Topics

1

Pond Chat / Jongkolnee Lives!

« on: April 04, 2012, 03:01:23 PM »

I've been watching and waiting, and now I can say for certain, my Jongkolnee made it through the winter!   

OK, it was a Florida winter. . .  But still, I had my doubts. Florida does have four seasons! They are:

It's Almost Summer.
It's Summer.
It's not Summer but it's Pretty Darned Hot.
February.

Any way, the one I potted up in a 2 1/2 gal. pot now has 5 new, small pads up to the surface. Further inspection revealed three new little plants sending their little pads up a few inches. Two of them are between the crown and the side of the pot, the third one is growing out part way up the tuber. One unusual thing about this plant is that while it can produce new tubers at the base of the plant, it also produces subcutaneous occult tubers (small tubers under the skin,) in the main tuber. These can be squeezed out and planted.

I hope I can find the other Jongkolnee I planted. I think it is probably one of the pots the raccoons overturned and may now be just a tuber on the bottom of the pond. Once it starts putting up new pads, I'll find it.

I guess this too is part of the fun. Every once in a while, little pads show up and a long-lost plant is found!

Mike S.
Spring Hill, FL

2

Pond Chat / Question for the commercial members, mostly.

« on: April 02, 2012, 09:20:31 PM »

Just heard from an old friend in S. Africa and now I'd like to know if anyone has any experience in exporting waterlilies? Most likely, I'd be selling thru his website and shipping direct to his customers in S. Africa, but I'm waiting to hear the details of what he actually has in mind.

I did do a little looking around on some .gov websites and was NOT encouraged by what I found. My first impression that it would be almost impossible to do this and still show any profit at all. Then again, that is what I thought when I first thought about selling waterlilies on-line here in the US, and of course, was WRONG about that.

So, anyone been involved in exporting waterlilies? Any help would be appreciated, either here on the Forum, by PM, or email, whatever you'd rather.

Mike S.
Spring Hill, FL

3

Pond Chat / Still Here in Spring Hill, FL!

« on: April 02, 2012, 09:12:58 PM »

I was starting to wonder if I'd ever get to a point where I could get back to posting here! 

Interesting "winter" down here in Spring Hill, FL. Seems I did a good job of getting the local raccoon population fed during the winter. Really good! For a while, I  thought they'd completely wiped out my waterlily population, but it turns out most of the damage was turning pots over and spilling the contents all over the bottom. Now that Spring has "sprung," and pretty much turned right into Summer, things are growing where I thought there would be nothing at all.

So, I  guess I'll be busy potting up a bunch of "mystery plants" and waiting for blooms so I can ID them and tag them. this means I'll probably remain a hobby grower this year, and work on building up stock and "raccoon-proofing" the ponds. That's OK by me, it was plan A to begin with anyway.

I know it seems that working on the pond and getting the "biz" up and running should be my main focus, but let me provide a little perspective. I'd originally wanted to get a small "hobby-business" going for a little "extra" money when I retire in about 5 years. That plan kind of came apart when my wife had to stop working for medical reasons and our income was cut essentially in half. Hey, it happens.

I never wanted a waterlily business to become serious business, but to remain a hobby-business. You know, something fun, something I could enjoy without it turning into "real work." So, I'm going to keep it as just that. A hobby that will at least pay for itself, and if I'm lucky, provide some extra income.

But, I still need to generate more income or cut things back to a point that I'd rather not have to deal with. So the last couple of months I've been learning software authoring. My teacher is my father. He writes software for the FL Citrus industry for farm maintenance and payroll software that is rather specialized to that industry. For a long time, he's worked knowing that there wasn't anyone to carry on after he's gone, so he was dealing with customers that were becoming a little leery about their software's future. Provided I can become proficient at programing and maintaining the software, I will be taking over the business for him.

Dad says his customers have expressed relief that there will be someone to keep things going in his stead. So, he tells them not to worry, a new, younger guy will carry on. . . But the new, younger guy just turned 60!     I have to wonder just how old his customers are?!?

Right now, learning to write code takes priority over ponds. But, I'll still get stuff done and the waterlily biz will still happen. In the mean time, I'll get to potting up plants, taking pictures and posting articles on my website, as promised. I should be able to do some plant exchanges via the Forum this year and look forward to that.

