article: Tropical Water Lilies and Disease

Tropical Water Lilies and Disease

The hardy varieties of the water lily have a thicker leaf than the tropical water lily. Because the leaves on the tropical water lily are thinner they require delicate handling and are more likely to be damaged in storms, high winds and in the colder months of fall and winter.

Tropical water lilies thrive best in shallow water ponds or on the sides of the water garden where the water is thinner. Seedlings often will spurt up from the shallow depths of the water and they will even seed in the containers near the water lilies where other plants are growing. To keep your tropicals from rotting out, be sure the you plant in temperatures that are seventy degrees or higher, that you keep gravel from touching the stalks of the plants, and you only place the tropical water lily in the water up to where the stalk to the plant starts.

When the winter months are approaching you, can cover the pond with a plastic covering, similar to that of a greenhouse and prolong the life span of the tropical water lily and to protect the water lily from the elements of the colder weathers.

Crown rot is a disease that often affects the tropical water lily more often than the hardy lily. You will find soft black spots and areas on the leaves and the stems of the water lily. If you find a terrible smell coming from your water lilies this could be the black rot settling in the roots and pulling back the gravel you will see the black remains of the once white roots. Black rot is a fungus and getting rid of the infected plant is going to be one of the best remedies.

Leaf spots on tropical water lilies are another fungus that can infect the entire water garden. The leaves turning brown, curling up and appearing very dry are often the signs of leaf spots. All the damaged leaves should be removed from plants, and if plants are more than half covered in bad leaf spots, removing the plant from the water garden will help control this fungus.

Leaf miners are tiny critters that like the fragile water lilies. The little insects will lay eggs in the leaves of the lilies and then when they hatch they will eat all that they can from the leaves of your lilies leaving small trails through the leaves that looks as if someone scribbled all over the leaves. Infected plants should be removed from the water garden leaving lilies in the pool that do not have any marks on their leaves.