Water lily life span?

[gemach7]

Ok I was given a temperate water lily in 2002. The previous owner had the plant 10 years prior to that. Every year it has engulfed 3/4 of the the pond this year its growth has drastically diminished. No parameters have changed but growth rates have drastically changed. Was wondering what the life spans on some water Lilly's are?


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[gemach7]

Ok anyone with experience of a waterlily over 20 years old? Temperate climate variety.




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[Alspond]

I live in central Florida and have been water gardening for 10 years.
There are many species of water lilies.
They are generally divided into hardy and tropical and the tropicals divided again into day blooming and night blooming.
Your lily is likely one of the hardy varieties.

I have several of these in my ponds.
I have Two lilies native to Florida the white-nymphaea Odorata and yellow- nymphaea mexicana.
Both of these are found in all lower 48 states. I have two hybrids Colorado and yellow sensation.

All of these Lillys produce seeds but the primary propagation is vegetative through the root system.
So there are sort of two answers.
First the the lily you have is most likely a descendant of the original plant and the 20 year old plant is no more.
Secondly the plant can sort of live forever through its descendants which are sort of the same plant

I had a permit to collect a five nymphaea Odorata from a public lake. My immediate dilemma was how to count a root about two inches thick 20 feet long with 12 plants on it. I decided to count it as one and collect only one plant. I cut the big root on each side of the plant and got twelve vigorous plants in my pond.
Their descendants are still going strong....

These plants will send branches underground that make new plants.
So each season the plant is having babies.
Potted Lilly's need to be repotted periodically and it needs fertilizer.
A totally root bound plant cannot grow the new plants and you can't get fertilizer tabs through the roots
A good fertilizer is Jobes tomato spikes 1 for every two gallons of soil in the spring and again mid summer.
When you repot be sure the crown of the plant is above the top of the soil.