I want to get back to reading and writing post on the Forum, but maybe in a slightly limited fashion. All in all, I still LOVE it and will keep growing the wet stuff!

Got a question for the commercial members, but I'll put that up in a separate post.

Glad to see so many people still here and that the "posting season" looks to have started!

Mike S.
Spring Hill, FL

4

Pond Chat / Finally, good bloom from Jongkolnee!

« on: August 18, 2011, 11:11:26 AM »

I was starting to think maybe this plant just didn't like me. They started out slowly, then when the buds came up, they just sat there for a few days and then dropped. After a number of those, the next one opened, but the petals were all dried out and it looked rather pitiful. The bud opend after having been up for 4 days, and had fallen over landing on the pad of a Trudy Slocum. This happened several times, pretty much the same on both Jongkolnee plants that I have.

But I think that is over.



I almost didn't get this shot, it had just started to sprinkle as I went out to check on all the ponds. The bud had surfaced the day before yesterday, so I expected yet another repeat performance. Here is a wider shot.



It is overcast, and the colors show pretty well. The pad to the right of the bloom (with a leaf sitting on it,) belongs to the Jongkolnee. You might also see another bud and pad coming up in this pic. There are two more buds below the surface, as well.

Now to see if the next bloom also opens normally! There is also another Jongkolnee in another pond, doing pretty much the same thing. Each bud seems to be an improvement over the previous, so I'm hoping that plant will also start producing normal flowers.

It took a while, but I think it was worth the wait.

Mike S.
Spring Hill, FL

5

Pond Chat / Ostara pic and a quick note.

« on: August 12, 2011, 09:33:52 AM »

This isn't a "First Bloom" pic, but it is the first that I actually got a picture of. It's now getting to the point where I have trouble remembering just which ones I have shot & posted, and which I haven't. Same with fertilizing, too! (For that, I'm going to develope a system.)

Grown in an 18oz cup, here is Ostara:



First, about the ghostlylooking hand in the pic. In order to get the angle I wanted and to keep the flower in the shade so the sun wouldn't wash out the color, I was holding the stem of the flower about six inches or so below the surface.

Second, and more important, is how the flower looks. This picture does NOT do the variety justice. Nothing is wrong with the plant, except that as others have noted elsewhere, plants grown in very small containers will often produce pads and blooms that simply do not reach the full potential of the plant. That is perfectly OK when you are doing this to enhance tuber production, or just trying to keep the plant small for a smaller pond or container garden. But you cannot expect the plant to perform it's best when doing this.

To get the most out of them, usually the larger container the better, and that container needs to be in a pond that provides the surface area to match the plant's tendency to spread.

So, depending upon your goals and what you have available, it's always going to be a compromise in one direction or another.

What I'll have to do, is to grow some of them out in larger pots and fewer of them in each pond, to be able to show the plant doing what it is capable of. Othes will be grown in containers as small as 8oz's, for production. A bit of a strain, but that is what I'll have to do in order to produce the plants in quantity, and to also be able to show the plants at their potential. I will only post pictures of plants that I have grown myself. Either here, or on my web site. For me, it's a question of ethics.

Nothing wrong with posting pics from various sources, so long as it is made clear, nothing at all! But since I'll be going "commercial" next year, hopefully, I want to accurately represent what I'll be selling.

Mike S.
Spring Hill, FL

6

Pond Chat / "Nuther first bloom: Perry's Double White.

« on: August 11, 2011, 09:10:05 AM »

This one took a while. Partly because of the recent weather, but mostly because the plant came on a tuber with a second, smaller plant also showing. So, when I potted it, both were removed from the tuber, which is now floating a a bucket with some others, waiting to see if it will start any more plants. I'm thinking it will, if not this year, then next spring.



The large, mottled pad belongs to Arc-en-ciel, not the Double White. The bloom is somewhat small for this plant, but like the other hardies around it, it is being grown in a rather small container. Judging from the growth of the rest, this one should produce about a six inch long tuber by the end of the season, and contribute a nuber of new plants towards next year's inventory.

And in the mean time, I get to enjoy it! Or both, actually. The other plant from that tuber is about to bloom, as well.

Mike S.
Spring Hill, FL

7

Pond Chat / A PITA Pond?

