# Those pre-packaged lilly bulbs?



## Friendlyfishies (Aug 16, 2012)

how big do those get? I picked up a pack of 3 bulbs from petco the other day but im not sure as to how big they get? Cant you trim the leaves consistantly to keep them short? Any info on these would be great! I have a 10 gal and just want to know if I should bother using them or not, thanks!

If anyone has any pics, id love to see how big they get or how they look when grown in a tank


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## paloverde (Nov 9, 2012)

If you trim the leafs that try to shoot to the top , the plant will remain compact


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

I have had a 50/50 success/failure with the Red lily pre-packaged bulbs you get at wal mart.
Mine get anywhere from 8in to near 2ft stem that goes to the surface of the water that has a single lily leaf-Heart shaped-The leaf last about a month before it starts to break down and die-but will be replaced on a regular basis. I have up to 10 stems with lily leaf from a single bulb in my 55gal right now that is doing really well. I bought that bulb about 5-6 years ago and it never really did much-other than a few sprouts that never grew bigger than quarter inch or so. Then in the past 60 days it has went nuts and has been growing like crazy-have no idea why it decided to start to grow all of a sudden...but it did....lol....

Once the leaf starts to break down, die or looks bad-I pinch the stem it is growing from as near to the bulb as I can. The heart shaped leaves are about the size of my hand more or less. They start out red in color and once they reach the surface-will turn green with red dots. I only get one leaf per stem-but get lots of stems per bulb.

I have another one that came in the same package and it has done well from the start and I have even propagated from it. I use a razor blade to slice it up to make two plants and both are doing well. Part of it is in a 10gal and once the leaf reaches the surface-they only grow a few more inches-So the stem doesn't get as long in the 10gal as it does in the 55gal.

I don't bury the bulb-I let it sit on top of the substrate-I haven't really seen that many roots-they do have some but not many. I got both sinkers and floater bulbs and the sinkers are the only ones that ever grew/sprouted. The floaters never rotted or got soft-but never would sink....I tossed them...

I have never tried the bulbs from either petco or petsmart-just the one from wal mart.


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## ItsKourtneyYoC8 (Sep 13, 2012)

I got mine from Walmart too. It took a while for it to sprout but I.guess.it was.because it got.moved but it recently started sprouting and there are stems coming form like every angle and the leaves get bigger.everyday. I buried mine in soil with river rocks on top. I'll post a pic for you. 
Maybe you should leave them above the substrate and if they start to sprout bury them. I love mine already!


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## ItsKourtneyYoC8 (Sep 13, 2012)

The bigger leaf is about an inch and a half long


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

i dont bury mine either


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## Friendlyfishies (Aug 16, 2012)

wow nice looking lilly's everyone! Cant wait til mine sprouts...I had 2 floaters out of 3 so I didnt even both wasting time with the floaters but im hoping the one that stays down on top of the sand will sprout


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## babystarz (Aug 3, 2012)

OMG mine got so huge, it took over my 20 gallon and I had to throw it out. I later found out that they only stay small if you prune the leaves before they reach the water surface. I had 20 different leaves all from the same lily plant blocking light from reaching any of the other plants in my tank. So make sure you stay on top of that, or you'll end up with a behemoth plant too big for your tank. None of the other bulbs ever even sprouted. Go figure XD


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## ItsKourtneyYoC8 (Sep 13, 2012)

Friendlyfishies said:


> wow nice looking lilly's everyone! Cant wait til mine sprouts...I had 2 floaters out of 3 so I didnt even both wasting time with the floaters but im hoping the one that stays down on top of the sand will sprout


Be hesitant when you throw away floaters! I jade one and it sprouted. They are just a tad bit slow C;


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## ItsKourtneyYoC8 (Sep 13, 2012)

aokashi said:


> i dont bury mine either


How big are those leaves and what size tank?

Do the leaves round out as they grow or something?


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## Chuckee (Nov 17, 2012)

Didn't work for me. I'm extremely bugged


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## homegrown terror (Aug 6, 2012)

how toxic are the leaves to terrestrial pets? my girlfriend would murder me if i got some and accidentally poisoned her cat if they grew big enough to poke out of the tank.


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## babystarz (Aug 3, 2012)

homegrown terror said:


> how toxic are the leaves to terrestrial pets? my girlfriend would murder me if i got some and accidentally poisoned her cat if they grew big enough to poke out of the tank.


I have no idea. Try calling your local poison control center; they probably have information on it


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

I have a lot of cats (_28_) and one that likes to chew on plants when I trim them and he has never got sick.....Not to say the lily leaves won't be a problem...I don't think he has ever chewed on one of those. But he would if I gave him one...laffs....He is my number one helper when I work on the tanks...You can see a baby pic of him in my album...


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## Friendlyfishies (Aug 16, 2012)

lol! Thanks everyone


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## ItsKourtneyYoC8 (Sep 13, 2012)

Here is an updae on my lily since the last time I posted a picture of it on this thread! I'm amazed!!! 0.0












And that was like 2 days ago and its bigger now!


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