How to fertilize Lilly's

[420benz]

While they are still in the bottom of the pond?

 

[mrsclem]

I always lift my pots out to fertilize. I thing they make a long handled tool to insert fertilizer tabs while still in pond.

 

[mrsclem]

Google Inject-a- tab tool

 

[BKHpondcritters]

I wade around & push the fertilizer tabs into the pot by hand. We only fertilize them during the summer growing season, so it's not a stretch to be in there wading. (And we have waders to wear when the water is too chilly for bare leg wallowing)

 

[Lisak1]

I've fertilized a lot of lilies and it ain't easy. I have to really really REALLY work to get a hole in that pot big enough to get those tabs in. And the whole while you're doing that, the tab is slowly disintegrating in your wet hands. The best tool I ever used was a small piece of doweling or a wooden spoon handle (I've broken several doing this however, so be warned!) to jam into the soil and try to make a spot to cram the fertilizer in. So I honestly find it hard to believe there's any kind of tool that would allow you to do this from outside of the pond while the pot is still in the water. But I may be wrong! Maybe it's like an air rifle! haha!

Having said all that, @addy1 taught me the right way to do this task - in the spring when you're re-potting, dump a good amount of pelletized Osmocote into the the bottom of the pot or pan. Mix in a little loose soil of your choice. I use kitty litter. Then plop the tuber into the pot, add more soil and maybe some rocks to the top to hold it all in place and don't think about it again until next spring!

 

[rubyduby]

The woman that sold me my waterlily said she takes them out and uses a funnel to put four holes in the pot and then puts a TB of Dynamite fertilizer in each hole. She then pinches the soil at the top of each hole and that's it for six months....I am dreading it...My waterlily is HUGE!! I don't know how I will ever be able to lift it out

 

[brokensword]

snorkel and a diver's mask

 

[addy1]

Having said all that, @addy1 taught me the right way to do this task - in the spring when you're re-potting, dump a good amount of pelletized Osmocote into the the bottom of the pot or pan. Mix in a little loose soil of your choice. I use kitty litter. Then plop the tuber into the pot, add more soil and maybe some rocks to the top to hold it all in place and don't think about it again until next spring!

That is all I do anymore, either add in the spring or the fall, once a year. Done And they bloom great.

 

[Lisak1]

and uses a funnel to put four holes in the pot

Here's the issue with a fully grown lily - there IS no soil left in the pot. It's ALLLLLLLLLL tuber. Trying to find space to cram anything down into the pot around the root growth is nigh unto impossible. I was finding myself just jamming the fertilizer down between the pot and the plant and hoping for the best. I've used aquatic tabs, I've used fertilizer sticks meant for tomatoes, I've used granular fertilizer - they ALL work. It's just a matter of application.

Lilies need to be divided frequently for them to perform up to their maximum potential. Divide them annually and you'll A. have an opportunity to feed them once per season in a fashion that is simple AND effective and B. have lots of tubers to share with other ponding friends! Or make new friends!

 

[BKHpondcritters]

Here's the issue with a fully grown lily - there IS no soil left in the pot. It's ALLLLLLLLLL tuber. Trying to find space to cram anything down into the pot around the root growth is nigh unto impossible. I was finding myself just jamming the fertilizer down between the pot and the plant and hoping for the best. I've used aquatic tabs, I've used fertilizer sticks meant for tomatoes, I've used granular fertilizer - they ALL work. It's just a matter of application.

Lilies need to be divided frequently for them to perform up to their maximum potential. Divide them annually and you'll A. have an opportunity to feed them once per season in a fashion that is simple AND effective and B. have lots of tubers to share with other ponding friends! Or make new friends!

I've tried the 'once per season' method with Osmocote & really wasn't thrilled with the results. (Shrug) I get my best blooming when I do the fertilizer tabs every other week during the growing season. Any pot that's so full there is no room to poke a finger down into gets put on the top of the 'needs to be divided' to-do list. But then, I fully enjoy puttering & fussing with my plants & garden. It's my exercise, my relaxation, my therapy. I almost never say I'm doing yard *work*, I refer to it as "playing in the yard" (or pond, whichever)

 

[rubyduby]

Here's the issue with a fully grown lily - there IS no soil left in the pot. It's ALLLLLLLLLL tuber. Trying to find space to cram anything down into the pot around the root growth is nigh unto impossible. I was finding myself just jamming the fertilizer down between the pot and the plant and hoping for the best. I've used aquatic tabs, I've used fertilizer sticks meant for tomatoes, I've used granular fertilizer - they ALL work. It's just a matter of application.

Lilies need to be divided frequently for them to perform up to their maximum potential. Divide them annually and you'll A. have an opportunity to feed them once per season in a fashion that is simple AND effective and B. have lots of tubers to share with other ponding friends! Or make new friends!

Hmmm. I guess I am going to have to hire a crane

 

[SarahT]

Hmmm. I guess I am going to have to hire a crane

OK, I'm slow this morning. I saw "crane" and thought "Heron?! Wha??" then came to my senses and got another cup of coffee.
One of the pond places here uses a piece of 1/2" PVC that they jam down into the lily planter still in the pond and drops the fertilizer tab down the middle of the pvc, then covers the hole back up. I haven't tried it yet, but soon (in spring).
(As the GPF says, you may have to hire a crane, but herons volunteer.)

 

[brokensword]

you may have to hire a crane, but herons volunteer.

@addy1 ; can we have this tattooed across the forum banner??? Should definitely get more face time...!

 

[addy1]

I've tried the 'once per season' method with Osmocote & really wasn't thrilled with the results.

I have the lazy ponder issues, I have so many lilies something is always blooming and blooming a lot. So once a year works great for me. I used to go into the pond, groom, pick off dying leaves, fertilize every 2-3 weeks, then one year did not have the time, did not notice any difference in the blooming..................so.............once a year grooming and fertilizing

 

[420benz]

OK Got it.i bought a pair of wadders.After I vacuum the bottom I will lift them out and fertilize them. My other question is (what kind of pills and how many per plant.)