« on: August 10, 2011, 02:02:04 PM »

It's a "PITA." Nothing to do with "Animal Rights" or even "People Eating Tasty Animals." It's an acronym for "Pain in the. . . " Well you figure it out.   

PITA pond. Yes, that sums it up. Here is why I really didn't want to use kiddie pools for starting a small waterlily biz:



This is after I've removed a couple of plants from it, too. Trying to keep things under control and removing dead pads & spent blooms, just ain't easy. You have to wade in on the very slippery bottom without falling on your keester, or tipping over every plant in the darned thing. It's do-able, but a real "balancing act." (I can hear you groaning!)

But, just as "Mothers necessitate invention," so does finances. Things got a little weird around here and I was not able to get a start on a series of 4X8 grow-out ponds like I'd planned, so I went with kiddie pools for now, rather than just give up on it. The 4X8's are so much easier to deal with, but they will simply have to wait a while.

Mean while, I'll have to get serious (and agile!) about thinning down the pad production so I can get more plants going. If I'd known I'd have to add "gymnast" to my skills, I'd have started this biz idea a lot sooner, like back when I could still bend my lower back.   

And to all who routinely use these little round vinyl demons, my hat's off to you! 

Mike S.
Spring Hill, FL

8

Pond Chat / Hardy waterlilies, small tubs.

« on: August 10, 2011, 01:34:51 PM »

I said I wanted to try something similar to Sean's method of producing larger numbers of tropicals in Dixie Cups, but for hardy waterlilies. I started a small number of hardies in little oblong plastic tubs. These are made by Glad, their "Soup & Salad" containers. They hold about 1/3rd of a 1 gallon squat pot, so that's how I dosed the fertilizer.

Rather small starts from a tuber is planted in one of these tubs and it looks like the tub gives it enough room to grow the tuber with root stock out across the tub, while putting up good pad growth and flowers. The plants produced in the small tubs look like they will be of a good size to sell and ship fairly quickly, or larger enough to be moved up to a larger pot, if that's what you want.

From what I've seen so far, these little tubs would also be good for growing hardy waterlilies in a small pond or container garden, when you don't want to see a large spread over-growing a small surface area.

To see what it looks like, here's a pic of a recently planted Arc-en-Ceil. The plant has just started to take off, so it is easy to see in this tub.



A little while back, I took a number of small starts from a couple of Mungkala Ubon tubers. They've been growing for a little while now and have started blooming.



Now, the idea is mainly to produce a number of plants in a good size for sale and shipping, in a relatively small space. I'm of the opinion that this is going to work out just fine. At the same time, it also looks like a good way to pot hardy waterlilies to get good growth for smaller ponds and container gardens. I think the rectangular containers make sense in that the plant has room to grow a longer, horizontal tuber than in a small, round pot.

Could be wrong, but I think I'm on to something with this.
Your millage may vary, close cover beforestrikingg, and always wear your seatbelt. (And any other caveat I may have forgotten.)

Mike S.
Spring Hill, FL

9

Aquatic and Terrestrial Plant Exchange / Looking for Euryale ferox

« on: August 09, 2011, 09:13:07 AM »

I got an email from a friend in California who has a wholesale business asking if I knew anyone selling Euryale ferox, thinking that in Florida, some one must have them available. I could not find any here and that made me curious.

So, does anyone have either the plants or seeds available? I'd like to relay the info to the one that asked me about it, and now I'd like to get a plant or some seeds, myself. If not now, then  perhaps in the future.

Mike S.
Spring Hill, FL

10

Pond Chat / 5 of a kind, plus dragonfly.

« on: August 05, 2011, 08:33:59 AM »

Normally, I'd not brag about a Daubin that puts up mulitiple blooms. For Daubenyana, that's about par for the course. But this one is doing it planted in an 18oz plastic cup!



I started using the large plastic cup after reading Sean's article on growing tropicals in "Dixie Cups." It was later pointed out to me that he actually meant what he said, 8oz. Dixie Cups. Since I bought a big bag of the larger ones, I'm still using them, but I have also started planting more in the smaller cups. These will be "bonsai-ed," per that article. The one's I've put in the larger cups haven't been trimmed back much at all.

