Water lillies and liners

[Peter H.M. Brooks]

I've had some water lillies in my fishpond for a couple of years now.
They had flowers on them when bought, but haven't flowered since - even
though they have grown nice and big. What do you do to get them to flower?

The pond started to leak so I've taken everything out to see if I can
re-seal it. It had a liner before, well bits of liner were still left,
and I'm not sure if the bituminous sealer will be the ideal solution.
Any suggestions as to what to look for in a pond liner? It is a pretty
small pond around a metre square and thirty centimetres deep.

[Mike Lyle]

Peter H.M. Brooks wrote:
> I've had some water lillies in my fishpond for a couple of years
now.
> They had flowers on them when bought, but haven't flowered since -
> even though they have grown nice and big. What do you do to get
them
> to flower?
>
> The pond started to leak so I've taken everything out to see if I
can
> re-seal it. It had a liner before, well bits of liner were still
left,
> and I'm not sure if the bituminous sealer will be the ideal
solution.
> Any suggestions as to what to look for in a pond liner? It is a
pretty
> small pond around a metre square and thirty centimetres deep.

What species and variety are they? Your pond may not be deep enough
for them, as I think you need at least a foot above the rootstock
even for the smallest. I also wonder if there are too many -- you say
"water lilies", plural.

Mike.

[Peter H.M. Brooks]

Mike Lyle wrote:
> Peter H.M. Brooks wrote:
>
>>I've had some water lillies in my fishpond for a couple of years
>
> now.
>
>>They had flowers on them when bought, but haven't flowered since -
>>even though they have grown nice and big. What do you do to get
>
> them
>
>>to flower?
>>
>>The pond started to leak so I've taken everything out to see if I
>
> can
>
>>re-seal it. It had a liner before, well bits of liner were still
>
> left,
>
>>and I'm not sure if the bituminous sealer will be the ideal
>
> solution.
>
>>Any suggestions as to what to look for in a pond liner? It is a
>
> pretty
>
>>small pond around a metre square and thirty centimetres deep.
>
>
> What species and variety are they? Your pond may not be deep enough
> for them, as I think you need at least a foot above the rootstock
> even for the smallest. I also wonder if there are too many -- you say
> "water lilies", plural.
>
I have three in the pond of different species - I don't know the names.
There is plenty of space between them.

Thank you for that point though - I will have the pool quite a bit
deeper after mending the leak and that might do the trick, just.

[Mike Lyle]

Peter H.M. Brooks wrote:
> Mike Lyle wrote:
>> Peter H.M. Brooks wrote:
>>
>>> I've had some water lillies in my fishpond for a couple of years
>>
>> now.
>>
>>> They had flowers on them when bought, but haven't flowered
since -
>>> even though they have grown nice and big. What do you do to get
>>
>> them
>>
>>> to flower?
>>>
>>> The pond started to leak so I've taken everything out to see if I
>>
>> can
>>
>>> re-seal it. It had a liner before, well bits of liner were still
>>
>> left,
>>
>>> and I'm not sure if the bituminous sealer will be the ideal
>>
>> solution.
>>
>>> Any suggestions as to what to look for in a pond liner? It is a
>>
>> pretty
>>
>>> small pond around a metre square and thirty centimetres deep.
>>
>>
>> What species and variety are they? Your pond may not be deep
enough
>> for them, as I think you need at least a foot above the rootstock
>> even for the smallest. I also wonder if there are too many -- you
say
>> "water lilies", plural.
>>
> I have three in the pond of different species - I don't know the
> names. There is plenty of space between them.
>
> Thank you for that point though - I will have the pool quite a bit
> deeper after mending the leak and that might do the trick, just.

My books are still in boxes, but I've done a cursory Gg, and I wonder
if either of these sites might be useful.

This BBC one's about water-lilies in particular:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/plants/plantprofile_nymphaea.shtml

I see that there actually are species which want water shallower than
I mentioned -- sorry! But of course we still don't know what you've
got.

