Small lily pads

13 years ago

Hello, I did a major re-pot/divide back in the spring of this year to my lilies and also added some my brother gave me from his pond that I left growing bare root. Of the ones ones I repotted I used the black oil pans from Wally World and plain old yard dirt topped with pea gravel. Problem is non of my lily pads except one ever grow to more than 3-4 inches across. I know some of them in the past were much larger and the ones that were given to me were also. I've had blooms on all of them, just not a whole lot of them. Is this a symptom of needing some type of fertilizer? I have been hesitant to use any type in the past for fear of another green water episode that lasts for months. Thanks in advance for any advice.

Comments (4)

catherinet
13 years ago
Do you just have one lily per pan? How deep are they in the water? I feed mine 3 pond tabs about every 3 weeks. Is that how much your are fertilizing?
coastal_ponder
Original Author
13 years ago
hello catherinet, yes i put one tuber in each pan. they are in about 15-18" of water on a shelf of sorts around the perimeter of the pond. i do not fertilize them at all.

i have read about folks on here using tomato stakes but i have had no success in locating any. i have also been hesitant to use anything in the way of fetilizer due to green water algae problems. this is the first year since i put the pond in that i haven't dealt so much with those type problems. this year has it has been string algae. put in a barley bale a couple of months ago and it took care of most of that problem. at least thats what i credit it too. anyhow, i ramble. thanks for your reply.
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catherinet
13 years ago
Are you putting your pond tabs several inches into the soil, and covering them up?
They definitely need some food. Also, could you try putting them further down into the water......like at least 24"?
I'm seeing many more Jobe's tomato spikes this year than last. I got mine at the Menard's garden center. I've been using 3 whole ones in each lily container.
jennyb5149
13 years ago
Hi there,

I'm not sure if you have any Ace Hardwares around you but they carry the Jobe's tomato fertilizer stakes. I just bought a pack 2 weeks ago at the local Ace...they were already marked down! Go stock up if you can find some.

I put some in with a tropical lily that I started late this summer. It is already doing better than the hardy lilies that I fertilized with slow release spikes that are supposed to last all year!! I'm a convert to the Jobe's now!

Catherinet...good to know that Menard's carries them too! I live in Wisconsin...the home state of Menard's (or Mee-nards as us local nut jobs call it). Can't throw a rock without hitting a Menard's around here! I've got a birthday coming up and have been requesting Menard's gift cards so I can buy plumbing supplies for the upcoming pond addition! The jobe's spikes are now one more thing I can add to the list! :-) My word! You know you are a pond addict when you're asking for home improvement gift cards for your birthday just so you can do more work on the money pit in the back yard! LOL