolyn,
What's the lily in the foreground of your pic please? It's lovely :)
Azreno,
Thank you, I think it is 'Peaches and Cream', http://www.victoria-adventure.org/more_than_links_images/perry/hardies/peaches_and_cream.html however, I am not positive. I bought and planted this waterlily 3-4 years ago and it never came up until this past summer. I was quite surprised to see it. I had forgotten all about it!
I divide my waterlilies almost every year and give my divisions away each time, as I end up with an abundance of waterlilies. I do these divisions typically in April when we start up the pond, so I have no real way of knowing what colors I am dividing at that given time. I could easily have given away this lily and never known any different.
It is definitely a keeper as the blooms are huge.
Carolyn
This message was edited Nov 16, 2007 12:09 PM
The blooms do look big, it's very nice!
Many of us use the Walmart "special kitty" clay kitty litter in the red bag for potting all of our pond plants. It's cheap, good for the water quality, and works well. Add an aquatic plant fertilizer tab. That is the only kind of kitty litter to use, though, others have additives and things. I put some river rocks on the top of it as well.
I potted it in soil from my flower bed and it's putting out new little leaves. That's interesting about the "special kitty". I'll remember that for the future.
You can also use sand for potting the lily. When using dirt if the pot tips over it can cause the water to become cloudy. By using sand it is easier to clean up.
Carolyn22 tell us more about the year long spikes. I am awful about fertilizing. The once a year spike would be great. My plants would not know what to do.
Dylancgc,
I bought mine through Drs. Foster and Smith and they were great. I put them in the pots in the spring when I clean up/divide/etc and that is pretty much it - until the following year. The spikes are made by Laguna - http://www.petstore.com/ps_ViewItem-idproduct-HG20910.html and they are great. I generally have flowers from Spring right through until Fall.
I have found that if I use the monthly fertilizer tabs, my intentions are good early on, however as the ponding season goes on, I don't do any further fertilizing. The once a year fertlizer spikes were apparently made with people like myself in mind.
Carolyn
You sound like me. First thing I do good but later when I have to drag the pots up once a month, forget that, it doesn't get done. I'll check out the spikes. Thanks for the info.