This one's a very chatty (though mercifully free of exclamation
marks) and informative one about small ponds in general, with a bit
about water-lilies:
http://www.johnrogers.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/pond1.htm

HTH,
Mike.

[Oxymel of Squill]

lilies don't like moving water, so most set ups with fish are unsuitable,
unless you can arrange a quiet cornere out of any currents

I had 2 lilies in the fish pond and neither flowered, the koi attacked one,
fatally! I moved the survivor into a stagnant pool and it has flowered
prolifically this year and last

Jon

"Peter H.M. Brooks" > wrote in message
...
> I've had some water lillies in my fishpond for a couple of years now. They
> had flowers on them when bought, but haven't flowered since - even though
> they have g

[PK]

"Peter H.M. Brooks" > wrote in message
...
> I've had some water lillies in my fishpond for a couple of years now. They
> had flowers on them when bought, but haven't flowered since - even though
> they have grown nice and big. What do you do to get them to flower?
>


if they are full size water lillies they will not work in such a small pond
yopu need on of the pygmaea forms, lots of food and lots of light.

pk

[Peter H.M. Brooks]

Oxymel of Squill wrote:
> lilies don't like moving water, so most set ups with fish are unsuitable,
> unless you can arrange a quiet cornere out of any currents
>
> I had 2 lilies in the fish pond and neither flowered, the koi attacked one,
> fatally! I moved the survivor into a stagnant pool and it has flowered
> prolifically this year and last
>
That makes sense - I could put them in the corner away from the fountain
.. I'll try that - thank you.

[Peter H.M. Brooks]

Mike Lyle wrote:
> Peter H.M. Brooks wrote:
>
>>Mike Lyle wrote:
>>
>>>Peter H.M. Brooks wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>I've had some water lillies in my fishpond for a couple of years
>>>
>>>now.
>>>
>>>
>>>>They had flowers on them when bought, but haven't flowered
>
> since -
>
>>>>even though they have grown nice and big. What do you do to get
>>>
>>>them
>>>
>>>
>>>>to flower?
>>>>
>>>>The pond started to leak so I've taken everything out to see if I
>>>
>>>can
>>>
>>>
>>>>re-seal it. It had a liner before, well bits of liner were still
>>>
>>>left,
>>>
>>>
>>>>and I'm not sure if the bituminous sealer will be the ideal
>>>
>>>solution.
>>>
>>>
>>>>Any suggestions as to what to look for in a pond liner? It is a
>>>
>>>pretty
>>>
>>>
>>>>small pond around a metre square and thirty centimetres deep.
>>>
>>>
>>>What species and variety are they? Your pond may not be deep
>
> enough
>
>>>for them, as I think you need at least a foot above the rootstock
>>>even for the smallest. I also wonder if there are too many -- you
>
> say
>
>>>"water lilies", plural.
>>>
>>
>>I have three in the pond of different species - I don't know the
>>names. There is plenty of space between them.
>>
>>Thank you for that point though - I will have the pool quite a bit
>>deeper after mending the leak and that might do the trick, just.
>
>
> My books are still in boxes, but I've done a cursory Gg, and I wonder
> if either of these sites might be useful.
>
> This BBC one's about water-lilies in particular:
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/plants/plantprofile_nymphaea.shtml
>
> I see that there actually are species which want water shallower than
> I mentioned -- sorry! But of course we still don't know what you've
> got.
>
> This one's a very chatty (though mercifully free of exclamation
> marks) and informative one about small ponds in general, with a bit
> about water-lilies:
> http://www.johnrogers.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/pond1.htm
>
Thank you very much - I'll go hunting there...

[Peter H.M. Brooks]

PK wrote:
> "Peter H.M. Brooks" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>>I've had some water lillies in my fishpond for a couple of years now. They
>>had flowers on them when bought, but haven't flowered since - even though
>>they have grown nice and big. What do you do to get them to flower?
>>
>
>
>
> if they are full size water lillies they will not work in such a small pond
> yopu need on of the pygmaea forms, lots of food and lots of light.
>
They are smaller, two have leaves the size of a match box and the other
the size of a wine coaster. When I was a child we had pukka waterlillies
- they were in the corners of the pond, now that I think of it, and in
full sunlight at least half the day.

