Repotting hardy lilies

pinon ponder

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Hi! Do any of you pot up your hardy lilies in wide containers? I bought two new lilies today and they really need repotting. They are in gallon containers with lots of roots coming out the bottom holes. I was told they would do better and grow faster in wide pots.

Also, I have sandy soil so not sure if I should mix something into it to keep it from escaping out the bottom holes. Any thoughts?

TIA, Diana
 

addy1

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Get some cheap oil pans from walmart, also some of the red bag kitty litter, pure clay around 2.50 or so.

If yours are growing good, just put them in the new pot, if any roots look dead, clip them off, or any tuber feels mushy cut it off also.

give them some plant tabs, or tomato fertilizer sticks.

from the article below

A new plant will likely be pot-ready, but one you overwintered may need some light pruning. In either case, remove any old leaves and thick, fleshy roots. Leave only emerging leaves and buds, and newer, thin roots.

http://www.gardenideas.com/water_gardening/water_lily.html
 

addy1

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laughing jw, did not even think about that
 

pinon ponder

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Thanks, Addy! Oil pans - what a great idea! And I have used the tomato spikes before so will do so again.

Maybe a dumb question, but should I cut some holes in the oil pan bottoms, like the nursery pots have?

Also, the new pond is 32" to 3 ft. deep. Is it ok to set the oil pans on the bottom of the pond or should I elevate them on something? One has a bloom and I know that it shouldn't go under water but the other one just has a few new shoots that look like they will be buds eventually.
 

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No holes in the pans and you can set them up on something so the first of the pads can reach the surface of the pond and when they get longer you can lower them little by little.
 

pinon ponder

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Thanks, J.W. Will do just that. I think I will gradually increase the pot size for now. I bought some plant stands at Lowes that are about 15" high and planned on using them for height for now. The fish are too small to knock them over.

So what do you do if there are buds not opened and some that are? Sacrifice some blooms for the sake of water depth? Am I making sense?
 

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You don't want all the leaves below water line, the buds will grow until out of the water. When I pot one, if there are leaves, I make sure the leaves that were already floating stay floating. new ones will grow until out of the water. Then I start lowering the plant. Once I have overwintered the lily it is just placed where it is going to grow and the leaves, buds head for the surface.
 

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If you want to enjoy those blooms then just place the pot so the open blooms don't go down under. The other ones that aren't open will just sprawl across the water and then when those bloomed ones die you can lower the pot.
 

pinon ponder

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Ok, that's what I'll do because I really am enjoying the blooms. Thanks for all the help!

I didn't have any lilies in the old pond because it was mostly in shade so not much bloomed. The new pond is mostly in sun so I'm trying the hardy lilies. I have three that I've bought in gallon pots and one that I bought as a tuber at Lowes. The tuber I planted in that tiny pebble type pond medium and it's doing really well but I am concerned that as the fish grow they will knock it over and then I'll have a big ol mess of that pebbly stuff on the pond floor. Yuck! I will repot it, too, with the kitty litter.

Kitty litter, oil pans, milk crates. I wonder if the folks at Wally World roll their eyes. :lol:

Diana
 

addy1

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They thought I had a ton of cats when I bought 10 bags of kitty litter, and 15 oil pans, and went back for more
 

pinon ponder

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addy1 said:
They thought I had a ton of cats when I bought 10 bags of kitty litter, and 15 oil pans, and went back for more

LOL! I bet they did! I guess the oil pans would make ok litter boxes. And a lot cheaper than the "real" kind. I love repurposing things, as I've noticed many of you do, too.
 
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If you repot them, try to push the old part of the tuber as close to the side as possible. Giving the growing tip more room to spread. Hardies grow laterally. Just a heads up if you didn't know. Also leave some of the large roots, these are the anchor roots to keep it from floating.

And if the plant stands are those metal ones(have some on the porch), make sure they have the little rubber boots on them if you have a liner so they don't puncture it.
 

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Metal one's? I thought you weren't supposed to put metal that could rust in your pond cuz it could hurt the fish and water quality :lol:
 

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