The Story Behind Claypot Aquaplants

That parcel arrived damaged.

The plants had deteriorated badly, and it looked like the experiment had ended before it had really begun.

But one healthy, mature Key Largo leaf had survived.

Key Largo is a viviparous waterlily, capable of producing new plants from its leaves. My mother carefully nurtured that surviving leaf, watched it sprout, and successfully raised a new plant from it.

That single leaf changed the course of our journey.

It sparked a fascination with waterlilies that quickly turned into a growing collection. Every new variety brought another question, another experiment, and another reason to spend time around the water garden.
 

From a collection to a calling

At the time, I was a Mechanical Engineering graduate and, like many others during the pandemic, was spending a lot of time at home.

Watching my mother grow these beautiful plants, an idea came to me:

If we could bring aquatic plants home through parcels, why couldn't we send them to other plant lovers — carefully packed and with the knowledge needed to grow them successfully?

My mother agreed.

And our little venture began.

We started selling plants through Facebook Marketplace under the name Claypot.

Our first order went to Chennai in June 2021. There was something special about that first shipment — it included Summer Snow, the same lotus variety that had started our journey months earlier.

We were no longer simply collecting plants. We were beginning to share them.
 

When people started noticing

Our growing collection eventually caught the attention of Shree Padre, Executive Editor of Adike Patrike. He took an interest in our journey and documented our story in the magazine.

At that time, our collection had grown to around 65 varieties of lotus and waterlilies.

The article introduced Claypot to many more people and opened doors we had never expected. Our story also reached YouTube audiences, including through the work of journalist A. R. Rakshith Rai, then associated with SDM College, Ujire.

The videos reached a wider audience. People began discovering our plants, asking questions, placing orders, and — most importantly — beginning to grow aquatic plants themselves.

We are deeply grateful to everyone who helped tell our story when Claypot was still small.

We are also thankful to Roshan Shetty and the Discover Agriculture channel for their valuable promotion and for helping our work reach more people who share the same love for plants and agriculture.
 

A dream beyond a degree

While all this was happening, I left home to pursue my Master's degree at IIT Mandi.

Education took me away from home for a while, but Claypot remained close to my heart.

After completing my postgraduate studies, I returned home with a simple personal ambition:

To prove that a person can build a decent life, earn a decent living, and find fulfillment while working from home and doing something they genuinely enjoy — regardless of what they studied or which institution they graduated from.

That decision marked a new chapter.

The little Claypot began to grow into Claypot Aquaplants.

I started our Instagram presence and began working on a proper online platform. With the guidance of my senior and technical mentor, Vinayaka K. V., I developed our website and started building the venture with a long-term vision.
 

More than plants

Today, our collection has grown from those first few varieties to 350+ varieties of lotus and waterlilies.

Our plants have travelled from Kasaragod, Kerala, to Jammu in the North and Guwahati in the North-East — and seeing them bloom in the hands of customers across India remains one of the most rewarding parts of what we do.

But numbers and varieties are only one part of our story.

Our biggest achievement is the community that has grown around these plants.

Many of our customers have gone from being first-time buyers to passionate aquatic-plant cultivators. They share their blooms, experiments, successes, and failures. They ask questions, help one another, and discover better ways of growing and maintaining lotus and waterlilies.

That is why we believe our responsibility goes beyond sending a plant in a parcel.

We want to help you succeed with it.
 

Growing together

At Claypot Aquaplants, we believe aquatic plants should not feel difficult or intimidating.

Whether it is your first lotus, your first waterlily, or your 100th variety, there is always something new to learn.

Our journey began with a mother experimenting in her garden.

It grew through a surviving leaf.

It travelled through parcels, gardens, magazines, videos, and thousands of conversations.

And today, it continues through every new bloom grown by someone who started with a plant from Claypot.

We don't just want to sell you a lotus or a waterlily.
We want to help you grow it, understand it, and experience the joy of watching it bloom.

This is the story of Claypot Aquaplants.

And this journey, just like a lotus, continues to grow.