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Ponds & Aquatic Plants

saved tropical water lily over winter, what now?

17 years ago

I don't know the name of the tropical water lily I purchased last year. Promise to do better in future!! I read that you might be able to save them by potting in wet sand and keeping cool over winter. So I did that. There is still some kind of plant there now and I would like to try to restart. Can someone help and tell me what to do? Thanks, Marie

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Comment (1)

catherinet
17 years ago
Hi Gardengal,
I've tried to overwinter the tropical tuber/root several times, but didn't have any luck, even when it felt firm and heavy. Here's what my book says about getting it going again:
"To get a head start on the season, start your bulbs indoors about 8 weeks before the growing season begins outside. Fill a cup halfway with good topsoil, and then add a layer of sand or pea gravel. Place the bulb so that about half is sitting out of the sand. Fill the cup with water and put it on a heat mat. Once a few leaves have formed, move the cup to a heated aquarium kept between 70 and 80 F. Give the plant starts lots of light. When the pads grow up to the water's surface and white roots appear, break the new plantlet away from the tuber and plant it. Keep it fertilized and in warm water. When the outdoor water temperature reaches 60 F, replant the bulbs in fresh soil. Put the bulb at the top of the soil surface, pointy side up. Begin with the pot elevated close to the water surface."
Good luck and let us know how it goes!
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Sorry to hear about all your troubles, but glad it sounds like things are back on track. I would put them in the garage before any hard frosts begin. The lilies should be going into dormancy then and will wait out the winter. Find the warmest spot, group the pots together and maybe cover with an old blanket? They shouldn't need any water and having them a little on the dry side might actually help. Hopefully they can handle the lows in the garage. I thing the basement will be too warm and they'll start growing earlier than you want. I'd like to hear what other people suggest, I sometimes have trouble overwintering bulbs in pots. You might want to get a roll of landscape fabric to line your baskets. The fabric kind, not the plastic. It will last longer than the paper.
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I assume this is a hardy lily, not a tropical??? A hardy will be fine outside as long as it does not freeze solid. However it looks like you might be in Zone 5 so its going to freeze solid. You can bring it inside as long as it has some pretty bright light, either from a sunny window or artificial lighting. It won't do real well and you run the risk of it rotting away but it can be done. I'm not a big fan of the trash bag in the cold garage method. I tried that one winter and lost almost all my lilies.
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We have a tropical hibiscus that we have now successfully overwintered for 3 years (assuming it survives til spring LOL). It does lose almost all of it's leaves when it comes inside but some grow back and there are occasional blooms. This morning it had 4 lovely red flowers! This year I also brought in 2 red mandevilla, and one white one. The white died pretty quickly but both reds are growing like crazy, I really hope they make it. Also overwintering inside a Escargot begonia and a gorgeous red geranium that I just couldn't give up, both are currently blooming too! We have almost 25 houseplants (some go out in the summer but are tropicals) and have never had a problem with bugs or disease...of course, we also have an almost indecent amount of really good light (heated sunporch plus a spare room with big south and west windows). Hope your plants are doing well and live til it's safe to take them back out! Ziya
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