In fact, I've found that in my 4X8 Patio Ponds, most tropicals planted in the 1 gal. pot actually grow too big, unless you plan on putting just one to three plants in there. Even then, they will cover the entire surface and compete for every square inch of surface area. I've found some round, "disposable" salad bowls that hold about a half gallon that might be more appropriate for tropicals in smaller ponds. They would be more stable than those cups which can tip over fairly easily.

When I took the pic of the 5 blooms, I also snapped this one on a different Daubin, in the kiddie pool next door.



I know its a little fuzzy, but it was cropped from a larger pic that was taken as most of my pictures are, with my Droid X. It's so handy that I keep forgetting to break out the "good" camera.

Mike S.
Spring Hill, FL

11

Pond Chat / Wondering about vivips. . .

« on: August 04, 2011, 11:20:52 AM »

Might be a bit soon to reach a conclusion, but I've been given cause to wonder.

Just potted the first of my 3rd generation of Panama Pacifics. By that, I mean I got one plant earlier this year (1st generation,) and was able to start a couple of new plants (2nd generation,) from the viviporous growths on the pads. And now from one of those, I've collected a new plantlet from a pad and planted it. (3rd generation.)

Now, that first plant is in a one gallon pot and would like nothing better than to take over the 4X8 Patio Pond its growing in, and probably would if not for the Daubin at the other end trying to do the same thing. The difference between those two is that the Daubin is determined to start a new plant on every pad it puts out. Without any interferance from me, each node is making a new plant, every one of them can be potted and grown.

That Panama Pacific does have nodes on each pad, but seldom does one put up pads and enough roots to start a new plant. To do that, I usually have to take the pad intact from the parent plant and move it to a pan of water set aside just for that purpose. Then, most all of them develop a plantlet that can be planted.

I took one from that pan and potted it in an 18 oz cup and it grew nicely. Now it is blooming and producing pads with vivip nodes. The nodes on this plant seem to be more more active than the one in the one gallon pot. By that, I mean that if I leave them alone, many of them seem to start the plantlet growing much more often than the one in the one gallon pot. It is from one of these that I planted my first 3rd generation Panama Pacific.

Is it just a plant that's more vaviporously active naturally, or does the fact that it is growing in a much smaller pot play into it?

I'll have more to go on later, as I have more planted in 18oz cups and several planted in smaller 8oz cups. But I'd like to hear if anyone else has seen a difference due to pot size.

Mike S.
Spring Hill, FL

12

Pond Chat / New Waterlily Pest Warning!!!

« on: August 02, 2011, 02:13:43 PM »

This is something I've not come arcross in all the years I've raised waterlilies. A new pest, a threat to waterlilies. Not quite sure how to combat it!




Killer Vine!

It creeps up the side of a Patio Pond, silently stalking it's prey, then POUNCES! This vile plant killer slowly but surely strangels it's prey.

Oh what to do!?!?   

Mike S.
Spring Hill, FL

13

Pond Chat / Matherfish, the "lost tag bonus."

« on: August 02, 2011, 02:07:28 PM »

This one came to me from matherfish as a "lost tag" plant. Now it has bloomed. A nice, white hardy. Can you identify it against your inventory? I like it!



I know it looks almost yellow in this pic, but I think that's just the glow from the center being picked up by the camera.

Mike S.
Spring Hill, FL

14

Pond Chat / Couple more "First Blooms."

« on: August 02, 2011, 02:02:49 PM »

Somehow I missed posting a picture of Ostara when it first bloomed, I'll catch the next bloom and post it. But I did get these.


Alice Tricker. And just for the record, I did remove that  yellow pad you see in the picture!

Also:


This is Blue Star. I think the color in the picture is a bit more intense that in real life. The actual color, to my eye, is a little softer, and rather pale. Sort of a "subtle blue."

Mike S.
Spring Hill, FL

15

Pond Chat / Jongkolnee Update

« on: July 29, 2011, 09:05:20 PM »

Well, I've been wondering if I'd made too many mistakes with it, but my Jongkolnee is getting there. Several buds have come up, only to fall back below the surface before blooming. This is one planted in a 4 inch pot, the idea being to "force" it to produce tubers.

But I thought perhaps it needed more depth, since it did put up 3 buds, one at a time and they seemed as if they were simply too heavy for the slender stalk. So, I moved it out of the kiddie pool where I'd put it for maximum heat and sun, and 8 feet to spread, into one of my more crowded, but deeper Patio Ponds. This move was done when the 4th bud started falling over like the rest.

