Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Help Water Lilies

Hello, I have a 2.5 acre pond and have put the hybrid water lilies in it. They have been doing really well and have started to bloom. I keep noticing that there were some of the pads on the bank but never thought much of it. I went out to my pond early one morning and all of the lillies were gone. Somthing was cuting them off just under the surface. They are not eating them, just cutting them off. Could anyone tell me what could be doing this. I live in southern Mo. Thank you.

I had this problem last year. I didn't start feeding my fish until later in the spring and almost all of my lily pad were being cut off at the bottom of the stems. I finally decided it was my grass carp and that they were hungry and I started to feed all of my fish. It wasn't until mid summer that my second growth of lilies came up. Sooo this spring I started feeding early and have not had this problem.

John

Old Stoney & John - Grass carp/white amur will cut off the lily flowers and pads. Amur really like the flowers once they find them. Must be tender and good tasting.
I've also experienced snapping turtles cutting off lily leaves and flowers.

Thanks for the reply, I haven't got any of the carp yet, I was waiting to see how bad the grass was going to grow in my pond first. It has a solid rock bottom and I had to plant the lilies in tubs and sink them in two foot of water just so they would have enough soil to grow. I have seen some snapping turtles though. Do you think muskrats would do this? thank you

Possibly muskrats, but I will bet money its more likely the snapping turtles than the muskrats. Get rid of the rats then see if the leaf/flower cutting is still happening. Often the turtle will migrate in & out of the pond, come and go.

Muskrats didn't bother my lilies. But here is what I observed. I don't use chemicals in my pond and so I try to manage it in a natural way. But I had spreading cattails really starting to worry me and I thought I might have to spray them as some of my pond friends do theirs. Then one day I saw a muskrat and finally four of them in my � acre pond. Before the season was over with they cleaned out all of my cattails and they left and didn't come back when the cattail food was gone. They never bothered my lilies. The downside is they do make some holes in my bermed pond but not enough to bother me. But I believe they will be back if my cattails become too thick again.

John

Hello again, My son and I done some camping over the fourth of July and I think I know whats happening to some of the water lilys if not all of them. We were camped on a hill above the lake and I heard something about 3:00 am. I looked out to see 20+ deer out in the pond where there were some new pads growing. The next morning there were none of the lily pads left. I don't know if this is the main problem or not but I had rather watch the deer than the lily pads, so I guess I'll have to live with the problem. Thanks to everyone for their input. Darren

My question is about hybrid lilies. Do they grow only where you plant them or do they multiply? Thanks in advance for any input.

Bill...I have the same question about the hybrid lilies,hope someone gives us an answer.hopefully that they don't spread. Harvey

Waterlilies fall into certain categories of type:

between 'coarse' (fast growing rampant growth, low flower to leaf ratio) -these are sometimes vigorous enough to outgrow water lily crown rot....

....to the 'choice' water lilies (tend to grow on the spot, dont make so many crowns, flower prolific) which are going to show a problem if infected by crown rot... even in the best conditions they would hardly flower, barely break the surface with leaves, and one day just fizzle out

In good conditions a choice water lily might have a flower to leaf ratio of one big gobsmacking bud for every four leaves.... james brydon, frobelli, charles de meurville, lucida, indianas can do that... the choice waterlilies might spread one foot a year at best, while the 'coarse' waterlilies might plod four feet a year as they 'spread'

regards, andy