Oil pans and kitty litter??? this is all new to me.
can you explain??

it may be the wood dust from the hemlock......

do you have any fish in your pond?

aravenschild09 - the hemlock was very dead for a few years but I haven't ruled it out. All the leaves had a coating until it rained the next day and washed it into the pond. I have one comet and one shubunkin, each around 8" and they haven't been affected (yet?).

jane_24 - oil change pans are about a $3 item, I would guess less than 6" deep and maybe 12" in diameter--I haven't seen mine for a while so the dimensions are a guess. They make a nice and inexpensive way to hold lilies and other aquatic plants. They are black, low profile, and not apparent in the pond.

From what I read here, the often used media to hold the lilies are a mostly clay soil or WalMart unscented kitty litter, which is mostly clay, I think. I tried the kitty litter for the first time this year. In either case, a layer of pea gravel should top it off to prevent it from going into the pond water. Since they are non-organic, fertilization is necessary.

I'm A beginner with any plants: others more experienced and knowledgeable than I am may offer a better or more accurate explanation. I hope any misinterpretations are minor.
Mike

Thank you, before when I have purchased a water lily from a dealer, they have sold me a open weave container, so this was all new to me. I like the idea of the drip pans. I not familiar with cat litter but check into it also. thanks so much.

Mike, I have been growing native, hardy water lilies for years, very successfully.
I split them every two years and re-pot them in ordinary top soil, with chunks of fruit tree fertilizer spikes added to the soil. I cover the top of the soil with pebbles to try [unsuccessfully] the fish out of the soil.

I re-fertilize maybe about twice more over season and prior to this year that has worked fine for me, the lilies.
The plants thrived and the blooms were wonderful.

This year however, has been the worst year ever, with the leaves being split with heavy rains and rotting.
They are also turning yellow or ugly dark brown in colour and are not producing as many strong new leaves as normal.

It has been a very poor year indeed for the leaves of the plants, but the lily booms have been big and beautiful.

I have no specific idea as yet to the cause of this premature colour change and continuous rotting of the plant's leaves.
Maybe some one else can shed some light onto the subject.

"Horton"

You didn't say what the weather has been like. I know here in the Northwest it has been quite unusually hot and dry which has had various effects on my plants. The hemlock sawdust could definately be a factor but then so could the moving water oddly enough. Sometimes a plant will seem to do just fine in a slightly off location and then one year additional factors like hemlock dust or freaky weather just put it over the limit.

If they were mine, I would pull them out check the soil for sawdust gunk, smell for stink, check for over crowding and general funk factors. Give them a good clean up then put them back in a more sheltered location. It does sound like something is stressing them. You have to sleuth out the cause.

They may need to be repotted. Some hardy waterlilies grow really large rhizomes and need to be repotted every year to bloom best.

Your fertilizer may have weakened with age too.

They may also have aphids which are really tiny and hard to see with "mature" eyes. No idea if you have "mature" eyes or not, just throwing that out there. ;)

Horton, the description of your experience this year is same as mine. I don't have enough experience to develop a baseline of weather (cool and wetter than usual), root-bound (is that the word?) and other factors. My blooms, like yours, are pretty and seem strong, although very few in number. I'm surprised about the use of plain topsoil, but it makes sense and might provide the punch my other media are missing.

It is time to pull them out of the water and give them an inspection. bluesunflower, stink and funk I believe I can identify without being a plant expert! I like that expression a lot. I have tried to place them in minimum water disturbance, aware of that problem, but I don't have too many locations in the pond where it isn't present. However, I have reduced it by turning down my flow, too lazy right now to fix up over-the-liner stream leaks. Hasn't helped yet.

buyorsell88, I am leaning toward a need for repotting. I thought the oil pans were decent size, but yesterday I went into the pond to feel around the containers and two of the gravel surfaces felt as though there were roots or some impenetrable mass covering everything. Splitting will be a new adventure! Great comment about "mature" eyes--I don't know if mine are or not; I find with thick glasses, extra light and a magnifying glass that I can see lots of things. Oh well, at least some part of me is mature.

Thanks for the help and great advice, guidance for working on the problem in some systematic way.
Mike

Just wanted to say Hi Mike!
My lilies have done poorly this year.
We have had high temps so I know that has something to do with it.
You should see a flush of new growth once the temps cool in the fall and will probably have some blooms before the first frost.

Lauren, how nice to hear from you. You got me thinking about weather and pond plants. There have been many, many posts this season about too hot, too cool, too dry, too wet, all over the country it seems. The only thing I know about plants is if they are drying out, water them-these are already wet. I have sun and shade, although more sun since our neighbor thinned out his trees. I added sweet flag, papyrus and an unknown plant this summer and they seem alright--so far.