Looked like this made a difference when the stem grew another couple of inches and once again broke the surface. But two days above the surface and still no opening of the bud. OK, I know what to do in situations like this:

PANIC!

Looking at the pot, I saw roots running around the top of the pot, just above the soil line. The sides of the pot felt tight, like it might be becoming rootbound. So, I moved it from the 4 inch pot into a 2 1/2 gallon pot. Turns out, it wasn't quite rootbound just yet, at least the lower quater of the pot was just soil, no roots made it down that far. But the upper 3/4's of the pot was pretty tight with root structure.

This tight root mass let me re-pot it without it going into "re-potting shock." I've found that rootbound plants seldom goes through and shock period when re-potted into a larger container, but other plants that aren't rootbound really seem to resent the move.

The bud survived the move and re-potting, but it had been above the surface long enough that I'd started thinking about removing it , as there is another showing up just above the crown.

And then this happened:



The bud did start to fall over, but it was caught by the notch in a Trudy Slocum pad. On it's 3rd day above the surface, it finally started to open. I don't know if it will be able to finish the job, but I'm going to leave it where it is for a while.

So, deeper water, much larger pot, maybe the next bloom will be the "good one" I've been waiting for.   

Mike S.
Spring Hill, FL

16

Pond Chat / The Idiot Stick

« on: July 26, 2011, 12:06:10 PM »

 The Idiot Stick, for those not familiar with the term, is a stick with a shovel blade on one end, and an idiot on the other. Spend much time with one and you soon understand how it got that name.

One of the reasons I started building above ground ponds in the first place is that I really, really hate using that shovel. I mean, I do NOT like it, not one bit!

So, why I am using one now? Well, I decided I couldn’t afford to put up the little grow out ponds that I like, so I thought that in the mean time, I’d go with a couple of kiddie pools, instead. Now, the kiddie pool would not be a first choice for me, not even a second choice, normally. But when you  want to get something going in a hurry, they’ll do. They are certainly cheap! $10 each at Wal-Mart. That’s good. 8 feet in diameter,  but only 15 inches deep. The lack of depth is not so good, but still usable for most water lilies.

To get that 15 inches of depth,  the darned thing has to be filled to the very top, and it needs to be level. Think the spot you want to put it is really level? Lay a 2X4 on edge and put a spirit level on it. See? The darned yard has a slope to it! In mine, it doesn’t matter which way you orient the 2X4, it just ain’t level!

So, I’m out there with an Idiot Stick, doing what I have to, in order to create a level pad, 8 feet in diameter, so I can set up a $10 kiddie pool. And there isn’t a kid in sight! (Which is good, by the way, otherwise I’d have to stop and run ‘em off.)

The real reason I’m posting this is to give myself a reason to be inside, and not working with that darned shovel. Now that I’ve cooled off a bit, I’m going back outside and see if I can “get ‘er done!”

Mike S.
Spring Hill, FL

17

Pond Chat / Three more "First Bloom" pics.

« on: July 21, 2011, 01:46:59 PM »

I forgot to post this one, last week. I wanted to confirm it's identity first, and did. Also got a correction of the spelling of it's name.



This is Ploi Dang. It is one of my imports from Thailand. Nice tropical and it is vaviporous, to boot. (I love those!)




Another vaviporous tropical, Key Largo. Did I mention I loved vavips?




Last but not least, Albert Greenburg. I've had this one in the distant past, but I don't think it grew and bloomed as fast as this one did. In fact, it came with a rather large tuber and I thought I might have taken it off too soon, but appearantly not! A second plant will likely be taken from that same tuber sometime next week. I may even "milk it" for a few more, but will probably chicken out and plant it with the waterlily on plant number 4 or so.

Mike S.
Spring Hill, FL

18

Pond Chat / Vavips from pads not worth it?

« on: July 14, 2011, 09:19:18 AM »

I spent some time a little while back, looking at older post in various sections of the Forum. Somewhere, I'm not sure which section, I came across a post that suggested that "growers," I'm thinking the poster meant "pros," didn't think that viviporous reproduction was worth the trouble to propagate waterlilies in quantity.

