Redoing my lilys

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My lilys haven't done well, small, yellowing leaves. So after reading up here I see that I should have put them into kitty litter in a pan. I am doing so, but how deep in the litter should the crown be planted? and how deep should the litter be in the pot? I don't want to have to redo them for a few yrs. if possible. My pond is 2-3' deep, what depth will be best to sink the pot of tubers and clay litter? Is there still time this season for them to put out new leaves, it won't freeze here until late Oct-mid Nov. Thanks!
Barb
 
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I put mine in with the tubers pointing down, growing tips above the kitty litter and at the edge of the pan. I generally plant two to a pot, directly across from each other.

The depth is kind of dependent on the variety. Most of mine are at 2.5 feet but I have one that likes to be just a foot under the water - it's a dwarf variety.

And if the weather stays warm, you should indeed get pads and blossoms. Toss some fertilizer in with them when you re-pot them - they are heavy feeders!
 

Mmathis

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But, you don’t need to use a deep pot! They are shallow rooters! I made the mistake of using a deep pot one year, thinking “a deeper pot would give the roots more room to grow”.........and when I pulled it up to re-pot........all the planting media below the tuber was rancid, horrible, gross!
 
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But, you don’t need to use a deep pot! They are shallow rooters! I made the mistake of using a deep pot one year, thinking “a deeper pot would give the roots more room to grow”.........and when I pulled it up to re-pot........all the planting media below the tuber was rancid, horrible, gross!

Good point! The pots that they use when they come from the nursery are frequently the wrong kind. All of mine came in 10 inch deep nursery pots with holes in the bottom - wrong on both counts! Shallow pans (@addy1 got us all hooked on the oil pans from Walmart) work best. You can buy special lily pots, but they are more expensive than the plain old oil pans. I even have one of mine planted in a plastic dish pan, like you would use in your sink to wash dishes.
 
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Thanks for the advice, I will let you know how they do in cat litter in a shallow but wide pan. One more question, does the pan or pot need holes in it? I want lilies that look like others I see pictured here! Next year I may try a Lotus.
Barb
 
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No holes - the roots will find their way out if the pot has holes.

Fertilizer is probably the most important element if you want beautiful lilies. The most controllable element anyway - weather plays a role, too as they really like it warm and sunny.
 
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@addy1 advised me to get a couple of "oil pans" from Walmart to plant the roots she sent me, she said they're wider than hanging baskets (I was going to use) and the Lily can stay there longer.
 
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Oh dang... I should have taken pictures this past spring when I re-planted all of mine!

Honestly my lilies have been nothing spectacular this year. I cut them all WAY back and repotted them all at once. Usually I do them in shifts so I always have one or two that are really producing. Then my fish decided it was fun to keep pulling them out of the pots, so they've taken some time to get started.

@addy1 - have you ever snapped a photo of your lilies when you've repotted? I probably haven't just because it's such a dirty job I don't want my camera involved!
 
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OK - this is an unnecessarily long video (if it were up to me, all YouTube videos would be under 5 minutes - who has that much time to watch these things!?!), but this is one that I watched when I was first learning how to divide and repot my lilies. They are using the actual lily pots, but the basic idea is the same:

 

addy1

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I usually put a 1/4 of osmocote on the bottom of the pan then kitty litter. I used some organic stuff that a guy talked me into, my lilies are doing like yuck,.............and the deer are yanking out of the pots eating the leaves and the bog plants are to healthy so not many nutrients left for them I really need to get in the pond and fertilize if it stops raining. Today was sunny but we had other things we had to take care.
 

addy1

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I don't want to have to redo them for a few yrs. if possible.
If you cut them back hard you might get two years before grooming. I have some that need it every year they grow, so well.
 
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What do you do when you “cut them back hard”. Remove all the stems and leaves? Does it matter where you cut?
 

addy1

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What do you do when you “cut them back hard”. Remove all the stems and leaves? Does it matter where you cut?
I go from huge tubers and cut them back to a few smaller ones. The roots get chopped also. If I groom in the fall I do cut off any large leaves, flower stems. Leave the tiny leaves alone.

As long as you have a growing eye, i.e. some leaves stems even if tiny, they will grow. I have never had a lily die. Even with the deer eating the leaves and yanking them out of their pots.
 
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Thanks for all the helpful advice, I just did the job and hope for some nice green pads soon, blooms would be icing on the cake. I will let you all know how they do. I used the cheap WalMart clay litter, only $4 for 25 lbs. And put the fert. in like the video showed. Used Osmocote.
Barb
 

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