Dividing Lilies

[Jackie Ramo]

Has anyone pictures of how they divided their lilies. Dave needs to divide pots and pots of them and could use some assistance in how it is done. Although I'm sure he is not the only one who wonders how this annual chore gets done.

[Tamianth]

Ow! Now I did salvage a couple of lily's off a tuber that developed rot last year. But I didn't do any pics...... :( Shame on me!

Don't know how helpful this is, but the bumps where leaves sprout are "tops" and this was a smallish tuber I had, I salvaged two of those off the main tuber, cutting away the rotted portions. I repotted them on a 45* angle as I read, with the bump just above the soil and they re-rooted and took off, I even gave one away to a friend mid summer...... Still have the second one in pond... The smallest was about the size of my thumb, the second a bit bigger. Clean cuts, sharp knife..... Oh, and I just sat them barely in, mostly a bit of rock holding the bottom to the top of the soil and sat them in the shallow areas.

So I imagine a good piece will do pretty good Jackie.

[Jackie Ramo]

I may have to take pics myself. I do have to divide some. Just thought is some one had pics on hand it would give Dave an idea of how it is done.

[Busy B]

That would be handy...I've never done it but have one with side shoots that looks like it could be split...Do lilies start to go downhill when they have too many shoots?

And how many seasons does it take to grow it back to a full tuber?

[Jackie Ramo]

Where is that BonnieIN when you need her???? I have not split the lilies in 4 years so I am not the person to ask, mine are planted direct in the pond and spead to their hearts content. I do have to move some from the front of the skimmer though - said that last year as well.... waters is cold!!!

[marla]

question, how many years before they are even big enough to do that. Mine did not do much last year, however it was Sept. before we put them in. This year I did put in some fertalizer tabs, maybe that'll help them along.

[BonnieIN]

I'm here! :frisbee:
Unfortunately no pix but plenty of saved info!
Here's a few links :
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Vines/7025/dividing_water_lilies_1.html

http://web.archive.org/web/20001003043941/theplantplace.com/toc.htm

Okay first things first:

Usually one indicator that a waterlily needs dividing is when foliage 'masses up' in a dome of foliage and you see less blooms.
Or when it becomes pot bound or has grown into a monster and has jumped the pot.
Also it's best not to divide your hardy lilies more than once every 2 years unless they show signs of needing divided. The less you divide them, the more they'll bloom. :smile: Some waterlilies are faster growing and need to be divided every year though.


To divide:

Remove the plant from its pot and spray with water until all the mud is removed. You"ll see the rhizome and sections where groups of new lily pads emerge from it . Using a sharp knife, slice between the each growth node to section off into a new waterlily start. If you would like to divide a section with more than one growth node, this is okay. Your decision how big or small is up to you as long as you make sure to have one section where pads will emerge.
This is a good time to get rid of any part of the rhizome which has become soft.


Hope this makes since, trying to type and watch the Nascar race on Tivo!

[Jackie Ramo]

Great links Bonnie, thanks I knew I could count on you to have the information. Dave should be able to put these pics and my yaking in his ear together enough to divide his plants.

[Wayne S.]

The victoria - adventure web site is the best for anything related to water lilies. They have a page of articles which includes a couple on repotting.

See: http://www.victoria-adventure.org/waterlilies/index_of_articles.html

Wayne S.

[Busy B]

Thanks for the links Bon and what the heck are you doing watching TV :grin:

Yesterday while walking by the pond I saw a couple free floaters...don't know where they came from..roots and a few pads..there's no fish in there to rip them out. I haven't cleaned it out yet so maybe the tuber rotted away...:confused: but the roots were long and the pads very small...I need to get in there..

[BonnieIN]

Busy first of all, Bon is what my immediate family calls me so glad to say you are family! :grin: :twisted:

Well after a long day of working outside, DH and I decided to come in - order pizza delivery and relax for a bit!

BTW- proud to say that about all of the wood for the bridge has been cut-used the router on the edges and sanded all down. Now I have to stain this week and DH will assemble! :smile:

[Dave in Innisfil]

OK, so now I've got some guidelines. The local pond expert who knew the history of our ponds said he suspects these ponds were designed and built for the propogation and resale of water plants, mostly lilies. We "inherited" his mother plants, and had some beautiful displays of colour last year.

Some have tubers, some have rootstock resembling a hand with fat fingers, some are simple bullrushes, and several pots contain unknown plants. I've added fresh soil covered with p-stone to many of them, unsure as to how to properly divide them. Right now they've been moved to my shelfed 2,000 gallon upper pond until I can re-liner the 10,000 gallon clover-leafed shaped main pond. The multi-layering of the main pond and semi-shallow corners make it easy to place and retreive plants at all but the 4'6" centre.

