Blue Water Lily

The perennial blue water lily was worshiped as sacred as the figure of the god Nefertem in ancient Egypt, as it opens its up to 20 centimeters large, bright blue, fragrant petals on a golden yellow flower base every morning from spring to the onset of frost and the Egyptian sun god Ra only at the same time Sunset closes again, As a tropical water lily type, it is well suited for a sun-exposed pond with medium water depth or a nice vessel for a mini pond.

Natural habitat
The tropical floating leaf plant is native to Egypt, but widespread throughout tropical Africa.

Cultivation
Growing from seeds indoors is possible all year round – the best time, however, is early spring. Simply sprinkle the seeds on finely sieved potting soil and press them down a little. Cover the surface with a thin layer of fine gravel to prevent the seeds from washing away. Place the nursery pot in a container filled with water so that a one centimeter high layer of water covers the planter. Now put the rearing container in a sunny place at 20 ° to 25 ° Celsius. As soon as the first two cotyledons appear after about six weeks, the seedlings can be pricked out (transferred) into individual vessels. Most water lilies are unfortunately planted too deeply, which means that the plant on the pond floor absorbs too much nitrogen from the mud and large leaves, but only a few flowers. In late spring, you should move the plant outdoors in plant baskets and initially to a depth of 10 to 20 centimeters. As you grow, you increase the water depth step by step up to 40 to 80 centimeters, so that the floating leaves with their longer stems can always just reach the surface of the water. You can later propagate the blue water lily vegetatively by dividing the rhizome.

Location
Your blue water lily is sun-hungry and needs a location that is as full of sun as possible in order to bloom abundantly.

Caring for
water lilies need fertilizer; ideally using special fertilizer balls for aquatic plants, which release their nutrients slowly during the growth phase.

Winter
Since the blue water lily is a tropical water plant, it is not hardy and would like to overwinter in a light and frost-proof manner. Take the plant basket out of the water before the first frost and move the plant into a bucket filled with water.