Nymphaea species

[dc88]

Went to the D-Paradise Tropical Fruit World & Aboriginal Native Village at Melaka last weekend. Saw this Nymphaea sp. (water lilies) at their Lilly/Lotus ponds, grow in shallow pond with clay bottom with constant running water.



Notice the darker color colony at the bottom ? These are many smaller Nymphaea plantlets with submersed leaf clustering and forming carpet all over the bottom of the pond.
Very different from the usual form we saw in our aquarium.

[Betta Almighty]

wow, those are really huge. Wonder why is it so easy for the smaller Nymphaea plantlets to thrive in the wild than in the aquarium.

[hwchoy]

some species propagate via runners, and these will eventually form large colonies. some species propagate via plantlets from the middle of the old leaves and these would not form a carpet.

[primavera]

Its the large flowered N. capensis I think. Full grown specimens are more than a meter in diameter. White flowers as the pink variety has redder/marron leaves. I would say the fully aquatic plantlets developed from seeds instead, as the density is so high. Normally with runners, it would be sparse, and the main plant has to be quite large to do so. Also notice the numerous smaller plantlets at the edges of the colony. Used to have one a few years back. Got too large for my waterlily vat and gave it away.

[wahboy]

Hello everyone,

What was shown in the picture happened in my 2 feet tank.

2 years ago, my water lily flowered and set seed. The seeds were very small. They were slightly smaller than sesame seeds. They float at the surface of the aquarium for roughly an hour because the aril was still attached. After the aril disintegrated, the seeds sank. In a week most of the seeds germinated. There were so many plantlets in my aquarium and their small leaves formed a glossostigma-like carpet. But it was a pity all the plantlets died due to my negligence.

In the future, I hope to propagate them again and give them away for free because this water lily is very rare in trade. I would like to establish a steady supply of this waterlily in Singapore. In the Oriental plant catalogue this waterlily is coded WP182.

Wayne

[dc88]

How did you do it that it can flower ? And in a 2ft tank size ?
I saw water lily flowering in 4 ft tank at a LFS and it was with MH light and in air-con places.

[hwchoy]

can lah, mine flowered in a 2½ ft tank with PL light.

[dc88]

Wow, can share the secret ? What substrate you use ? Light level ? Fert regime ?

[hwchoy]

just plain old JBL plus occassional Jaqno fert sticks. I moved that plant out of the tank to an outdoor "pond". the moment it gets direct sun it starts flowering.

[wahboy]

Hello dc88,

You must allow the plant to grow floating leaves and soon it will flower. Remember to put some fertilisers into the substrate too.

Hope this helps,

Wayne

[hwchoy]

yes, no flowers without floating leaves.

[dc88]

just plain old JBL plus occassional Jaqno fert sticks. I moved that plant out of the tank to an outdoor "pond". the moment it gets direct sun it starts flowering.

Need direct sun light in addition of the root fert ?
Or is normal PL light good enough ? (What level of light ? 3wpg enough ?)

[primavera]

I've flowered a purple dwarf variety under normal fluorescents before, yes 3 wpg. The floating leaves are pretty much under the lights, should be alright. Make room though for the flower stem as some can get quite long. Open top tanks are best.

[hwchoy]

Need direct sun light in addition of the root fert ?
Or is normal PL light good enough ? (What level of light ? 3wpg enough ?)

as long as it gets good PL light, and you can see the floating leaf stalks looking "thick" then it should flower very soon.

[edinjapan]

can lah, mine flowered in a 2½ ft tank with PL light.

mine no can! have 2 with with large leaves size of plates.

[hwchoy]

mine no can! have 2 with with large leaves size of plates.

does the leaf stalk look thick and healthy? if so it should flower. else stick a few jaqno fert sticks at the base.

[Kingfisher]

Got my Red Tiger lily to bloom but at the expense of my other plants. Unfortunately the flower is just plain white petals not some other colours.

[edinjapan]

does the leaf stalk look thick and healthy? if so it should flower. else stick a few jaqno fert sticks at the base.

Plants are big and thick, they are nice sized N stellata with large leaves, nice reddish brown colour. Am using Amano ferts in a 180cm tank with good lighting. Lot's of new growth but no flower stalks.

I thought to put outside but don't want to disturb roots. Maybe I should pot them up and put them out next summer. Tokyo summers can be hot, lucky they aren't as humid as Singapore summers.

[primavera]

Some varieties don't flower until they reach a certain size, and that depends greatly on the cultivar. The one pictured above only flowers once the whole plant grows to around 1m in diameter. Too big for most tanks I'm afraid. Stellatas should flower smaller. Had one in a 1 feet cube that flowered. It had green floating leaves though, submersed leaves reddish maroon. You sure your leaves are floaters? Might try giving them more K and possibly P.