Time for another foray into the pond, it's hot enough, to pull my lilies and see what's what.

My last question here, I think, is how long can I keep the lilies in shade out of the pond (keeping soaked) or better to put pots on the edge and drape the rest into the pond?

Mike

Hey all,

I've had my pond for over 17 years and my lily experience has been the same as Horton's and others. I split my hardies every two years, only fertilize once or twice a growing season and have always been loaded with leaves and blooms. This year, the leaves are few, they yellow quickly and the blooms are few and far between. My lotus only had 1 bloom this year. Very bad year for some reason and I don't have a clue why. I have noticed that those of us with well water (lots of iron) have more success as the plants love iron. Another thing that works is Aquatic Plant Stimulant, a liquid used over the growing season to treat the whole pond. Havent done that for years and did this year because everything was doing so poorly...didn't help one bit. Let's all hope we're back to normal next year.

Jan

jan2's response raises some questions in my mind. These lilies are called hardy for a reason and obviously they are adaptable in a wide range of settings. To my thinking the weather patterns this summer shouldn't really affect them as they are suitable to hot/cool/dry/wet. Aren't they? Or do lilies in each pond acclimate to the norm? With so many responses reporting the leaf problem, it has to be more than water chemistry in any single pond.

I checked back and found a post here from last May called water lily leaf rot, describing pretty much the same problem. The typical answer was some kind of pest--aphids, glass worms, objects for the non-mature eye to see lol.

Some of you have the long view, having kept lilies for a long time. In your experience, is there some cyclical pattern--yellowing, browning, rotting--that happens once in a while, maybe part of the lily dna? Or are there cyclical infestations or diseases that come and go, as can happen with lots of plants and crops?

Nothing shows up in a search. But our tomato garden was wiped out almost overnight by the tomato blight, which has an interesting history of diffusion. The hemlock we cut down was killed by the hemlock blight, memories of potatos, elms and chestnuts. I'm not suggesting there is a lily blight (just a temporary cold?), but asking if there is something anyone has experienced or observed to shed a little more light on this situation.

Is it coincidental that so many in different places are experiencing this, anyone think of a potential explanation beyond the individual pond?

Sorry if this is just poor science stemming from my lack of knowledge or time on my hands. If it were a cultural phenomenon I could work with it; plants I need help.

Thanks for thinking about it, any insight that can be shared.

Mike

Mike,

What I am experiencing (and I believe the others are) is not related to leaf or crown rot. If you have that, you know it. Same goes for any type of pests that attack the leaves. This spring, when I noticed that I had less pads than normal, I attributed it to the fact that I split the lilies last year but as the summer went on and the plants did not put out like they normally do, I knew it was something else. I am wondering if it is a problem with those in warmer areas or just those of us that went through a really bad winter and a very cold, wet, late spring. I have checked some local lakes and a local retention pond in one Village that has lilies - the plant growth is less there, too.

Jan

I'll chip in with some suggestions. I don't have lilies. The koi take care of that for me. You don't mention PH problems. That can cause all sorts of yellowing or rotting problems. Most plants need micronutrients that are usually accessible to the plants unless the soil is too alkaline. We like our pond water to be on the alkaline side so this is a common problem. A dose of Ironite in the soil can cure that fairly quickly. Calcium is a very necessary nutrient in the soil but it can be used up or leeched away over time making the plant subject to both yellowing or rot due to a microbe in the soil that only becomes apparent when the calcium levels are too low. Calcium can be added in liquid chemical form or the addition of finely ground egg shells. Many yellowing diseases are caused by viruses that are spread by insects such as leafhoppers. These are often cyclical. You will need to check the tubers and see if any rot is present in them. If this is a yellowing disease caused by a virus you may have to discard the entire tuber of any that show any sign of rot. Sandy

There are hundreds of different hardy waterlilies.

Some bloom a lot more than others, some need repotted every year because they grow massive rhizomes, some can get by for many years. Some slow down in heat, some thrive in heat.

Oil pans are great pots for hardy waterlilies but if they are cultivars that have the big creeping rhizomes they may need divided every year.

All waterlily pads will eventually yellow and die. They do this faster when they have aphids or fungus from water splashing on them.

My thanks to you who offered experience, insight and intuitions as guides. I think I see the question in a brighter and more focused light. My immediate goal is to go see what is happening to my lilies and remediate if possible. Then just ponder it all in a comfortable chair by my water feature. Better to enjoy than worry.

Mike

This is a great thread for those of us who are novices with our ponds and water plants. Thanks for all the contributions.

Benny