[ex WGS Hamm]

"Oxymel of Squill" > wrote in message
...
> lilies don't like moving water, so most set ups with fish are unsuitable,
> unless you can arrange a quiet cornere out of any currents
>
> I had 2 lilies in the fish pond and neither flowered, the koi attacked
one,
> fatally! I moved the survivor into a stagnant pool and it has flowered
> prolifically this year and last

Whereas my lilies are the envy of my neighbour who can see them from her
bedroom window. I have 5. I also have several large fish and a pump and the
ducks occasionally manage to jump in and splash about, and they flower
profusely every year.

[[email protected]]

actually, I have a huge lily less than 3 feet away from my waterfall and the leaves
get splashed. I also have a foot long air stone at the same distance with a big air
pump pushing the air in. I wouldnt set a pump outlet aimed right at the lily tho.
I and a few other people found that feeding high protein, high quality food seems to
keep koi from attacking the lilies. altho I do have large flat river rocks on top of
the potting mud and gravel filling in around the rocks to keep koi from rooting
around.
my lily is a heavy feeder. it wont bloom without being fed every two weeks or so. I
dont have ideal all day full sun for my lily, but it does get sun several hours each
day. there are lilies that will bloom in lower light conditions.
not all lilies are as bloomiferous. mine is texas dawn and really cranks out the
blossoms. INgrid


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

[Tumbleweed]

"Peter H.M. Brooks" > wrote in message
...
> I've had some water lillies in my fishpond for a couple of years now. They
> had flowers on them when bought, but haven't flowered since - even though
> they have grown nice and big. What do you do to get them to flower?
>
> The pond started to leak so I've taken everything out to see if I can
> re-seal it. It had a liner before, well bits of liner were still left, and
> I'm not sure if the bituminous sealer will be the ideal solution. Any
> suggestions as to what to look for in a pond liner? It is a pretty small
> pond around a metre square and thirty centimetres deep.

Are you serious? 1m square? You can buy new liner for that for next to
nothing , resealing (a) probably wouldnt work, and (b) a tin of resealer
would cost more than a bit of liner! especially as you might be able to get
an offcut for free.

Anyway, a 'pond' that size is too small for anything but a dwarf lily, a
standard or even medium size lily would fill it up within 2 or 3 months.

--
Tumbleweed

Remove my socks for email address

[Tumbleweed]

"Peter H.M. Brooks" > wrote in message
...
> Oxymel of Squill wrote:
>> lilies don't like moving water, so most set ups with fish are unsuitable,
>> unless you can arrange a quiet cornere out of any currents
>>
>> I had 2 lilies in the fish pond and neither flowered, the koi attacked
>> one, fatally! I moved the survivor into a stagnant pool and it has
>> flowered prolifically this year and last
>>
> That makes sense - I could put them in the corner away from the fountain .
> I'll try that - thank you.

A fountain in it? Thats probably it. In such a small pond you probably need
a fountain to avoid the water getting stagnant. But its only a M sq, so you
arent going to be able to move the lily very far away are you :-)
I suggest you dig a bigger pond.

One other thought, in a hot summer the water is going to warm up very fast,
much more so that in a bigger (especially deeper) pond. It may also be too
warm for them at the height of the summer.
--
Tumbleweed

Remove my socks for email address

[Peter H.M. Brooks]

Tumbleweed wrote:
> "Peter H.M. Brooks" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>>Oxymel of Squill wrote:
>>
>>>lilies don't like moving water, so most set ups with fish are unsuitable,
>>>unless you can arrange a quiet cornere out of any currents
>>>
>>>I had 2 lilies in the fish pond and neither flowered, the koi attacked
>>>one, fatally! I moved the survivor into a stagnant pool and it has
>>>flowered prolifically this year and last
>>>
>>
>>That makes sense - I could put them in the corner away from the fountain .
>>I'll try that - thank you.
>
>
> A fountain in it? Thats probably it. In such a small pond you probably need
> a fountain to avoid the water getting stagnant. But its only a M sq, so you
> arent going to be able to move the lily very far away are you :-)
> I suggest you dig a bigger pond.
>
> One other thought, in a hot summer the water is going to warm up very fast,
> much more so that in a bigger (especially deeper) pond. It may also be too
> warm for them at the height of the summer.
>
Could be, it is in shade, but it gets pretty hot in summer. I did say
that it was a small pond - not a lake! There isn't the space for a
bigger one where it is, so I'll have to stick with what is there

