Water lilly question

[robertmathern]

I finally found somewhere it was legal to take some water illies here in florida well not completely legal it was a state park but they were tredging out a boat ramp and tareing out the water lillies so the park ranger said I could have all I wanted. I took 2 plants with about 4 -6 leaves on them and a couple flowers. The root ball on these thing are about three time the size of the plant. My question is can I trim the roots down with out affecting the plant. Also do they have to be planted or can I let them float in the water.

 

[fishin4cars]

Your best bet is to plant them, I wouldn't cut the roots off much if any, If there are a few super long ones then cut them back to the rest of the main bunch of roots. Plant in a fairly large 2-3 gallon pot. you can plant in aquatic planting media, Sand, or 100% pure clay kitty litter. Plant 4-6" below the water surface, leave the leaves until you see new growth. as a new leaf grows up cut the worst looking or longest leaf off, this will help the plant grow more to it's container and you pond. If you have koi mention this as I can instruct you on how to protect the plant somewhat so that the Koi don't dig and make a mess in the pot and pond. Goldfish this will be fine.

 

[robertmathern]

OK thank so sand is ok to use. I have alot of bags of sand that says it came from the Swanee river. How do you keep th koi frome digging I have 2 in there. Would gravel in the pot be ok to use.

 

[fishin4cars]

Plant your lily where the crown (where all the leaves and flower buds meet) about a inch to a inch and a half above the sand. Get some Lava rock or golf ball size river rock and lay a single layer on the sand as close to the crown as possible and work your way out to the edges of the pot. Koi will not dig if they can't pick up the rocks, if you use pea gravel once the koi are big enough that can get it in their mouths they will remove it out and get to the sand and dig the whole lily out. also wait to feed your lily until there are at least a half a dozen new leaves growing on the surface, then start feeding once a month for more blooms.

 

[robertmathern]

Thank fishin Its done now however I didnt have any 3 gallon pots so I used some small about 3 gallon buckets hope they work they dont have any holes to let water flow through them. If not I will run to HD in the morning. But I did have to cut the roots back a pit or they would not fit and a 5 gallon bucket

 

[fishin4cars]

I don't use pots with holes, Quite often use dollor store brand oil change tubs. They have a wide opening and do good for younger plants. On a bucket a falf a bucket should work fine.
I doubt cutting the roots hurt the plant much more than the workers did when they pulled it up. By that size they are pretty tough. 90% I have tried to pull up and replant like that survived.

 

[addy1]

my lilies are planted in oil pans, no holes, they are doing great

 

[robertmathern]

Wow why didnt I think of that. I have a bunch of new oil pans that were in my shop out back when I bought the house. About 5 gallons but are wide istead of tall witch judgeing by the roots are what it likes. But all in all I think its good found out by trimming the roots back a little I got 3 lilly pads two where just tingled together pretty tight. I also when ahead and potted all my other plants all 2 of them. Not sure what they are called put when I got them from my lfs she had them attached to a rock with a rubber band. The kois have nibbled away there roots to numbs so I stuck them in small pots with river rock so they cant eat them now. All I need are some aerating floating plants and I think thats all my small pond can handle maybe I few small plants in my water fall. The lilly pads take up about 1/4 of the pond

 

[addy1]

The oil pans work great, low and don't tip over easy. The lily roots do like to spread out. Gives them room to grow new tubers also.

 

[taherrmann4]

Last year when I pulled my lilly out of the pond to transplant it to a bigger pot I jus took it out of the one pot (it no longer had any dirt in the pot) and just put it in the new bigger pot without any dirt or planting media stuck a rock on top to keep it from floating. This year it is my biggest lilly in the pond.

 

[addy1]

Neat taherrmann! I need clay for plant tabs not enough bio load yet to let them just live in the water.