At least, I'm pretty sure it was this Forum, but I'll have to look at the very few other ones i visit. 

Anyone else recall this thread? I think somewhere in that one it was also said that vavips don't tuber well either, leaving me to wonder just how the grower produced enough plants to sell.

I can see where some vavips don't produce as well as others, but with all the execellent articles on "How To" encourage vaviporous reproduction available, including Sean's, I just don't understand the thoughts expressed in that thread.
Here is a pic of one of my little kiddie pools, quite a few of the plants in it are from vaviporous starts, mostly Daubins and some Panama Pacifics. The latter haven't bloomed yet, but the Daubins are going like gang busters.



The Daubins, bloming well, 3 flowers at once on this one:



And 4 at once on this one!



These Daubins, and even the Panama Pacifics that have yet to bloom, are all showing the little brown nubs on their pads, so they will be available for reproduction, as well. It would be all to easy to get over-run with the things! I have a few more varieties that are viviporous, and will be working at getting some of them started as well, with what I've learned lately.

So, if I can locate the thread I am asking about, I think I'd like to talk to that grower and find out what prompted his comments.

Mike S.
Spring Hill, FL

19

Pond Chat / New blooms, mostly from recent arivals.

« on: July 14, 2011, 08:52:03 AM »

Even with the bad weather, lots of rain and very little sun, some of my new arivals are blooming.

Here is Arc-en-ciel. I've been told that many like this one for it's pads, but I think the bloom is pretty nice, as well.



Below, King of Siam. Not actually it's first bloom, but still from a rather small plant that is growing rapidly. I'll get another pic when it opens fully and shows it's center.



Last of the new one's for now, Pink Ribbon.



Like the Arc-en-ciel, this bud was on the plant when it got here. It seems to me that buds shipped on hardy waterlilies have a high survival rate. The buds on tropicals do not seem to do quite as well. At least, thats been my experience, so far.

Mike S.
Spring Hill, FL

20

Pond Chat / Two new blooms. One should look familiar to Kat!

« on: July 07, 2011, 02:10:59 PM »

Recently received from Kat, Pink Flamingo. One bloom open and one about to be.



I like it!


The other is "interesting," in that I bought it as "Red Ubol." Turns out that is the local name in Thailand for one that they've had over there for many year. Where did it come from? The good old USA. (I think.)



Like this one too, but I could have found it a little closer to home! I'l file this under "Live and Learn."

Mike S.
Spring Hill, FL

21

Pond Chat / Jongkolnee growing.

« on: June 29, 2011, 11:48:07 AM »

My first attempt at growing Jonkolnee was cut short while I kept the pair of very small tubers, about the size of a lotus seed, in a pot of water, waiting to see if maybe I could tease more than one plant from each of them. The got eaten by a raccoon!

I got another pair of these tiny tubers and was much more protective when I kept them in a pot of pond water, waiting for signs of growth. They came it with almost none. Finally, one produced a little plantlet and some roots. This one went into a 4 inch pot, thinking that if it grew, there'd be a good chance at producing more tubers in the smaller pot. The other tuber took a couple of weeks longer before it showed enough growth to plant and that one went into a larger pot to give me a better idea of what the "full-sized" plant was like.

I've since been told that the key to getting Jonkolnee to bloom is plenty of sun and room to spread.

Here is a picture of the one planted first, in the 4 inch pot.



The Jongkolnee is in the center. It's pads are spreading way out. There seems to be one right over each the Mungkala Ubons in the small, rectangular containers, and more of it's pads heading towards the rest of the waterlilies in the small pots and cups.

As those pads spread, I'll likely move the other plants inside the spread, to give the Jongkolnee all the room it wants. And yes, that is a kiddie pool. Got caught short when I was to have put in the first pair of production ponds, but I wanted to get more plants in the water and growing, right away. Round pools like this are not my favorite way to grow water lilies, but they do get the job done.

I'm not putting the inexpensive little pools down, as I've used them in the past to grow out a rather large Gigantea, with several other smaller waterlilies happily growing inside it's spread, and even spawned Koi in them (not such a good idea,) and hatched out the resultant fry in the same pool. (That worked OK.)

