Kew Gardens has submitted its entry to the annual Waterlily Weigh-Off with a single leaf that can hold up to 102kg.

Its submission to the annual Waterlily Weigh-Off is a single leaf of a Victoria boliviana waterlily from its Princess of Wales Conservatory.

The Weigh-Off, which is organised each year by Denver Botanic Gardens in Colorado, sees public gardens and zoos from around the globe gun for glory by loading up their lily pads with a variety of weights.

Past submissions have seen horticulturists use everyday objects ranging from buckets of coins and gym equipment through to iconic beverages and even their own bodies, and more than 40 organisations took part in 2025.

This year, Kew's botanical horticulturists Aidan Pike and Martin Silnevs threw down the gauntlet when Silnevs mounted the waterlily pad, placing a total weight of 102kg (224.87lbs) on the leaf when accounting for his gear, waders and plastic base.

Silnevs was then joined on the pad by Pike, staying up for several seconds before the leaf buckled and took on too much water.

The leaf was then carefully carved up and taken to Kew's Compost Corner, ensuring the green waste would be recycled and reused as mulch.

The duo also tested another of the plant's pads by lading it with stacks of tinned baked beans, recording a total weight of 81 kg (178.5 lbs) before it gave out.

Silnevs, said: "Stepping onto the waterlily pad felt so surreal and was, indeed, a real leap of faith! It's all very counterintuitive to think a delicate waterlily could support a weight over 100kg, and yet, it did.

"The experience made me appreciate the ingenuity, resilience and beauty of nature even more.

"Fun exercises like the Waterlily Weigh-Off just go to prove that nature has a way of defying our expectations and reminding us just how extraordinary the world around us truly is."

In 2025, Kew entered the Weigh-Off with a weight of 76.5 kg, after loading up a lily pad with a combination of barbells, bricks and metal weights.

The V. boliviana is one three giant waterlily species currently on display in Kew's Princess of Wales Conservatory, alongside the Santa Cruz waterlily (V. cruziana) also from South America, and Eurayle ferox from Southern (India) and Eastern (China to Japan) Asia.

Only described as new to science in 2022, it is the largest of the three known Victoria species and holds three Guinness World Records™ titles for 'largest species of waterlily', 'largest waterlily leaf' and 'largest undivided leaf'.

The largest recorded specimen of V. boliviana was measured at La Rinconada gardens in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia at 3.2m across.

Kew said Victoria waterlilies are incredibly buoyant thanks to the large channels in the veins of the leaf that fill with air to keep it floating on the surface of water and help oxygenate the roots.

The leaves are also covered in defensive spikes that help protect them from fish, birds and other potential predator.

The Princess of Wales Conservatory is the only place to see the giants next to each other while the historic Waterlily House undergoes a facelift as part of the wider Palm House renovation project.

Completed in 1852, the Waterlily House is on track to reopen in the spring of 2027 thanks to a landmark £5 million grant from The Julia Rausing Trust.

This year's competition results are set to be announced on Friday, 28 August. To find out more about the Waterlily Weigh-Off click here.

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