Lily question

[RobAmy]

I was wondering if I need to separate the lilies. I have a few that are growing over the sides of the swallow pots I have. I do not mind if they spread like that at all and almost seems what would happen in nature. Just did not now if that is good or bad for the lily. They seemed to do good last year and flowered well. I prefer they just do there thing and then just thin them when needed. The fish do not to seem to eat the out growth at all.

 

[Tula]

If they're still blooming well, I wouldn't worry...leave them be. Some mine weren't blooming well, so I divided and repotted to give them more vigor.

Honestly, I'm thinking of skipping it this year, it's a lot of work

 

[addy1]

Mine do that a lot. They grow great, the roots out of the pots collects a lot of debris, mud and stuff.

The biggest issue is they will get real heavy. I had one with roots out of pot by about 1.5 feet. I could not lift it without hubbies help. I groom mine around every 2-3 years. I do have one that grows out of the pot every summer. I keep a eye on that one.

 

[Lisak1]

What @addy1 said is the only thing I would be concerned about - they can quickly get overgrown and you're left with something that has to be hauled out with a truck!

 

[Tula]

I've divided and repotted mine annually for the last 3 years.....this year I'm taking a break. Heck at this rate it could be June before it'd be warm enough - ha !

 

[Lisak1]

I did think I'd need to divide a couple of mine this year @Tula but I think you're right... by the time the water warms up enough for them to start to grow, it'll be fall!

 

[RobAmy]

Thanks for the input. I agree this weather is just crazy this year. Might actually get some snow this Friday. Tomorrow in the 30's.

 

[Gordo33]

I have pulled and thinned some lily pots and have left a couple to run wild and just do their thing. Last year I could not tell the difference between those that were trimmed back and those left to grow huge rhizomes outside the pot. The one constant is ferts every month from the time they started hitting the ponds surface. Getting the pots out of he pond to fert the over growing ones was a tremendous challenge.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

With my still-limited experience, there's good and bad to letting lilies grow out of their pot. Mine grew exceptionally better once they started escaping the pots, but the longer you let them go, the more difficult it'll be to keep them under control. I let mine grow out of their pots for one full season, and they looked amazing. I decided to cut and re-pot them the following spring, and it wasn't very easy. All the roots were entangled with every other lily, but that was also after three years of total growth.

Now I'm just sitting here thinking about how great the pads looked.

I've seen a video of someone who never controlled their lilies, they just let them go and they completely covered the pond's bottom. Honestly, it looked great, and the guy was happy with it. I don't know if anything negative would come of that down the road, other than making it impossible to clean the bottom of the pond. Although I imagine all those roots would use up a lot of nutrients. Hmm...

 

[Lisak1]

Those do look awfully good @JBtheExplorer ! Very natural looking. What could go wrong?

 

[ShawnInfirmity]

If I may ask a question about dividing lilies.. I read on another post here that you cut the rhizome horizontally, but what does that look like? It sounds like you cut them in half along the long section but I would’ve thought you would divide them with a vertical or angled cut through the middle somewhere?

 

[Jhn]

It is how you thought. Cut across (short way) or perpendicular to the rhizome, leaving the growing tip.

 

[Tula]

It is how you thought. Cut across (short way) or perpendicular to the rhizome, leaving the growing tip.

Agreed @Jhn is correct

 

[Gordo33]

Also make show the rhizome has roots

 

[Lisak1]

You don't need roots on the rhizome @Gordo33 - you can cut the tiniest piece and plant it. As long as it has a growing tip it will grow.

EDIT: Let me clarify - the rhizome IS the root. But you don't need any of the thin root growths that come out of the rhizome.