What I don't like about a round "pond" like the kiddie pool is that it makes it hard to tend to the plants in them. You pretty much have to wade in and that is kind of difficult when it starts getting tight in there, pads get pushed around and tangled and pots get overturned. This is why I much prefer and 4X8 (or longer) grow-out pond for waterlilies. And I like mine above ground, too. This set-up allows for easy maintenance of the plants without wading and bending at the knees too much.

I'll post more pics as the Jongkolnee grows and of course, when it blooms. It will be interesting to see the difference between the two plants when they bloom, since one is in a very small pot, the other a larger one.

Mike S.
Spring Hill, FL

22

Pond Chat / What's in a name?

« on: June 23, 2011, 05:18:06 AM »

I got to wondering about Thai waterlily names, after getting a short list of translations for some of the colors, and turned to the one person who's been most helpful when I've had questions about those plants. Her name is Primlarp Wasuwat Chukiatman, daughter of Dr. Slearmlarp Wasuwat. She was the first who noticed an interesting waterlily in one of their ponds, so he named the Primlarp night bloomer after her. Until recently I thought Dr. Wasuwat had originated the Mungkala Ubon, but I've since been corrected.

I was curious about what "Mungkala" might mean, here is a quote from Primlarp:

"In thai word mungkala meaning close to the decent good thing. on the other hand ubon means waterlily so the meaning of the name is The decent good waterlily.But this name may came from the place that grow this one too cause it was hybrid at the Technology Rachamongkol Bangpra,Chonburi THAILAND at lease 10 years."

I also asked about the other part of the name, as I'd seen it spelled both "Ubol" and as "Ubon." Here is her comments on that:

"No the right name is 'Mungkala Ubon ' and yes the word Ubon mean waterlily(nymphaea) but patum or Bua luang means lotus(nelumbo).

So, I got smart and told her I had bought one sold as Red Ubol, and asked I should label it as being a Ubol Dang, or should it be Dang Ubon. Turns out, she says, if it is the "Red Ubol," then "you can not used the name Dang Ubon because it is the synonym of 'Laydekeri Fulgens' in Thailand for at lease 30 years. She suggested if it is actually something else, which I'm pretty sure it is, we'd have to find a different name for it.

Asking about the various spellings of Nangkwaug, I wrote:
I have seen Nangkwag spelled as two words, Nang Kwag, also as Nangkwaug and Nang Kwak. Is there one spelling you would consider to be correct? Her reply was:

"After I confuse about how to spell it for a while so I agree with Mr.Pairat and my father that the right spelling should be Nangkwaug ....please forgive me for this very confusing."

It does get complicated when a name gets translated from one language to another, as many do not have direct translations. It looks like spelling variations also exist in the original languages. So often, there will be more than one "correct" names in English, and more than one "correct" spellings, as well. But I do love to learn the stories behind the names, as well as at least trying to get the spellings right, as best I can.

Mike S.
Spring Hill, FL

23

Pond Chat / Another day with new blooms!

« on: June 21, 2011, 12:21:15 PM »

Another waterlily that I'd not grown before, or even heard up until recently, is Munkala Ubon. I have two potted up in one patio pond and they both now have blooms. Looks like Mungkala Ubon day!



Here's a close up of a pair of them. I love the soft, peach color. I'll have to place it along side something red or maybe a dark blue.




The mottled pads seen in the pictures belongs to a Nangkwaug. And speaking of that one, Looks like I don't have a blue one, after all. One the two tubers that should have been Nangkwaugh in the blue form, turned out to be another white. The other might be an Egyptian Lotus water lily, aka, Sacred Lotus, or could be a form of Carpensis.

But right now, I'm really enjoying the Mungkala Ubon!

Mike S.
Spring Hill, FL

24

Pond Chat / Just got new waterlilies, today!

« on: June 20, 2011, 12:22:46 PM »

I hope this post is considered appropriate here.

Mail carrier just showed up and had a box for me from Kat. I have to say that I didn't expect it quite so soon, I thought maybe it would be here towards the end of the week. Very nice!

Doing business with Kat was a pure pleasure. Straight forward and very fast. The plants were packed very well and got here in better shape than some I'd gotten in the past from some rather "big-name" sources.

