Buoyant but established dwarf lily bulb

[czcz]

I have a very bushy Nymphaea stellata, with all leaves grown low -- it hardly sends shoots toward the surface anymore, but when it did I trimmed them quickly. The plant has lots of pearling under the leaves since I started following Mr. Barr's EI a couple of weeks ago, and recently I came home to the entire plant, including bulb, on the water surface. When I dropped the lily to its normal location it hit the substrate again and I buried its roots, but by the next day it was on the surface. After playing with it for a while I thought the many leaves were catching filtration current, so I trimmed some off and let it sink again. Today the plant is floating an inch or so over the substrate. Previous to this it had always stayed on the substrate. Currently leaves are much droopier than they are normally.

Is there an explanation for this sudden behavior? Is it from the oxygen below the leaves when pearling? I'm tempted to use a weight but there are roots and growth all over the bulb. Im considering wedging it between two objects -- bad idea? Its one of the first plants I've grown algae free and I'd hate to hurt it.

Thanks.

 

[hashbaz]

That seems odd that it comes up, even when the roots are burried. A small weight might work. I wrapped a strip weight around my nymphaea zenkeri bulb to initially keep it down. This would be my best suggestion.

What is Mr Barr's EI?

 

[krap101]

i think your suppose to put the bulb under the gravel once it pokes a couple leaves out.
but i think your not suppose to cover it all the way

 

[travis simonson]

I like hashbaz's idea of putting some weights around the bulb itself. It sounds like plain old buoyancy. Lilies are heavy root feeders and having its roots out of the substrate may account for the droopiness you're seeing in the leaves.

 

[czcz]

Thanks!

Tom Barr's Estimative Index: http://www.barrreport.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1