Water lilies are spectacular plants, and their cultivation seems complicated and difficult. The cultivation of rustic water lilies in a bowl is very simple and requires no special knowledge. In this step-by-step guide, we will explain how to grow water lilies in a bowl.
We need a daily newspaper, field soil or clay soil, slow release fertilizer, a low but wide bowl, river sand and a plant of water lilies. Read also: Tips for growing strawberries in pots
How to grow water lilies in a bowl?
Take a low and wide bowl as in the picture. The first thing to do is to place sheets of newspaper in the pot’s bottom to block the spillage of the field land. The newspapers will degrade over time and let the roots out.
Vase for water lilies
Now fill the pot with field soil possibly sifted or at least cleaned from the larger stones. It does not serve as much for the growth of the plant to facilitate the subsequent operations of repotting and cleaning. Absolutely to be avoided as substrates are peat, compost or other soils rich in organic matter.
Land for water lilies
Take a spoon or a cone of slow-release fertilizer with the controlled release (excellent for flowering plants). Now, mix it well with the ground. Does not use manure inside the soil. It would release many nitrogenous substances into the water with a consequent increase in unicellular and filamentous algae (green water).
Fertilizer mix
Now position the plant horizontally with respect to the earth and with a 45-degree inclination. With the part from which the new leaves are being born pointing upwards and the center of the vase and the opposite part which instead must be slightly buried. It will point towards the edge of the vase.
In this way, the water lily will develop towards the center of the vase and will have more space available to grow.
Planting water lilies
We are almost finished: now let’s add earth to the vase to cover the plants by 2/3. The tip with the young leaves must remain uncovered.
Lightly cover the plant
The last stage now covers the soil with a light layer of sand. The sand only serves not to disperse the earth when you place your vase of water lilies in the pond. You can put the vase in water.
What type of fertilizer we should use?
Serve in cone-shaped agglomerated granules, slow release: its action lasts six months. We must insert the product which is purchased in gardening centers in the earth of the pot or the tub in spring when the water lilies begin to wake up from the winter rest. Two cones are enough for each vase. To insert them, do not remove the jar from the bottom, but immerse the arms until they reach the container.
How long the flowering lasts?
In many water lilies, the flowering lasts, on average, five days, from the appearance of the bud to withering. The vast majority of these plants opens the flower in the morning and closes it again in mid-afternoon or the evening. The nocturnal varieties bloom later, around nine in the evening and close the corollas in the late morning.
Finally, to transplant water lilies, it is best to wait for spring when they are in bloom. The water lily plants or seeds can be purchased all year round and can be found in specialized nurseries.