Considering the reputed value of my plants, and my recent track record of semi-self inflicted pondmare, I'm leary of plant surgury right now. Especially since we still have minus temps, hail, snow, and freezing rain within the past 24 hours. I don't want my lack of experience to kill the plants like I've done with the fish.....Right now, the plants are living. Add me to their equation and their doomed......LOL

[Jackie Ramo]

Don't worry Dave, its been too cold for me to even think about dividing my lilies as yet. Although around now is the best time, they can in fact be divided any time so there is no rush. You have lots of priorities to look after.

[Busy B]

Spring is sooo much fun...so many projects come to mind.

Bon...glad you consider me a family friend :grin:..My sis-in-law's name is Bonnie and Bon is what we call her and the kids call her Aunt BonBon :wink:...habit I guess..

I finally got in the pond yesterday! Got a new shopvac for Mommy's Day..still learning how to use it (who would figure it would be hard). Chestwaders didn't leak..that's a good thing. Lilies were sprouting new leaves..only one that the neighbor left looks puny. That means the pond didn't freeze solid if I'm seeing some growth already. Lots of gunk and leaves. Water is down far enough to patch the leak as soon as it drys out a bit. So many projects..so little time..

[BonnieIN]

Busy, Yes my aunt and uncle always called me BonBon!
I've got a little plaque in my kitchen which says:
If you are what you eat, I'd rather be a BonBon than a Brussel Sprout! :lol:

[Busy B]

Now isn't that the truth? :grin:

[Dave in Innisfil]

I take it it isn't a good thing when your lilies are so pot-bound you can't stick a finger down two inches ? When I moved the plant pots up to the top pond, I just thought they were still frozen. By now I figured they had to have thawed out. When I went to move them back to the main pond this weekend, I couldn't even stick a chiseled tip solar light mount into them. Most of the pots had 6" sprouts with small leave on them. We're going to be satisfied with whatever growth we get out of them this year, identify which pot has what type of plant in it, and save the re-potting. Was I correct in placing the pots in area's with slow or no moving water opposed to closer to my two waterfalls and air bubbler ?

[Jackie Ramo]

Lilies like still water so they are placed right. They may very well jump their pots this summer but they will survive. Actually you can split them anytime, they are great big weeds.

[Dewi]

How come you can grow lilies with marauding KOi?? mine just get eaten, destroyed totally. I have some lovely yellow Iris's in th epond tho :grin:

[Jackie Ramo]

Feed your koi some veggies Dewi, that is why they are eating the lilies. Tie a head of romain lettuce so they can rip and tear. Good fun to watch.

[Dave in Innisfil]

My lilies in my upper shallower pond (3' deep) are all in a tangle below the surface. It's like a kitten played with a ball of yarn. Will they untangle themselves or is something I have to do for them ?

[Jackie Ramo]

Personally I'd untangle them especially if the leaves are face down in the water as those ones cannot breath and will just die.

[Dave in Innisfil]

Most of my lilies have purple leaves, one plant has green leaves, and I think is a local lake lily. Some of the lilies have long long stems as though they should be in really deep water. When I moved one pot deeper, the leaves untangled themselves and are now rapidly growing towards the surface. I have them at different heights right now, varying from a foot below the surface, to 4 feet below the surface. Some deeper ones seem to be doing better than some of the shallower ones, and visa versa. Some are producing buds, others aren't at this stage.

Any recommendations or is it just a trial and error process with each plant ?

[Jackie Ramo]

Since we don't know the types its going to be trial and error until you find out which ones do well where. Only one of mine is doing well this year so far. White and working on its 3rd flower but the yellow one Linda gave me last year only has 3 leaves on it.... I've rescued the one Bonnie sent me and it now is growing and has 2 leaves... it had more earlier the the koi ate them....

[Dewi]

Try feeding them some lettuce. :grin:

[BonnieIN]

Since we don't know the types its going to be trial and error until you find out which ones do well where. Only one of mine is doing well this year so far. White and working on its 3rd flower but the yellow one Linda gave me last year only has 3 leaves on it.... I've rescued the one Bonnie sent me and it now is growing and has 2 leaves... it had more earlier the the koi ate them....

Glad that it's still alive Jackie........ tell the kids to behave and let you see it bloom!

[BonnieIN]

BTW- I hope I don't jinx myself but my koi are very good boys and girls. Occasionally one might get uprooted from them rooting in the gravel but they don't eat them luckily.

Just hope it stays that way!

[Jackie Ramo]

Bonnie, this is the only lily they touched.... everytime it sprang a leaf it was eaten... or pulled off. I finally pulled the plant and put it into the greenhouse so it could grow in peace. Took a couple of weeks before it put up another leaf... I was afraid they had killed it. Now it is back in the pond but isn't as happy as it should be. A pond tab will help but I have to buy some.