Knowing How To Plant Waterlily in Pond from the Best Texan Center

Water lilies are plants with beautiful flowers that look spectacular in a pond. Just imagine the scene where the water lilies reflect the incoming sunlight, the water droplets glistening on its multicolored body, and an aquatic insect buzzing on its serenely floating leaves. These enchanting plants are cared for easily, and it doesn't take much work for them to turn your garden pond into a picturesque oasis. So, if you have a garden pond and want to know how to plant waterlily in pond, continue reading this article. We at the SAIWC are always happy to help you grow water lilies.

Step-by-step planting process

The basic process of how to plant waterlily in pond is easily available across the internet. The fundamental steps are the same – plant water lilies in containers to limit their growth, immerse the container in a pond or aquatic planter, and ensure they get enough sunlight. However, the total process is a little detailed, and the finer points needs explanation. Here is the complete process explained comprehensively:

• Using a container instead of direct ground planting 

We recommend using a wide, shallow pot or a mesh basket with a 14-16 inches diameter designed for aquatic planting. The reason is the ease of maintaining potted plants and the fact that lilies planted directly into the ground will overwhelm the pond. Its roots can grow up to a diameter of 15 feet within 5 years. At the SAIWC, we can help you find the aquatic plant necessities – including a mesh basket and aquatic soil – according to your desired flower growth.

• An aquatic planter can replace a pond.

Space is scarce in the current housing situation, and not everyone can afford properties containing a pond. If you have a pond, use it to plant the water lilies of your choice. Otherwise, you can purchase a large aquatic planter, fill it with water, and immerse the flower-holding pot. The planter's dimensions should be 1.8 meters by 2.4 meters and designed for aquatic plants (without drainage holes).  

• Ensuring 6-8 hours of full sun in the pond or container

One of the most important things about learning how to plant waterlily in pond is ensuring the optimum sunlight. Generally, water lilies can thrive well with at least 6 hours of direct sunlight – but more sunlight influences them to produce more flowers. Our experts recommend giving your water lilies at least 8 hours of sunlight to ensure ideal growth.

• It's better to plant your lilies in the spring. 

Many people need clarification on the best time to plant their water lilies. At the SAIWC, we advise finding out the type of water lily you have before filling in the time for how to plant waterlily in pond query. Generally, Late April to Early May is the best time to plant water lilies. The absence of frost in the cooler climates makes it easier.

Generally, two varieties of water lilies exist – tropical and hardy. Hardy water lilies can bear cooler temperatures among these two. However, it would help if you still planted them in spring, but the need to maintain an increased water temperature wouldn't be as important as the tropical water lilies.

The temperature difference is important in learning how to plant waterlily in pond for tropical species. These species' cannot tolerate water temperatures below 650 F or 180 C – so it's best to ensure that the pond or the aquatic container can withstand warm water before planting. According to our SAIWC experts, the ideal temperature should at least be 210 C or 700 F.

• Acquire lilies with fit crowns and leaves.

At SAIWC, we grow and propagate different types of water lilies according to their natural habits. We can provide you with water lily clipping or seeds, or you can look at your local nursery or garden. However, recognizing healthy plants before buying is an important part of learning how to plant waterlily in pond. We at the SAIWC recommend buying or acquiring plants with healthy crowns (the part where the stem meets the roots). If your chosen water lily's stem easily pulls away from the crown, or show yellow, curling, or damaged leaves – proceed to choose another.

Yellow leaves and unhealthy water lily crowns are signs of crown rot (an incurable fungal infection) – which you will learn to counter in your how to plant a waterlily in pond education. It is also one of the few health issues affecting these plants.

• Adding soil and fertilizer

Knowing the right soil type and when to add fertilizer is important in knowing how to plant waterlily in pond. You can plant the lilies in a pond up to the desired height so the leaves can float. However, you need to follow these steps for aquatic planters:

1. Line the pot or the aquatic basket with burlap, hessian, or coarse cloth.
2. Add loam-based aquatic soil up to 3/4th of the container and then add fertilizer (standard potting soil is too airy and will float away when submerged).
3. The amount of fertilizer depends on the brand you buy, so read the instructions in the packet. However, our experts recommend adding 10 grams of fertilizer to at least 3.8 liters of soil.

In conclusion 

At the SAIWC, we have several new and rare water lilies in our collection, and you can see them in full bloom (depending on the season). So, if you want learn more about how to plant waterlily in pond or other things, we welcome you to visit us.