Growing tropical water lilies in containers.

[Kevin S]

 I have been having a lot of enjoyment growing tropical water lily in containers.  Here are some photos from last year in the garden.

[Kevin S]

[Kevin S]

 This one is very good at creating plantlets on leaves.

[Kevin S]

[Kevin S]

 I like using horse water trough’s for growing water lilies.  This one was a new addition last year to the garden.

[Kevin S]

 Even the leaves of some plants can be very colorful.

[Kevin S]

[Silas_Sancona]

Great pictures, You growing these in CA. or Hawaii? 

[Kevin S]

 This is my newest addition to the garden I am thinking about using this Horse trough for producing new plants from leaves cuttings later on in the year.  But for now it is housing two new plants I Purchased on Amazon from Florida colors.  And yes I did say I purchased on Amazon I Purchased most of my water lilies on their site.  I even ordered some from Thailand two years ago.

[Kevin S]

 Here is a photo of Water lily ordered on Amazon from Thailand.

[Kevin S]

  On 4/13/2019 at 5:11 AM, Silas_Sancona said:

Great pictures, You growing these in CA. or Hawaii? 

Expand  

 These guys are growing in California.  The ones I had growing in a Hawaii got damaged from the wild pigs.

[Silas_Sancona]

  On 4/13/2019 at 5:22 AM, Kevin S said:

 These guys are growing in California.  The ones I had growing in a Hawaii got damaged from the wild pigs.

Expand  

God to know.  Use of Horse troughs will also make another project i've been mulling over easier to plan out once ready. Not sure why using them didn't cross my mind in the first place.. Plus, they can fit under a covered patio up against the house. ( easier to add a heater for night blooming tropical sp. / varieties, if needed in the winter )

[Kevin S]

 I have been using a horse water troughs for years now since I was a kid.  The big tubs you get from Home Depot or Walmart are very affordable water garden containers.  I really love the Big pots Costco had for the past few years the new were version is skinnier.

[Kevin S]

 I really love the color of this flower 

[Kevin S]

 You don’t have to have a big garden to have a tropical water lily in it.

[Really full garden]

You can never have too many waterlilies!

[Really full garden]

Kevin do you add any fish to your containers? A few guppies added can turn a water garden into a mosquito exterminating machine.

[Kevin S]

  On 4/13/2019 at 4:40 PM, scottgt said:

Kevin do you add any fish to your containers? A few guppies added can turn a water garden into a mosquito exterminating machine.

Expand  

 These are the guppies I have been using for the past few years  I overwinter a few in a fish tank every year.

[Kevin S]

 There were only a few flowers this weekend but the water is warming up soon I will have a lot more. 

[Kevin S]

 Right now I really need to do a lot of cleaning out but I got so many tadpoles I don’t want to hurt makes it a little hard.

[PalmatierMeg]

What a great setup! I've thought about trying water lilies in a large container but we have a huge mosquito problem in FL and my husband is a mosquito magnet since he got lymphoma. I'd certainly have to keep lilies in full shade as our ferocious sun will parboil them and any guppies I might add.

[Kailua_Krish]

  On 4/14/2019 at 4:41 PM, PalmatierMeg said:

What a great setup! I've thought about trying water lilies in a large container but we have a huge mosquito problem in FL and my husband is a mosquito magnet since he got lymphoma. I'd certainly have to keep lilies in full shade as our ferocious sun will parboil them and any guppies I might add.

Expand  

Throw some mosquito fish in and you won't have too many problems with mosquitos. You probably would need to keep them in full sun. My experience was in Central Florida the tropical water lilys flowered and grew best when exposed to bright sun, warm water, and were fertilized regularly. When I stopped fertilizing mine all died out. The hardy ones don't seem to need as much fertilize.

[Chris Chance]

I only have hardy lilies in my pond but they look great. Honestly I find it hard to see the difference between hardy and tropical.  Mine just started blooming today. Adding mosquito fish is always a good idea along with a small pump for circulation.  I added a picture to show my hardy but don't think tropical would do so well here. I like the horse trough idea!

