The McKee Botanical Garden in Vero will have their only water lily sale of the year next month. I put a few water lilies in my pond late last summer, and as soon as they began to sprout, fish and/or turtles ate and killed the plants. I have tilapia, bass, bream, and large, soft shell turtles in the pond. Can anyone recommend a way to protect newly-growing water lilies from being eaten? I assume, and this is simply a guess on my part, that when the water lilies mature, fish/turtles won't destroy them. I would like to plant water lilies again next month.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00076QNU8/
I use this to temporarily separate fish when I transfer them out of a pond, but I also discovered I could drop a small waterlily in the bottom to protect it until it got established.

My fish never stop poking at the waterlilies. In the koi ponds I only put in plants that are well-rooted, and I place large rocks in the pots (10-20 gallons), around the crown above the roots. In the case of hardy waterlilies I leave the growth direction clear and sometimes place a rock on top of the non-growing portion of the rhizome (which I do anyway when first potting up new hardy rhizome divisions).

I find that second year and older plants, with their multiple growth points, extensive root systems, and robust growth, can out-grow whatever damage the critters do to them (I don't have turtles, though). First years, I spend the entire season hoping they don't disappear or get uprooted. I keep a set of large stock tanks, populated with feeder goldfish for mosquito control, for quarantine of new plants and propagation of existing plants. When I get something particularly special it often spends the entire first year in one of these.

Two month old spring divisions from dormant water lilies:


One year old water lilies being held in a stock tank before going to their new home:

Thanks for the information, Paul. I guess every situation is sort of unique, and with me being in S. Florida and you in WA, I imagine our growing conditions and critters are extremely different. I assume you have no soft shell turtles there. Mine are huge things, about 2' long with their long necks extended. I also have tilapia, large mouth bass, and bream. Do you have these fish? Here's a soft shell turtle that I caught out in the yard a couple of days ago.

I've raised tilapia for many years--they eat everything... If I keep them well-fed they don't bother the larger plants so much, but they can be relentless when they're hungry, and I've seen them eat young tropical water lilies completely. Around here large mouth bass prefer the deeper areas and generally stay out of the shallows where I plant water lilies, but I don't have much experience with them together. I wouldn't expect much trouble since they really prefer to eat other fish and animals. I have no experience with bream or turtles.

I have heard of people putting cages around their water lilies, allowing the leaves to come up between the 2-3" holes in the wire cage since they emerge as points. I've also noticed that once established (again, second year) lotus are tougher than water lilies. The leaf stems are woody and a lot tougher, and the tubers grow faster. The first leaves of the season are always floaters, but after that they are all in the air above the pond which helps, too.

I feed my fish (and the turtles get into the act) every morning. The bass won't feed but the tilapia and bream gobble everything up in just a few minutes. I feed 1/2 gal. of pellets at a time. Will that deter them chewing on water lilies? I have no clue. I'll figure out some sort of cage, probably made out of 1/4-1/2", heavy plastic mesh, and have it extend from the pot to at or just below the surface. My pond doesn't vary in depth more than an inch or so all year long.