Excited to share some pics of my first water lily

That's amazing! I'm working on a lotus to see if it will work also a tina pad just put in yesterday.I hope mine do that well. I can't wait.

I bet they will! It will be a great success! I think mine is stumped because I didn't use the blue light. That's also why I didn't send it to you, Janice. I still have hope for it though! Its new tiny 3 millimeter leaves have turned mostly brown, but there is a shimmer of green left. The hardy lily you sent me is doing well!

i didn't use a blue light. in fact, it's just one of the standard tungsten house bulbs.

How strong is it?

60 watts. water temp +90º. i also added a drop of seaweed extract to the water for nutrients.

Since it's cooler here, I put a light bulb in as well for the warmth but the blue lights are what makes it do it's thing much faster. The warmth makes it grow. So far the green pad looks ok but the 2 brown ones smell and looked rotted. The 2 lotus pads I put in look good. May take pictures tomorrow.

i might try a blue light later. for right now i will see how things go with the regular bulb.

They just announced on the weather it's getting down to 44 degrees tonight, and 49 tomorrow night. I need the Florida sun for a while.

yikes!!! i am so glad that we are done with that! stay warm...

Would you know anyone with a foxtail fern to trade? My neighbor wants one.

I'm trying to root some asparagus fern right now. My plant is not quite big enough to divide, but I am hoping for seeds this season. Is your neighbor patient? haha! I am definitely considering setting up that blue light. Excited to see pictures! I'm also curious about lily/lotus development of regular light bulb versus blue light versus sun light... If I could trade the Florida sun for a while, I would! It's been SO hot here lately! Every time I go out in the yard I am dripping with sweat!

I'm sorry you got all my sun.!?! She probably won't be too patient. I'm just looking for her.Is that the same as foxtail? I never saw one before. An elderly lady gave it to her a few years ago and later the lady died and this past winter the fern did too. So I told her I'd help her find another. I didn't know the proper name and never saw one so wasn't sure even what to look for. I think my lotus is doing something. I see 2 white spots in the center. It's getting down to 44 degrees tonight so got to use light and blue light. Well, I'm going to bed and hope for a little sun tomorrow.I'll let you know what's happening later. Mekos

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/31438/
This is the link to the plantfiles one. I have one. I love it. It's so cool and unusual! I hope it will grow BIG!
Sleep tight! TTYL :D

Froukje

i picked up a blue light today. it has the starts of two leaves and i think rootlets. the water was 103º. i am adjusting the light so that the water doesn't get so hot. the pad decomposes faster. i am trying a second pad now...

This is my Lotus pad under the blue light. Seems ok. What's so funny is how the stem that was very tiny at the pad where I pinched it off the plant started growing toward the light about 3inches until it came out of the water and dried up on the end. It may not work, but sure is fun to watch. Mekos (Sorry, this the lotus when I picked it. I'll send another after I put it in the blue light.)

This message was edited May 19, 2009 9:11 PM

Here is the pad from Tina that was green, the other 2 rotted. Mekos

This is the blue lighted lotus.

Hey! I was thinking, with the lotus, maybe you should add some water so that the tips of the new growth doesn't dry out? Maybe it would just continue growing then. I'm excited about the pictures! My lilypad has been exposed to lack of direct sunshine- it's been raining here now for days! A true downpour! So I hope it will be more balanced the next couple of days- for the plants' sake :)
Froukje

mekos - that is funny and happened to me. LOL the cut end of the stem raised up out of the water and started drying. i weighted the stem down with a stone. i swear after that the bud started growing rapidly.

here is a pic from today. you can see a big change from 5/17. the new pad doesn't have the fuzzies around the bud. it will be interesting to see how the 2nd one develops.

That's so funny. I just went in and clipped the end of the stem so it would be under water again to see if it would start growing again. If it does, I'll weight it down. I didn't think of that before. DUH!

LOL

i did cut a very tiny piece off to expose fresh tissue. when you weight it down it pushes out bubbles all day.

Here is what they look like right now. New pictures just took.

those are some large pads! i can see the stem pointed up. LOL

The light reflects in the water, I can't get a good picture. The Tina pad isn't big, it's just close up. The Lotus is good size but was a small one compared to how big it will be when grown. Maybe I need to have a grown pad to work with??? Oh well, I'm learning.

i am learning, too. i just think that whatever pad you use should have surfaced. you can actually see the vivap fuzzies on the pad before it even breaks the surface of the water.

Mine was surfaced. So maybe it will work. But my Lotus is a very young plant. I just started it about 2 months ago and just put outside in the pond a few weeks ago. It is suppose to come out above the water 2 feet or so soon. It doesn't sit on the water, when it's grown, it will rise above the water. The blooms will be up above the water several feet. It will have quite a large bloom.

The one I have I 'planted' the node in some soil to keep it down. All the pad had rotted away from it for quite some time anyways, and I had trouble finding the nub in the water sometimes! :) I figure this way it also had some way to get some more nutrients. I don't know if it will work, but the spec of green has become a tiny bit bigger! I'll take pics in a day or two, when I get back from visiting my friend and the downpour hopefully will have stopped!

my lotus pads are sitting on the water. i hope they stay there for their own safety. LOL the closer to the water they are the more humid it will be. plants dry out fast here in the desert.

Do you have a lot of water lilies? Pond or container? Do you have a problem with mosquitoes? I'm just wondering.

i thought we needed to keep the pad exposed to the light like it would be outside in the sun?

i haven't noticed them in the water features. however, they love the barrels that collect water from the evap cooler.

tina is my only water lily and i have one lotus. i have a water lily and water canna (very fragrant flowers) that are growing like weeds in a 50-gal container.

When you spoke of the pad, you meant the one you're trying to propagate right? Well, I put the node in the soil, but only the bottom. That way, the top is exposed to sunlight. I put it in a shallow plastic bin outside where it gets lots of light. But without the lilypad to help it float, the node should naturally move down in the pond/water... so I guess the 'planting' it in soil is more of a gently pressing the node in a tiny container of soil! I don't know about a lotus pad.. It might need different treatment? I currently only have 1 mature water lily, and a baby from you Mekos! I have a tiny pond that HAD tons of mosquito larvae in it. Now I see next to none. Maybe the tadpoles ate them? Way to go! How about you guys?

oh, okay i understand.

I did this after it had made tiny leaflets so I knew what was going to be its top! When I left it to float, all the miniscule leaflets turned brown, and I thought I had lost the baby. So I put it in the soil like I said and now it's showing the tiny bit of green. I am so hoping for its recovery!

This is how I was told to do it. Removing the pad promotes growthfaster than if you leave it attached. place it on the bottom and weight it down. Put 75watt grow lamp for 35 gallon tub to heat the water and give light. keep on for 18 hours a day. within 3 days you should have starter leaves forming on the pads and within 6 days should have tiny rootlets. over the next 2 weeks it will grow at an outstanding rate.Then can be potted up and put out in it's pond.

Yes! Can't wait to hear if it worked for you! :D

i think i am starting to see the roots. perhaps, i will give the water a drop of seaweed extract.

What is the node? The stem?

i saw the green dot 2 days ago. now i have leaflets that are 5mm long. and now that i have the blue light special they should grow faster. LOL

What is seaweed extract? I never heard of that. Where do you get it?