[Mike Lyle]

Peter H.M. Brooks wrote:
> Tumbleweed wrote:
>> "Peter H.M. Brooks" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>
>>> Oxymel of Squill wrote:
>>>
>>>> lilies don't like moving water, so most set ups with fish are
>>>> unsuitable, unless you can arrange a quiet cornere out of any
>>>> currents
>>>>
>>>> I had 2 lilies in the fish pond and neither flowered, the koi
>>>> attacked one, fatally! I moved the survivor into a stagnant
pool
>>>> and it has flowered prolifically this year and last
>>>>
>>>
>>> That makes sense - I could put them in the corner away from the
>>> fountain . I'll try that - thank you.
>>
>>
>> A fountain in it? Thats probably it. In such a small pond you
>> probably need a fountain to avoid the water getting stagnant. But
>> its only a M sq, so you arent going to be able to move the lily
very
>> far away are you :-)
>> I suggest you dig a bigger pond.
>>
>> One other thought, in a hot summer the water is going to warm up
>> very fast, much more so that in a bigger (especially deeper) pond.
>> It may also be too warm for them at the height of the summer.
> >
> Could be, it is in shade, but it gets pretty hot in summer. I did
say
> that it was a small pond - not a lake! There isn't the space for a
> bigger one where it is, so I'll have to stick with what is there

Ah, I don't think you mentioned the shade. That's yer problem,
squire. As far as I know all water-lilies absolutely must get about
half a day's real sunlight, at least. Unless somebody knows better, I
don't think they're likely to do well in that position.

On the question of moving water, isn't it the case that they don't
mind the movement itself, but that the circulation may lower the
water-temperature?

Mike.

[Franz Heymann]

"Peter H.M. Brooks" > wrote in message
...
> Oxymel of Squill wrote:
> > lilies don't like moving water, so most set ups with fish are
unsuitable,
> > unless you can arrange a quiet cornere out of any currents
> >
> > I had 2 lilies in the fish pond and neither flowered, the koi
attacked one,
> > fatally! I moved the survivor into a stagnant pool and it has
flowered
> > prolifically this year and last
> >
> That makes sense - I could put them in the corner away from the
fountain
> . I'll try that - thank you.

Do I understand correctly that you have a 1 metre square pond with 3
water lilies and a fountain? If so, I have a very strong feeling that
you will continue to be disappointed. I cannot understand why you put
3 lilies of unknown species in such a small space. Most (?) water
lilies will cover an area of 4 sq metres with ease.

Franz

[Franz Heymann]

"Tumbleweed" > wrote in message
.. .
>
> "Peter H.M. Brooks" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Oxymel of Squill wrote:
> >> lilies don't like moving water, so most set ups with fish are
unsuitable,
> >> unless you can arrange a quiet cornere out of any currents
> >>
> >> I had 2 lilies in the fish pond and neither flowered, the koi
attacked
> >> one, fatally! I moved the survivor into a stagnant pool and it
has
> >> flowered prolifically this year and last
> >>
> > That makes sense - I could put them in the corner away from the
fountain .
> > I'll try that - thank you.
>
> A fountain in it? Thats probably it. In such a small pond you
probably need
> a fountain to avoid the water getting stagnant. But its only a M sq,
so you
> arent going to be able to move the lily very far away are you :-)

He is not talking about "a lily". He is trying to grow *3* lilies in
that pond.

> I suggest you dig a bigger pond.
>
> One other thought, in a hot summer the water is going to warm up
very fast,
> much more so that in a bigger (especially deeper) pond. It may also
be too
> warm for them at the height of the summer.

