Water Lily
Nymphaea spp.
Water lilies are aquatic plants with round floating leaves and star-shaped flowers that sit on the water surface, in white, pink, blue, red and yellow. Tropical types bloom freely in a sunny tub, and the white shapla is the national flower of Bangladesh.
Photo: Fernando Losada Rodríguez · CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Essential Care Requirements
Light
Full sun
Watering
High
Grow in a watertight tub with 15–45 cm of water over the pot; top up evaporation.
Soil
Heavy garden soil or clay in a submerged pot; avoid compost and peat, which float.
Temperature and humidity
12–38 °C · High humidity
Feeding
Push aquatic fertilizer tablets into the soil monthly in summer.
Pruning and propagation
Propagate by division, offsets, seed
Remove yellow leaves and spent flowers to keep the water clean.
Not toxic; shapla stems and seeds are eaten in Bengal.
Top Cultivation Tips
Give at least six hours of sun to flower.
Add fish to control mosquito larvae.
Night-blooming tropical types open in the evening.
Divide crowded tubers in spring.
Common problems
Aphids
Small, soft-bodied insects that cluster on new shoots and buds, sucking sap and leaving sticky honeydew behind.
How to treat it →PestCaterpillars
The larvae of moths and butterflies, which chew holes in leaves, flowers and fruit and can strip a plant in days.
How to treat it →DiseaseLeaf spot
Fungal or bacterial infections that cause brown, black or purple spots on leaves, often with a yellow halo, leading to early leaf drop.
How to treat it →