[Kevin S]

 This is a photo of one of my favorite hardy water lily I have.

[Kevin S]

 This hardy water lily is also very good flowers a lot 

[Silas_Sancona]

  On 4/14/2019 at 11:06 PM, Chris Chance said:

I only have hardy lilies in my pond but they look great. Honestly I find it hard to see the difference between hardy and tropical.  Mine just started blooming today. Adding mosquito fish is always a good idea along with a small pump for circulation.  I added a picture to show my hardy but don't think tropical would do so well here. I like the horse trough idea!

Expand  

 The big difference between tropical vs hardy types  -as i understand it- is tropical types extend the color palate to blue, purple and bright reddish- pink / almost scarlet,  flower longer through the season / flowers stand taller out of the water, and offer both day and night flowering sp.   Several of the Tropical types are supposedly root hardy outdoors down to zone 9a / 8b, at least from what i read on different seller's sites.

One of those sellers, Turtle Island Waterlilies, successfully crossed tropical and hardy sp. and introduced blue / purple colored flowers into the hardier types.  A majority of the crosses the owner has done are stunning.. esp "X Almost Black".  "X Tanzanite" and a uncommon, Blue - flowered sp. from Australia are 1st and 2nd on my personal list, along with the bright red-pink, night flowering types which are also extremely fragrant.

[Chris Chance]

  On 4/14/2019 at 11:42 PM, Silas_Sancona said:

 The big difference between tropical vs hardy types  -as i understand it- is tropical types extend the color palate to blue, purple and bright reddish- pink / almost scarlet,  flower longer through the season / flowers stand taller out of the water, and offer both day and night flowering sp.   Several of the Tropical types are supposedly root hardy outdoors down to zone 9a / 8b, at least from what i read on different seller's sites.

One of those sellers, Turtle Island Waterlilies, successfully crossed tropical and hardy sp. and introduced blue / purple colored flowers into the hardier types.  A majority of the crosses the owner has done are stunning.. esp "X Almost Black".  "X Tanzanite" and a uncommon, Blue - flowered sp. from Australia are 1st and 2nd on my personal list, along with the bright red-pink, night flowering types which are also extremely fragrant.

Expand  

Honestly I didn't do much research just wanted to make sure they do good for me. I just figured visually they look close. Hardy species go dormant for a few months but grow back super fast. I never saw mine flower this early which means I'll see them flower until November. I know what I have is some sort of hybrid. 

I did read about the night bloomers being very fragrant and if I had a bigger pond I would try it down the road. I like the idea of seeing blue flowers! One day I will redo my pond. The raccoons messed up the rocks but i still thinking it looks cool regardless. When I do redo it I plan to add more plants but I do like what it adds to the tropical looking garden. 

[Silas_Sancona]

  On 4/15/2019 at 12:34 AM, Chris Chance said:

Honestly I didn't do much research just wanted to make sure they do good for me. I just figured visually they look close. Hardy species go dormant for a few months but grow back super fast. I never saw mine flower this early which means I'll see them flower until November. I know what I have is some sort of hybrid. 

I did read about the night bloomers being very fragrant and if I had a bigger pond I would try it down the road. I like the idea of seeing blue flowers! One day I will redo my pond. The raccoons messed up the rocks but i still thinking it looks cool regardless. When I do redo it I plan to add more plants but I do like what it adds to the tropical looking garden. 

Expand  

I hear ya.. nothing wrong w/ playing it safe. Didn't really start researching Tropical sp.  until someone ordered a couple blue flowering types to sell at a nursery i worked for back in San Jose several years ago.   Agree that a pond w/ lilies adds to the ambiance of a lusher landscape.   Racoons aside, your pond looks great. Like you said, you can always improve upon anything you might not like right now later when you have more time..

