How to Grow Water Lily Tubers

Water lilies and lotus flowers produce bright flowers and flat foliage, but differentiate themselves from other plants with their long, willowy stems and ability to grow in deep water. These pond plants grow with their roots at the bottoms of ponds and foliage floating at the surface, but require careful planting to do so. Give water lily tubers wide, heavy containers and thick soil for successful growth.

Containers
Clay loam
Fertilizer spikes
Gravel

Instructions

- 1
  Plant water lily tubers in spring for the summer growing season. Even hardy water lilies do best with a summer of growing. Use wide containers to balance ultimate plant growth and to keep the containers from floating up. The University of Illinois Extension recommends 15- to 20-inch-wide and 10-inch-deep containers for water lilies.
- 2
  Fill the containers three quarters full of heavy clay loam for water lily planting. Don't use compost, potting soil or topsoil, which floats in the water. Plant the tubers at the sides of their containers, with the growing tips pointed toward the center of the containers at 40-degree angles. Leave the tips slightly exposed above the soil.
- 3
  Push fertilizer spikes into the soil around the tubers for nutrition, then cover the soil with 3/4 inch of pea gravel. The gravel helps weigh the soil down.
- 4
  Put the containers in the water at depths of 6 inches. Don't submerge the foliage, which needs to breathe. Move the containers deeper as the water lily stems grow, to a maximum depth of 12 to 18 inches.

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