Southern Spatterdock (Nuphar lutea)

[crickit99]

I recently purchased 2 of these in a plant order, and I can't find much information on them...

They are in a new tank, but I gather they might grow too large eventually.

Anyone have advise on how I should handle them? I read a post that mentioned laying the tuber sideways instead of planting it.

The leaves on mine are already 'melting.'

 

[Guest]

First, don't worry on the melting. It's from transplanting, they should grow back quickly.

Placement, midground, and do not shade them at all. In the midground, with lots of light 3+wpg, they should only grow a few inches tall, but the leaves will be 3-5 inches across. with poor lighting, or shaded by another plant, they will shoot up leaves to float on the surface, and the underwater leaves will also not stay low to the ground, but will grow up (either a little or a lot) before attaining their full size. This will look very messy, and will block the view of plants behind it. With planting the tuber, I've always just planted it regular, never tried the sideways planting. (Side note, outdoor pond lillies, with a similar tuber, are planted sideways, because the tuber grows sideways, not downwards. I don't know if this matters with spatterdock.)

Hope this helps.

 

[crickit99]

Should I remove the leaves, since they are melting?

I read that these are bad with the end of the tuber rotting, which is why it should be sideways. And I also read that these get to to 8' across in ponds and will take over an aquarium...?

 

[madasafish]

I've certainly got a Nymphea sp. (closely related to genus Nuphar) which is taking my tank by storm. I have to cut off 4-10 new stems every week or so. The lily pads themselves are about a foot in diameter now! They certainly take over if they're doing well... I'd just advise that you keep them under control as much as possible.

And yes, remove (by cutting, not by pulling) all leaves that are rotting/melting away.