My lilies are planted in round black plastic containers that are used for changing oil. They can be purchased at any auto supply place. You could also use a plastic dishpan. You can plant it soil, small stones, aquatic "dirt" which is a ceramic type of small "stone". Good plant-growing lights should be sufficient.

You would have to change the water regularly to prevent it from becoming stagnant, but with the lily planted in a closed container of some kind that wouldn't be a problem. Be sure to fertilize the lily on a regular basis. There are lily fertilizer tabs; some people use Jobe's spikes.

I think a bathroom with a lily in the tub sounds great.

Good luck

pashta, are you saying that I could plant it in soil OR stones or aquatic dirt? because I don't think soil would be a good thing to put in the tub - it's bound to seep UP into the water, don't you think? Stones, maybe not THAT small, would be great. I just thought water lilies needed dirt.

I have water lily fertilizer tabs because I have lilies in my outdoor pond.

If you cover the dirt with a layer of pebbles it should be okay; there might be a little bit of dirt that comes out but not much. As far as I know, lilies do okay in small pebbles as long as they get the fertilizer. I could be wrong, so hopefully someone else will chime in.

Me thinks you are going to have to have a Halide grow light to get any growth or flowers and they are expensive...

You can grow waterlilies in pea gravel but you won't get the amount of blooms that you would in clay garden soil.

I'm thinking this idea sound 'great on paper' but in reality would not be so great.

A tub holds +/- 70 gallons of water. That's A LOT of water.

I see two major problems with this idea. Odor and mositure. Depending upon where you live, the additional moisture from that water that will be continually evaoparating could lead to mold, mildew and woodrot. That's just in the bathroom. Then you have to deal with the rest of the home.

And pond water stinks. Maybe not outside, but we've all dredged up the bottom and it smells like rot. Who wants that in thir house?

Keep the lillys outside. This is a bad idea.

I agree, it would stink. Now, I like the smell in my greenhouse that has a pond but I would not like it in my house....Ditto all the extra humidity.

Go for it! Its just large aquarium. But you have to think of it as such. Either you have to run a filter or change the water every couple of weeks. I'd still run a pump to keep the water moving a little if you plan on water changes but don't splash the plant. Water lilies don't like alot of splash. I've had waterlilies inside in a 150 gal stock tank for the winter - with fish. They didn't bloom but I wasn't giving them alot of light, either.
I've had it in several rooms and never had a problem with smell or humidity. Keeping the cat out - that's a problem. sam