Franz

[Bob Hobden]

"Mike Lyle" wrote
>> Could be, it is in shade, but it gets pretty hot in summer. I did
> say
>> that it was a small pond - not a lake! There isn't the space for a
>> bigger one where it is, so I'll have to stick with what is there
>
> Ah, I don't think you mentioned the shade. That's yer problem,
> squire. As far as I know all water-lilies absolutely must get about
> half a day's real sunlight, at least. Unless somebody knows better, I
> don't think they're likely to do well in that position.

Quite right, they need as much sun as possible, and at least a few hours a
day.
>
> On the question of moving water, isn't it the case that they don't
> mind the movement itself, but that the circulation may lower the
> water-temperature?
>
Slight water movement is tolerated but a raging torrent certainly won't be.
What they really hate is their leaves getting splashed with water constantly
such as a fountain would do.

So, your problem is lack of sunlight and water splashed on the leaves. One
is easily cured the other means moving your pond.
And, 3 lilies in a 1metre sq pond? unless they are the smallest varieties
then that's two to many.

--
Regards
Bob
In Runnymede, 17 miles West of London

[Peter H.M. Brooks]

Bob Hobden wrote:
> "Mike Lyle" wrote
>
>
> So, your problem is lack of sunlight and water splashed on the leaves. One
> is easily cured the other means moving your pond.
> And, 3 lilies in a 1metre sq pond? unless they are the smallest varieties
> then that's two to many.
>
It certainly would be! I mentioned their sizes - they are small varieties.

[~ Windsong ~]

"Peter H.M. Brooks" > wrote in message
...
> I've had some water lillies in my fishpond for a couple of years now.
> They had flowers on them when bought, but haven't flowered since - even
> though they have grown nice and big. What do you do to get them to flower?

## Sounds like they may need more sun and more fertalizer tabs. Use the
cheap rosebush spikes. They keep mine blooming all summer.

> The pond started to leak so I've taken everything out to see if I can
> re-seal it. It had a liner before, well bits of liner were still left,
> and I'm not sure if the bituminous sealer will be the ideal solution.
> Any suggestions as to what to look for in a pond liner? It is a pretty
> small pond around a metre square and thirty centimetres deep.

## Sorry, Can't help you there.
--
Carol.... the frugal ponder...
"A gun in the hand is better than a cop on the phone."
~~<~~<~~{@
"They laugh because I'm different, I laugh because they're all the same."
http://www.heartoftn.net/users/windsong/index.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[~ Windsong ~]

"Peter H.M. Brooks" > wrote in message
...
> Thank you for that point though - I will have the pool quite a bit
> deeper after mending the leak and that might do the trick, just.
===================
Also remember they like still water. They don't do well in currents.
--
Carol.... the frugal ponder...
"A gun in the hand is better than a cop on the phone."
~~<~~<~~{@
Pricelessware: FREE software.
http://www.pricelessware.org
http://www.pricelesswarehome.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Crashj]

On or about Sun, 07 Nov 2004 19:04:53 GMT, "ex WGS Hamm"
> wrote something like:
<>
<>
> I also have several large fish and a pump and the
>ducks occasionally manage to jump in and splash about, and they flower
>profusely every year.

Ducks flower? England is a strange place. hehehehe
--
Crashj

[Benign Vanilla]

"Peter H.M. Brooks" > wrote in message
...
> I've had some water lillies in my fishpond for a couple of years now.
> They had flowers on them when bought, but haven't flowered since - even
> though they have grown nice and big. What do you do to get them to flower?
>
> The pond started to leak so I've taken everything out to see if I can
> re-seal it. It had a liner before, well bits of liner were still left,
> and I'm not sure if the bituminous sealer will be the ideal solution.
> Any suggestions as to what to look for in a pond liner? It is a pretty
> small pond around a metre square and thirty centimetres deep.

I have found my lillies do well when planted in some 'lovely filth'. This
year I planted them in stones like my other plants, and they did awfully.
Last year, lotsa flowers, this year nada.

BV.