Water lilies grow horizontally from a tuber, so the width of the container is more important than the depth. The ideal depth is two feet. Water lilies will grow well in Hawaii in water between 1ft and 3ft in depth. Water lilies are typically sold commercially in a black plastic pot that has no drainage holes. Water lilies will live about a year in this pot before needing to be transplanted.
Once you decide to purchase a water lily it would be ideal if you brought a water proof container like an igloo cooler or a large bucket for transport. You will want to protect your new water plant from wind if it will be riding home in the back of your Tacoma . You will want to plan ahead to protect the interior of your vehicle from the lilies muddy water bucket if you don’t have a truck.
When placing the plant in its new home slowly submerge the black plastic pot with the water lily inside into a larger container or pond of fresh water. To keep the pond water cleaner it is suggested that you place about a 1 inch layer of pea gravel on top of the black muddy soil mix before submerging it slowly. Adding pea gravel is especially recommended if your pond is home to koi fish. Koi fish like to look for goodies in the mud, the pea gravel will discourage this activity.
If you don’t have fish water lilies may require a fertilizer tab to reach their full blooming potential, Otherwise the fish and plant create a nice contained little ecosystem. Caution: if you have koi fish in your pond pleasse contact a fish expert before adding fertilizer to the plants in your pond. And again if you have fish they will fertilize the plants with their poo the fertilizer tablet should not be necessary,
If you don’t have koi or another larger fish species in your pond and you are not trying to farm mosquitos be sure to add mosquito fish or minnows. Don’t feed the minnows because if you do the the fish will get lazy and won’t hunt down the mosquito larvae. Maui is home to greenhouse frogs. These small frogs are often mistaken for the noisy invasive coqui frog. Although this little greenhouse frog was accidentally introduced this is not the little guy everyone is so upset about,
Water lilies could live forever i
n the right conditions and they are easy to propagate. One day soon you will be able to share the waterlilies with your friends or you can start another pond!