How to Grow Victoria amazonica? Detailed Guide to Cultivation Methods and Precautions

Victoria amazonica is a perennial or annual large floating-leaf herbaceous plant of the genus Victoria in the family Nymphaeaceae, famous for its enormous plate-like leaves and beautiful, strongly fragrant flowers, with a foliage-viewing period of 150 days and a flower-viewing period of 90 days. If Victoria amazonica is combined with aquatic plants such as lotus and water lilies in a display, it will form a perfect and unique water landscape that is unforgettable. Let us now take a look at the cultivation methods and precautions for Victoria amazonica!

Growth Habits of Victoria amazonica

Victoria amazonica is a typical tropical plant that prefers high temperatures and high humidity, with very poor cold tolerance; when the temperature drops to 20°C, growth stalls. When the temperature drops to around 14°C, it suffers cold damage, and when the temperature drops to around 8°C, it dies from the cold. It prefers fertile, deep sludge but does not like water that is too deep; the sludge in the cultivation pond needs to be more than 50 cm deep, and a water depth not exceeding 1 m is more suitable. Apply sufficient barnyard manure or cake fertilizer at planting time, apply topdressing 1 to 2 times during the leafing and flowering period, and stop fertilizing after autumn begins. It prefers light, and the cultivation water surface should have sufficient sunlight; the key technique in artificial cultivation is cold protection for overwintering.

Propagation Methods of Victoria amazonica

1. Sowing: The seeds of Victoria amazonica mature in mid-October; after collection, wash them and store them in clean water. In the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, indoor germination is carried out in early April with heating at 25-28°C. The seeds can be placed in a culture dish with water 2.5-3.0 cm deep, changing the water once a day; germination occurs 1 week after sowing.

2. Seedling raising: About 20 days after the initial seedling of Victoria amazonica emerges, it begins to be transplanted into pots for seedling raising. Use small pots with a diameter of about 10 cm filled with finer mud and a small amount of sandy soil; do not fill them too full, one plant per pot. The planting depth should be such that the seed shell is slightly above the soil surface, and place it upright in warm water so that the leaves float on the water surface.

Cultivation Methods of Victoria amazonica

1. Soil: Victoria amazonica prefers slightly acidic to neutral fertile soil, and one plant requires 1.5-2 cubic meters of soil. Sufficient base fertilizer must be applied before entering the pond, preferably mainly green manure. Planting in vats easily causes nutritional deficiency and affects leaf and flower growth. When applying base fertilizer, an appropriate amount of pond sludge, compound fertilizer and about 3 kg of hoof pieces should be mixed together, and some manure and cake should also be added; this can also make the soil loose.

2. Planting: Victoria amazonica is a sun-loving aquatic flower plant. The pond should be chosen in a sunny, wind-sheltered location to ensure the Victoria amazonica pond has sufficient light. There are two types of transplanting: one is direct transplanting into the pond, with a whole plant occupying about 30 sq m of the pond; before transplanting, the pond water must be drained, the pond cleaned, irrigation and drainage devices installed, and the water level controlled. The other is indirect transplanting, in which the seedlings are first planted in vats, and then the vats are placed into the pond.

3. Management: Victoria amazonica goes through a vegetative growth period and a flowering and fruiting period. The vegetative growth period includes the seedling stage and the fast-growing stage; these stages are important periods for the growth of Victoria amazonica and must be carefully managed. At first, the seedlings are not very adaptable in the open field, and the temperature difference between day and night is large; if it encounters overcast and rainy weather, the leaves may rot, so the film should be opened on sunny days and covered on rainy days and at night, continuing until mid-June.

4. Topdressing: After planting, when the seedling stage is nearing its end, Victoria amazonica should be topdressed once every 10 days, mainly with compound fertilizer. By the fast-growing stage, it should be topdressed once every 5 days. After flowering, because the weather is hot, the temperature is high, the plant grows vigorously, and the flowering rate is high. When fertilizing, about 20 g of quick-acting phosphate fertilizer can be placed in a small perforated plastic bag and buried not far from the roots to facilitate balanced root development.

5. Water level: Victoria amazonica is a shallow-water aquatic plant; the water level generally does not exceed 0.4 m above the top of the plant stem, and the range of water level variation should also be controlled within 0.3 m. During the seedling stage after transplanting, the water level should be adjusted according to the growth condition of the seedlings. Aquatic plants that entangle the leaves and flowers of Victoria amazonica, such as moss, Spirogyra, and duckweed, should be frequently removed from the pond to keep the pond water clean and leave open water surface for new leaves to grow.

6. Light: Victoria amazonica prefers light. When cultivated in a greenhouse in spring, if sunlight is insufficient, a 100-watt electric lamp can be installed 1.5 m above the seedlings to increase light intensity and light duration. Aquatic plants that entangle the leaves and flowers of Victoria amazonica, such as moss, Spirogyra, and duckweed, should be frequently removed from the pond. Dead and rotten old leaves on the plant should be cut off at any time to keep the pond water clean and leave open water surface for new leaves to grow.

Precautions for Victoria amazonica

1. Tobacco cutworm

[Damage] Late July and mid-to-late August are the peak damage periods; the larvae chew the rolled leaf margins.

[Control] Spray with 1000-fold trichlorfon or decamethrin.

2. Lotus aphid

[Damage] From August to October, nymphs and adults gather on the leaf surface and leaf margins to suck sap.

[Control] Use 1000-fold 40% dimethoate or 2000-fold decamethrin for control; the latter is phytotoxic to fish. It can also be sprayed with 200-fold 70% menazon wettable powder or 800-1000-fold 3% derris extract.

3. Radix swinhoei and Planorbidae snails

[Damage] Late June is the peak damage period, mainly damaging the leaves above water, mostly attaching to the underside of leaves and gnawing the leaf mesophyll to cause holes of varying sizes; tender leaves are damaged more severely than old leaves.

[Control] They can be captured manually or lured and gathered with watermelon rind, and black carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus) can also be stocked to swallow them. One week before planting, drain the pond water and scatter carbofuran powder on the mud surface to kill them.

4. Fish damage

[Damage] Except for goldfish, most fish can damage young leaves and young roots, especially grass carp and common carp, which cause the most serious damage.

[Control] Reeds, bamboo blinds, galvanized wire or nylon nets can be used to enclose them for about one month, and the soil surface can be covered with a layer of river sand or pebbles, which can help protect the seedlings.