Hello all. Curious as how to divide water lily roots. Have had a small pond about 3 years now. 5 x 12 x four and a half feet deep at one end. 2 feet at shallow end. I estimate about 1000 gallons? Any help would be appreciated.
Water Lily Division.
rinse off the old, sour dirt, then just cut thru them with a sharp knife, then pot them up with fresh soil, (not potting soil), and a few fertilizer tabs. they'll be set back for a few days, but should come back real nice! i have hardy lilies, it may be a bit different for tropicals.
oops.. i almost forgot... be sure to put some pea gravel on top of the soil, not too close to the crown of the lily, to keep the soil intact.
This message was edited Tuesday, May 6th 7:25 PM
Hi and thanks. Regular soil from the garden? This is a hardy lily. (Gulp! Just one!) But at $40 .....Canadian...
Err..under water I suppose. When potted, any particular depth?
Just another question, I assume high PH water. 7.5 or higher? Will they thrive in PH neutral or below?
Hardy water lilies are VERY adaptable to their water pH conditions. Just cut through the tuber and the only rules to observe on this is that you need to leave a growth bud on each section of root that you want to replant and also to put the cut end to the wall of the pot so the plant can grow to the other side of the pot before you need to repot again. Regular soil from the garden is fine as long as it doesn't have organic matter that might float. Repot it just at the level of the growth bud and put some gravel on top. The size of gravel will depend on the size of the fish in the pond as koi will be able to move some fairly large gravel pieces aside to dig in the dirt. Koi ( and some goldfish) LOVE to dig in the dirt. Place the plants down as far as 2 and a half feet under or as high as the water being only about 3 inches over the top of the pot (many people find that the deeper planted waterlilies don't bloom as much as the shallow ones). Water lily tabs to the ratio on the label are usually inserted in the soil after dividing and then on a regular schedule throughout the summer to have a more active bloom.
Thanks for your advise. My daughter lives about 200 miles East of here. Belleville Ontario. Being on the river and doing a lot of bass fishing in shallower waters, and informing me there multitudes of water lilies, I assume I can get them out of the 2 foot plus depth and re-plant to my pond? I do assume all water lilies flower?
All will flower if the conditions are right. Some of the wild ones are really harder to bloom out than the ones that have been hybridized in my experience. I think it may be water temperature or/and water conditions. Good luck.