How do water lilies survive the winter?

Water lily is a perennial aquatic herb, which is named "water lily" because its flowers usually open during the day and close (sleep) at night. So how do water lilies survive the winter? Let’s learn more about it below.

1. Winterizing indoors

Placing the water lily in a sunny place indoors and maintaining suitable temperature and light can help the water lily survive the winter safely.

2. Digging a pit to hide

For water lily varieties with poor cold resistance, you can dig a hole about 50 cm deep in the ground, place the container for growing water lilies in the hole, keep the water level not too low, then lay plastic wrap and cover with soil or straw. The underground soil will not freeze in winter, ensuring that the water lilies can safely overwinter.

3. Pool storage

If there is a deep enough pond (usually more than 1 meter), you can place the water lily directly in the pond. Even if the water surface freezes in winter, the water at the bottom of the pool will not freeze, so leaving it in the pool over the winter is a safer method.

4. Dig out the rhizomes and store them in sand

Prepare enough river sand to at least completely cover the rhizomes of the water lilies. Then dig out the rhizomes of the water lilies, simply clean the soil, and then bury the rhizomes in the sand. Keep the sand moist, and then place it in an environment above 0 degrees, and it will safely spend the winter.

5. Refrigerator preservation method

Since the temperature of the refrigerator's fresh-keeping layer is usually controlled at 0-4℃, it is suitable for water lilies to dormant. Therefore, you can dig out the rhizomes of water lilies, clean the soil, then wrap the rhizomes with moist sphagnum moss and store them in the fresh-keeping layer of the refrigerator. However, this method is only suitable for water lily varieties whose rhizomes are not very large.

6. Notes

Different varieties of water lilies have different tolerances to cold. For example, it is best for tropical water lilies not to be below 5℃ in winter. If they can be kept above 10℃ and have sufficient light conditions, some of them can bloom in winter. However, cold-resistant water lilies need to be kept above 0℃ in winter, so they can safely survive the winter even when there is occasional freezing weather.

In general, there are many ways for water lilies to survive the winter, depending on the variety of water lilies and their growth environment. In addition, paying attention to strengthening maintenance and management in winter is also the key to ensuring the healthy growth of water lilies, such as temperature, light, etc.