How to Grow Water Lilies at Home? The Tips of a Homemaker Who Makes Rs 1 lakh per month selling them
After finishing her household chores, what Viji Abi eagerly anticipates in her daily routine is caring for her home garden and engaging with her gardening friends worldwide. Upon entering her garden in Thrissur, Kerala, you’ll be welcomed by a vibrant display of blooming flowers.
However, the standout feature of the garden is her water lily pots containing exotic-colored lilies. As one of India’s few water lily hybridisers, Viji’s garden proudly showcases a hybrid variety she cultivated called Nymphaea Sree. “Gardening started as a leisure activity but transformed into my passion. I was inquisitive about how lily plants are grown and which variety survives.
Now, I earn more than Rs 1 lakh a month by selling lilies during a good season,” she says. Viji shares the secrets behind her healthy and green garden, and how you too can grow water lilies at home. Raised with an affinity for plants and greenery, Viji has been fond of gardening for most of her life. “It sounds like two different worlds, but for me, gardening was always a part of who I was.
But, I did not have the direction,” she says. In 2008, with the birth of her newborn, the young mother started to spend a lot of time in her garden. She adds that she had a lot of flowers in her garden, and she even shared its seeds with other people. “I went on to Facebook and found a lot of people interested in buying different plants.
I also found many growing water plants. In 2018, Viji bought her first water plant. “While it bred flowers, I did not know how to protect the plant from dormancy, and I was also unsure how to re-pot them,” she says. As a member of the International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society, she says, “It felt as though I had discovered my people.
Recalling the early days when she started growing water flowers, she says, “I bought hardy water lilies, which was a mistake. Viji not only learned the right way of growing lilies, she mastered it. Presently, she grows more than 100 varieties of lilies in her home garden. “With the help of the International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society and my fellow water lily planters on Facebook, I was able to hybridize my variety.
“Initially, I did not know that lily plants fetch very good prices in the market. Later I started to sell my lilies through Facebook to people across the world,” she says. During a successful season, Viji mentions that she can earn up to Rs 1 lakh per month by selling lilies. “It is crucial to choose the right variety of water lilies based on the local conditions and your specific environment.
“It’s important to note that water lilies require a minimum of six hours of direct sunlight daily, which may pose challenges in colder regions,” she adds. “If you want to bloom them for personal purposes, then big pots with a lot of space for flowers to grow would be perfect. The plants do not go dormant easily and bloom for a long time.
Viji says that lilies love sunlight and they need sunlight. This is one of the reasons why many lily plants become dormant. Place your pots in a sunny place and see your lilies bloom,” she says. Besides providing the plants with sunlight and good soil, Viji recommends feeding them with natural fertilizers. These locally sourced, natural ingredients can go a long way,” she says. The first time I tried my hand at growing water plants, it was a complete disaster.
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