need to repot water lillies and a couple unidentified plants growing in shallows . they are currently in mud and i'm thinking i'd like to just rinse them off and replant them in pea gravel . i'm OLD and uncomfortable doing this any thoughts or suggestions are more than welcome, they would be greatly appreciated . . . thanks . . .peace....ps. water lilies have filled pots to the point it was difficult last year trying to find a spot to insert a fertilizer '' pellet'' .
Repotting pond plants
- Thread starter 2vettes
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Water lilies, when I repot, sharp knife, yank them out of the pot, cut off some good growth tip, stick back in kitty litter. They are tough plants. Just don't cover the growth tip. Sometimes I garden hose off the old litter start with new litter, sometimes lol. If the pot is full of roots I change it out to new litter. I have heard of others planting in pea gravel.
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I have arthritis in my hands and can’t use a knife or manual saw, so I use a battery operated reciprocating saw to split my plants. You might need to find a youngster to lift them out of the water for you first.
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I plant my water lilies and pond irises in sand. Makes it easy to put in fertilizer tablets and it doesn't get sour as quickly as clay or kitty litter.
The other plants are planted in river rocks, larger than pea gravel. My goldfish dig out the pea gravel if the surface is below the water, but don't mess with the larger rocks. The plants do well either way.
One problem is that the pots get heavy with rocks in them. I, too, am older than I would like to admit and pulling heavy pots out of the water is not something I do very well anymore. I have taken to putting kitchen scrubbies in the bottom half of the pots to cut back on the weight. Plants are still fine. Mostly they just need something to hold them in place and keep them from tipping over in the water so the rocks and scrubbies work fine.
The other plants are planted in river rocks, larger than pea gravel. My goldfish dig out the pea gravel if the surface is below the water, but don't mess with the larger rocks. The plants do well either way.
One problem is that the pots get heavy with rocks in them. I, too, am older than I would like to admit and pulling heavy pots out of the water is not something I do very well anymore. I have taken to putting kitchen scrubbies in the bottom half of the pots to cut back on the weight. Plants are still fine. Mostly they just need something to hold them in place and keep them from tipping over in the water so the rocks and scrubbies work fine.