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Ponds & Aquatic Plants

water lilies in terrarium?

12 years ago

Hey everyone, i'v searched on this topic forever but found nothing so I thought i'd post something on here about it. Im Planning on trying to grow water lilies in particular Blue Lotus using a 2 gallon bucket as a "pond" and setting it in my terrarium with my other plants. I also was thinking about using "cocotech" which is a hydroponic medium made out of coconut shells as a soil replacement with a layer of sand above it and adding organic hydroponic nutrients to the water. does anyone think this will work? is it a good idea? I don't have much experience with water lilies so any suggestions or tips will help greatly. thank you.

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Comments (7)

terrestrial_man
12 years ago
Just how big is your terrarium?
skuitarman
Original Author
12 years ago
55 gallon
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garyfla_gw
12 years ago
Hi
The concept is usually called "paludarium " Riparium"
or if you throw in an animal an "Aquatic vivarium lol
One of the BIG problems of WL in these setups is size
there are several species of east african wL that can be held under a foot in diameter .. Another problem is light .There are all kinds of artificial light sources though that will do the trick. many other kinds of aquatic, amphibious types of plants to choose from
If you want to see examples of the concept moved to a work of art Google "Dutch Vivariums" Take note of the size of these beauties though Acyually more of a "mini' greenhouse.lol
I'm not familiar with Blue Lotus " what type is this??
All the lotus I'm aware of get gigantic. lol gary
sdavis
12 years ago
Small varieties of tropical waterlily are adaptive enough to cope with indoors cultivation, 70f-80f will suit them fine. Small varieties of Lotus can be a tad trickier indoors, without the uv of daylight they can be prone to rotting off. Fairly easy to try, starting them from seed at a modest price from ebay
buyorsell888
12 years ago
This is a picture I took of a tropical waterlily in an aquatic vivarium which was in the Vancouver Public Aquarium in Stanley Park, Vancouver BC Canada.

{{gwi:185007}}
Dar Sunset Zone 18
12 years ago
Most water lilies may have trouble blooming indoors. You will need good lighting but most importantly space for them to spread their leaves and for their roots too.

Tropical varieties will do better in smaller spaces, especially 'Dauben'. I would suggest this over the species Nymphaea caerulea (a.k.a. blue lotus). It looks similar to the blue lotus but a little paler. Dauben water lily can bloom in very cramped spaces and the flowers smell very lovely. Like roses and violets.
Dar Sunset Zone 18
12 years ago
As for the using a hydroponic medium, I suppose it will be fine for the plant (not so sure about the creatures). I've grown 'Dauben' in pure gravel before and it flowered prolifically still (in a 1 gallon pot). But of course supplement with fertilizer, either slow release pellets or pond tabs.

I've grown about a dozen different tropical water lilies, and there's no other tropical variety I would reccomend over 'Dauben' in terms of flower power. Albert Greenberg comes close, but Dauben is the best for small spaces.

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