I'd have no problem reccomending buy from Kat, and will likely do so myself again, in the future. I did leave feedback on this transaction, but I'm not too sure how many people actually see that, so I wanted to let people know what I thought about how this particular purchase went, just in case anyone was thinking about buying from the Plant Exchange section of the Forum, and especially if they were thinking about buying from one of Kat's post.

Thank you Kat!

Mike S.
Spring Hill, FL

25

Pond Chat / Question about waterlilies from Thailand.

« on: June 19, 2011, 12:42:19 PM »

I first saw Nangkwaug (or Indian Goddess) waterlilies and others such as Jongkolnee, while searching through the archives of the IWLS on-line. I was looking for something different as opposed to the usual available from the big-name suppliers. (Although I have to say there are many more varieties available now that there was 19 years ago.)

The only place I found to get some of these more "exotic" plants was a shop on EBay that sells live plants directly from Thailand. Nice enough guy when you get to know him a bit, but not very knowledgeable about the plants. (That may not be entirely accurate, it could be at least partially due to something of a language barrier.)

Now that I've spent a little time on this forum, I see where quite a few people do have some of these waterlilies. I'm very curious about  where you found them. I am always on the lookout for different, less commonly know waterlilies.

Anyone care to point me in the right direction to these sources? Preferably sources that understand the importance of accurate identity of the plants?

Mike S.
Spring Hill, FL

26

Pond Chat / From Thailand

« on: June 14, 2011, 01:07:58 PM »

I'm still deciding how I feel about this odd-ball waterlily. It is Nangkwaug Khao. (Khao means "white.") The picture isn't very good, I'll post another when I take one. What you can't see is that the tips of the petals are pink, and the petals are edged in pink, as well.

The first couple of blooms were partially submerged, the next was at the surface like a hardy, but now they are being held higher out of the water as they should be. (It is a tropical.) I think part of the problem is aphids, as they can deform both pads and flowers. I should have those little buggers under control quite soon.

If they do get to where the flowers are held well above the water and they do open fully, then I think I'll decide they are "keepers."   



This one has rather heavily mottled pads. Some of the others (yet to bloom,) have less purple, but the purple is larger, more like bands. Hope the pic isn't too big.

Mike S.
Spring Hill, FL

27

Pond Chat / Tropicall waterlily, but NO idea what it is!

« on: June 14, 2011, 11:42:59 AM »

I salvaged some tubers from my old greenhouse pond and started potting them up. I pretty much know what I had, so I thought I'd be able to ID these waterlilies as they bloomed. But now I have a mystery on my hands. . .  Could be a pond hybrid I suppose. I've always wanted to create my own new waterliles, but I didn't think about them doing all the work for me!

Does this look like it could be any named waterlily that you can think of?



The mottled pads seen do belong to the flower. The other plain green pads belong to it's  pond mate, a Daubin. Whatever it is, I like it. And I do have serval growing now, along with more corms, now with small pads, floating about one of the new patio ponds. So any ideas on just what this one is would be appreciated.

Mike S.
Spring Hill, FL

28

Pond Chat / New Member from Spring Hill, FL

« on: May 26, 2011, 08:24:33 AM »

Just wanted to stop in and say, "Hello!"

I recently put up my own small web site and asked about putting a link to American Ponders. Got the OK, (thanks, Sean!) and decided to follow Sean's suggestion of participating in the Forum. Not sure just what I might add to it, as I find myself in a learning mode. But, you never know!

I work nights, Fri, Sat, and Sun, 7 PM to 7 AM. Suits me just fine, as it gives me most of the week to do whatever I do. Right now, that means getting my ponds in order. By that, I mean the 4 Patio Ponds I just built, based on Sean's display pond design, but somewhat "over-built" to suit me. Also, I have an old aquatic greenhouse, nothing fancy, it covered a pair of "production ponds," each about 3 ft by 14 ft, about 2 ft deep, one in-ground, the other above ground. More of a resurrection than a restoration, as they have been "out-of-service," to put it politely, for about 10 years.

But, that's part of the fun, growing out what survived that 10 year period and trying to identify them!

I gotta stop right here! I posted far more than anyone would want to know about me down in the "Getting to know you" section of the Forum.

Also, I really have to get outside, feed the cats, and get that dried up pond cleaned out and and filled up with water, today. Looks like rain tomorrow and what a mess that could turn into!

I'll check back in, later today.

Mike S.
Spring Hill, FL