Idea for growing bare root water lilies

[HTH]

It is a riot in the spring as long as the natural nutrients hold out. After that you can more or less dial in the number of blooms by adding nutrients to the water.

This video is from early spring 2011. We can tell that because the iris are in bloom. By mid summer the only open water is the bit where I feed.

With the cleaning etc that we are in the middle of I do not expect to have that same display without fertilizing.

It is interesting that the deposits on the bottom are up to six inches where there are lily roots and non at all in other places. The only water movement is from the air. I expected it to be much more even and am amazed by the large mud balls they can collect in a liner bottom pond.

 

[addy1]

Bet your fish love it! good coverage, snacks and pretty

 

[HARO]

The stink should be exactly the same as you have with a veggie filter.

I don't know what kind of a set-up you use in your veggie filter, Humble, but mine simply does not stink! Water circulates through it constantly, and it smells like any other area of the pond. If it stinks, it's NOT a filter, it's a SEPTIC TANK!
John

 

[HTH]

I don't know what kind of a set-up you use in your veggie filter, Humble, but mine simply does not stink! Water circulates through it constantly, and it smells like any other area of the pond. If it stinks, it's NOT a filter, it's a SEPTIC TANK!
John

Please call me HTH or Howard. I don't have a veggie filter. Certainly you are right and I stuck my foot in it. Faulty logic. We all have the right to do that now and again.

The stink smell from a potted lily is not the same as a bare root that has collected muck and gone anaerobic. Or is it? They both are anaerobic

 

[HARO]

Sorry, Howard, I meant no offence. I just thought that "Humble" had a nice ring to it. I'm from the "potted" school of thought. I like the idea of concentrating fertilizer right among the roots of a lily. Also, I've been doing it this way for well over 30 years now, and have divided and re-potted countless lillies. In all that time I've only had a few that stunk, and those were the ones that had died for some reason. :twocents:
John the Bumble

 

[HTH]

Not a problem John I was the one the goofed.

Bet your fish love it! good coverage, snacks and pretty

It seems they do. Yesterday I noticed a bird of prey sitting on a power pole. The local museum has a wire mesh over their pond to keep herons out. Up to now I have not seem them hang around here. I am thinking we need to be quick about getting the fish out once the plants are gone.

 

[addy1]

I know the sucker will come and visit, just matter of when. so the nets stay up, at least not real noticeable.

 

[pugle1]

Ok ... now I'm scared...lol. Haro (John) gave me some lilies last summer (thanks again for that ). Am I going to need to be worried about a 6000 lb root ball in my 600 gallon pond?....lol (kidding). The fact that they grow so big and can "jump the shark ... errrr... I mean pot" scares me. This is only season 3 for me .... season 2 for lilies. Do I need to regularly prune the roots? Mine are all potted.

 

[HTH]

It is best to examine the rhizome to see if it has reached the other end of the pot. Some people use rectangular trays or tubs like the ones used for oil changing for this reason.

If the rhizome has reached the other end divide it into two or more plants and repot.

 

[HTH]

I felt I should do a modified version of the pros and cons based on the discussion.

Pro's
1. No more stomping around the pond to fertilize the lilies.
2. No more repotting. When they grow too big you can cut off section(s) without removing the entire lily from the pond.
3. They will extract more nutrients from the water then the fish will generate in most cases. Very good water quality.
4. Do not have to worry about koi, coons, or dogs spilling dirt from pots into the pond.

Con's
1. To get good growth and blooms you have to add nutrients to the water. Could create bad water quality if not careful.
2. Faster growth resulting in large rhizomes.
3. The roots will collect solids which should have made their way to the filter. Bad if you like a very clean pond.

It may be of use to two groups of people
For people with lots of lilies.
it is less work to pour nutrients into the pond then it is to go around and push a lily tabs into pots.
It is less work to wade out and cut a rhizome back then it is to repot.

People with no other method of removing nitrates.
Think about using bare root lilies to improve their water quality. With the right mass of lilies you should get blooms and good water quality without fertilization. This is traditionally done with water hyacinths and other floating plants. But unless you can over winter them they must be purchased each year and may not reach adequate numbers until late in the year.

Next Issue
How to place a tag on a bare root lily. Thinking maybe poke a hole through the older part of the rhizome and us a zip tie or such to attach a tag. Any better ideas ?

 

[addy1]

I used fishing line with a plastic tag marked with a permanent marker, make sure the marker will stay on the item written on. Tie around the growing rhizome

 

[pugle1]

So far my little pond is not being overcome by monster lily rhyizomes. Bit I do think that in the next year or two that I'll need to start giving away or sacrificing sections of root. I was so pleased with last year's crop and i'm looking forward to all the blooms this year. Once again Haro ... Thanks! You made our pond a wonderful place!. The toads said so!

 

[HARO]

Glad I could help out a fellow ponder, Paul. :regular_waving_emot
John