The over-wintering of tropical waterlilies

Over-wintering for tropical watelilies can be done in Italy from mid November until mid December.
It is important for the plants to feel the temperatures are decreasing and that the hours of light are also diminishing. This is going to induce the plants to go to rest naturally.
The over-wintering described below simulates the summering. It’s almost like if they became dormant, something that happens to tropical waterlilies in the summer when lakes dry up – the development of the plants stops until water comes back again.
The star of the following reportage is a waterlily called ‘Panama Pacific’. A wonderful tropical waterlily that smells of violet.

The plant is being removed from the pond:

Messa a riposo Panama Pacific

Panama Pacific

The plant is being removed from the pot:

Estrazione della ninfea dal vaso

The plant is full of roots:

ninfea tropicale fuori dal vaso

The roots are being removed:

Strappo delle radici

Strappo delle radici

Strappo delle radici

The dirt is cleaned off:

Pulizia delle radici

The plant is cleaned by immerging it into water:

Lavaggio delle radici

And rinsing it off:

Sciacquo delle radici

Now, the roots are being cut off:

Taglio delle radici

And the green stuff is also being cut off to avoid the plant going rotten:

Taglio della vegetazione

Taglio della vegetazione

Taglio della vegetazione

Tubero di ninfea tropicale

Right now, the tuber has not been cleaned well enough and could go rotten and, therefore, needs to be rinsed off again:

Lavaggio del tubero

And the green stuff taken off as much as possible:

Eliminazione parte vegetativa

Eliminazione parte vegetativa

The procedure is completed by rinsing off the tuber very well and by taking off all the remaining green stuff.

Lavaggio del tubero

Here is how the tuber looks at the end of the procedure:

Tubero di ninfea tropicale pulito

Some varieties have cleaner tubers.

At this point, the tuber is put into a zip-lock bag:

Inserimento del tubero in un sacchetto per surgelati

After wrapping around it a nonwoven fabric:

Tessuto non tessuto

It’s a synthetic cloth (2 or 3 millimeters thick):

Tubero - Sacchetto - Tessuto non tessuto

Water is then applied to the cloth:

Si bagna il tessuto

Extra water is being squeezed out, so that the cloth is not dripping, but just slightly humid:

Tessuto non tessuto strizzato

The tuber is being wrapped with the cloth:

Tubero avvolto in tessuto non tessuto

By folding the edges of the cloth:

Tubero avvolto in tessuto non tessuto

Then the variety of the plant is written on the zip-lock bag:

Scrittura del nome della varietà di ninfea

The waterlily is put inside the zip-lock bag:

Posizionamento del tubero di ninfea nel sacchetto

The zip is being locked:

Chiusura del sacchetto

This way the bag is locked, but not hermetically, as the tuber needs to breathe a little.
When you put it away, make sure the bag is not folded up, otherwise it’s like it was sealed.
The bag needs to be put away in the dark and in a warm environment (at about 18 to 20 °C), the bag needs to stand and not lay down.
The tubers can be dormant like that even for a few years, in which case the tubers should be checked every 3 or 4 months to make sure there is enough humidity in the bag, and if there isn’t, just wet the cloth a little.
Sometimes tubers will grow even while they are dormant!

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