Or lets hack up a water lily.
Ok I got these water lilies and I want to propagate more of them or at least make the roots smaller. Does anyone do this or could you point me in the right direction?
I have two of these and think I should be able to cut them into pieces to make more. The longer one is approx 15 inches long.
I see two growing points on that tuber, which means two plants - period. For a section to become a stand alone plant it has to have a growing point. The growing point is where new leaf growth is coming from. You won't get a plant from a section of tuber that has no growing point. You wont get a bigger plant either if you leave a lot of old tuber attached to a growing point. A growing point and 4 or 5 inches max is sufficient got a healthy plant. Excess tuber just rots.
Thanks Snapple I know so little about water lily roots. These came out of my son's pond. He bought a house last fall and it has a small mostly empty pond. When he bought the house it had been empty for months gardens were in pretty bad shape and this pond was filled with debri and a couple of inches of matted vegatation with pickerel growing over the top. Yesterday I was down there weeding and planting and found these waterliles coming up. All I know is that they are hardy to our area.
So when I cut off the extra tuber how close to the growing point do I cut? This one looked like it had 3 growing points to me.
So I cut it like this. Did I do that right? Should I shorten the main tuber more and do I treat it with anything?
On the larger root the only growing point I noticed was on the small finger so I cut that off and potted it. This is a different angle than the first pic. I think this is the second growing point you noticed.
All the cuts look very good. You've got it figured out just fine. In the first pic, I'd probably trim the tuber with the growing leaves to just behind the last root. Those small growing points that I think I see in the third section will take a long time to get to a sizable plant. In the second pic, yup, that's the second growing point. Just trim that off and pot it up. Trim the remaining tuber up to the first root and pot that up. Now the real fun begins! What lily is it?
Thanks so much snapple. I have no idea what they are just that they must be hardy to my zone 6. They came from this pond at my son's new house. The pond is in very bad shape but somewhere down the line we will get it up and running. This pic was taken last fall when he bought the house. I did get the vinca major and the grass out of it and quite a few small broken tree branches. I also pulled some of the Pickerel out and potted it up. It's a good 3/4 empty but there is some water in the bottom under the several inches of vegatiation that is floating like a solid mat on top. Nothing as far as I can tell yet is in pots and when you take something out you get a huge piece of the top mat with it. Talk about digging in muck, Yuck!
Holy Cow! That's not a restoration as much as a reclamation job. I'll bet it stinks too when you start moving that muck around. Don't forget to get some mosquito dunks for the water until you get some circulation or filtration going. I have a back fence neighbor who let his small preformed get in a similar condition. He's done nothing with it since he bought the place three years ago. It's full of water, some plants and no circulation or filtration. It's mosquito heaven. It's right on the other side of the fence where I spend a lot of time in the garden.
Last summer I bought mosquito dunks. When no one's around I climb up to the top of the privacy fence and pitch one in the water. He never knows. I've mentioned it to him about it being a mosquito breeder but it falls on deaf ears.
Yes last fall when I disturbed it a whole cloud lifted off. The house is an old stone home built in 1876 and had been empty for months. The previous owners had gone thru a nasty divorce and both moved out of the area and the only yard work done was that someone was coming in and mowing the grass. I gave Josh landscaping as a house warming gift as I had done for his sister. Last fall I just weeded and now I will start planting. I think from the looks of it that the previous owners had some interest in gardening but the weeds were just terrible. I had some that came chest high on me. Here is a before and after pic. If you look close you can see the bricks of the brick patio under the weeds and the pond is in there but can't be seen.
Same area after I started weeding. You can see the brick patio and the bricks around the edge of the pond. At that point I had only done a bit of pond cleaning. I pulled an old broken pump/filter out of it and pulled the top weeds off but didn't get any farther than than. You are right about a reclamation. It is lined with a heavy pond liner or maybe rubber roofing, there isn't any holes visiable at the water line but the water level hasn't risen at all over the winter. I can see where the liner overlaps so I'm thinking maybe it just needs sealed at the edges. The sides are pretty steep and the edge isn't very decorative. Till its all said and done I just may drain the entire thing pull the liner and rework the pond.
Josh is one lucky son! That's a lot of "landscaping". If you want to call it that. I'd call it a rescue! LOL While you may well drain and rework the little pond for aesthetic reasons don't let the stable water level be a reason. I have two ponds, 480 gal and 2500 gal. The water level stays stable in both all winter. Evaporation seems to keep pace with precipitation. In your case with that plant load there's a lot of moisture exchange going on. Most ponds lose water in the summer months due to wind, evaporation and splash, especially if there is a waterfall. I top off about every other day in the growing months. Please post pictures from time to time of the progress. I'll be sitting here rooting for you!
I was thinking I would get the muck out, take a good look at the edges where the rubber overlaps and then fill it and see where the water level goes before I decide to tear it apart. I have a couple of small ponds at my house you have probably seen pics of my birdbath pond and box pond and I am always topping them off especially after a few very windy days. His isn't just steep it angles in so I think it would be hard to sit pots in, esp if you wanted to spread them around the bottom a bit. There are no ledges built into the pond either, where I can set some blocks or milk crates around in my ponds Guess we will find out when I get the rest of the muck out and take a look at the bottom. Thanks for your help in dividing the tubers.
Ah, you're an old hand at the pond thing. In that case you'll get it under control in no time. Good luck!
Wow, what a project! And what a good Mom you are! I LOVE old houses, and just think what you might discover in the gardens there. Just add water, and you might find some fabulous heirloom roses or something! Please do keep us updated on your progress,what a really excellent housewarming gift! Also, so glad you asked the question about dividing tubers, as I did not know how to do it.
Brenda
Snapple, My ponds are small more like water features. One of these days I will get the big in ground pond put in. It just keeps getting pushed back by one project after another. LOL I do expect to have another small pond/water feature up and running soon. It's and old bathtub that I have been working on for a while now.
Brenda and anyone else interested in the house you can see it here on this thread.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/915724/
Doesn't look like there is much in the way of old plants other than the huge trees. There are a couple of different looking climbing roses on an arbor that you walk through but I would be surprised if they were anything much. The house is in town and on a main street. It's a very small town near the Susquehanna River and gets a lot of traffic in the summer as that is where the river access is for boating. Josh has a place out on one of the islands in the river so it's pretty nice for him. He is only a few blocks from the river but not in a flood area.
Very nice old house, Holly Ann!