I like the Horse trough idea because, say you have a covered patio, you can place them under it around the perimeter / under windows of the patio where you can enjoy the flowers more ( and keep the bigger critters out, lol ) plus, i have an idea using porous chunks of Lava rock or Aragocrete ( DIY live rock for reef systems ) attached to a frame built behind each trough where i can attach Orchids, etc,  and set up drip or misters over head that pull from the the troughs. Any runoff goes back into the troughs so very little water gets wasted ..or is my thought. I'm sure you could buy some type of similar set up but i'm sure it would cost more than building myself.    Just an idea, for now.

[Kevin S]

 Night blooming tropical water lilies are the most cold sensitive.  I have some night blooming water lilies but right now they’re completely dormant.  For me I’m lucky enough I could grow tropical water lilies with year-round flowers.  Tropical water lilies have very fragrant flowers.

[Kevin S]

 This poor beat up flower was of a night bloomer.

[Silas_Sancona]

A bit of a surprise find while out grabbing some fertilizer, ...and a new cactus, lol.  Plus a couple bonus shots.

Lilies. Hardy type i believe but what a display. Knew they had them in their pond here but never really stopped to take a closer look, until lured in by all the flowers today..





Lilies, and a famous Mule. "Torch Glow" Boug. specimen in the background, up in the hill below Brahea sp..  Ignore the ugly Queen on the right of more attractive Mule.




Perhaps the area's most well known Royal. Glowing hot pink, somewhat hidden "tree" is a well -trained Bougainvillea.    Watch out for the "critter" hiding below the Twisted Myrtle to the left, lol.

[Really full garden]

These are night bloomers just closing midmorning in my beach garden lily pool.

 

[epiphyte]

  On 4/14/2019 at 4:29 AM, Kevin S said:

 Right now I really need to do a lot of cleaning out but I got so many tadpoles I don’t want to hurt makes it a little hard.

Expand  

Do you know which tadpoles?  Where in California are you located?  

[Kevin S]

 This is a photo of one of the type of tree frogs in my water lily tubs.

[Silas_Sancona]

  On 4/27/2019 at 7:40 AM, Kevin S said:

 This is a photo of one of the type of tree frogs in my water lily tubs.

Expand  

California Treefrog / Calif. Chorus Frog,  Pseudacris cadaverina.    Lucky you!   ..these are supposedly a lot harder to find / rarer than the more common Pacific / Baja California Treefrog, Pseudacris hypochondriaca, **formally a sub species in the Hyla regilla group, before the 3 sub sp. were separated when the species itself was moved into the Genus Paeudacris**    Wouldn't doubt the Tadpoles in your tubs belong to one or both species.  Only two native "Treefrogs" in CA.

[Chris Chance]

  On 4/27/2019 at 7:40 AM, Kevin S said:

 This is a photo of one of the type of tree frogs in my water lily tubs.

Expand  

That's so cool! No frogs hanging around my pond but I wish there was. 

[Kevin S]

 At the very top of the tub you can see a different kind a tree frog I have.  Originally I collect a tad poles from the local creek.  But that was many years ago.  I really want to make a ground-level pond so I could have tadpoles of toads. 

[Kevin S]

here is a fun picture how many baby tree frogs can you find in it.

[Silas_Sancona]

  On 4/27/2019 at 6:13 PM, Kevin S said:

 At the very top of the tub you can see a different kind a tree frog I have.  Originally I collect a tad poles from the local creek.  But that was many years ago.  I really want to make a ground-level pond so I could have tadpoles of toads. 

Expand  

The species in this tub is the Baja CA. sub- species of the Pacific Treefrog.. The dark stripe across the eye / down the shoulder is a dead give away.  Your idea for in-ground pools mirrors exactly an idea i have once i purchase a piece of land out there once back in CA. Specifically to provide habitat for Western  Spadefoot and Arroyo Toads, both considered threatened in San Diego County / Across S. Cal. 

[metalfan]

I do this too! Glad someone else does!