Some aquatic plants can completely take over a smaller water feature within a few years and have to be controlled with chemicals or pulled out by hand.
If planted in a pond, these plants must be taken out in the fall and stored in a cool, dry area where they will not be exposed to frost during the winter.
Fabric pots are a bit more expensive than plastic pots, though, and harder to move when the plant is taken out of the water.
Hardy water lilies like the “Comanche” (Nymphaea “Comanche”),[5] X Trustworthy Source Missouri Botanical Garden Oldest botanical garden in the U. S. and center for botanical research and science education Go to source which grow well in Zones 4 to 10, and Cannas should be planted in containers that are 10 inches deep and 15 inches wide. Tropical water lilies like the “Director George T. Moore” (Nymphaea “Director George T. Moore”)[6] X Trustworthy Source Missouri Botanical Garden Oldest botanical garden in the U. S. and center for botanical research and science education Go to source which only grow well in Zones 10 and 11, should be planted in containers that are 10 inches deep and 20 inches wide. Smaller plants like the “Katie Ruellia” (Ruellia brittonia “Katie”), which grows to 5 to 10 inches tall and grows well in Zones 9 to 11, can be planted in a 5-inch deep, 8-inch wide pot to keep it them smaller or a 5-inch deep, 12-inch wide pot to let it grow a little larger.
This mix contains kiln-fired clay pieces, provides plant nutrients and anchors the aquatic plant securely in its container. While sandy soil may keep the plant anchored, it will not hold enough nutrients to keep aquatic plants healthy.
The number of tablets required varies, depending on the size of the tablets and the size of the container. There should be 1 to 2 ounces of fertilizer for each gallon of soil. [8] X Research source Fertilizer tablets with a 12-8-8, 10-6-4, 20-10-5 or 5-10-5 ratio are fine.
The growing end of the rhizome with growth buds or “eyes” should be placed at the center of the container with the “eyes” facing up and buried deeper than the other end so that the whole thing is sitting at a 45-degree angle. The growth buds or “eyes” look very similar to the “eyes” on a potato. This placement gives the hardy water lily room to grow in the pot.
Lotuses grow well in Zones 4 to 10.
Deeper water will not let the sunlight reach the plant rhizomes or roots to trigger new stem growth. Hardy water lilies grow best with 1 to 1 ½ feet of water covering the container. Tropical water lilies do fine with 6 to 12 inches of water over the container but lotus grow in 4 to 6 inches of water. [10] X Research source Cannas grow well up above the water. [11] X Trustworthy Source Missouri Botanical Garden Oldest botanical garden in the U. S. and center for botanical research and science education Go to source They should be placed so that the top of the container is 6 to 8 inches deep.
Lotus should be submerged to a depth of only 2 inches until they begin to grow. After the aquatic plants reach 4 to 6 inches tall, they can be moved into deeper water.
