Topic: Dividing water lilies

[caroline7758]

Is there a preferred time of year to do this? The lily in our little pond has gone mad this year & the leaves are now sticking up out of the water.

[Svengali]

rather than start a new thread, do you mind if I join this one, & we can share the lilly experts between us?
I have the opposite problem, my three lillies are growing (a little), and producing flowers, but in general I am very disappointed with their progress. I have heard of lilly fertilizer sticks, but wading out in my pond to insert them, (see Pond Pictures) would be a major operation. Are they necessary or desirable?
I have put in about 20kg of limestone dust to try to bring the ph up, and this has done so, but is there anything else that I can do? (Can they become pot-bound, for instance? - my baskets are about 10" round.)

JeremyB

[grawrc]

caroline ours are like that too this year. I think it's all the sunshine. I shall wait till they die back and lift them then. Don't know if that's right but we've done it for the last 12 years. We have done it in the early spring too but the water is much colder then and so it's not a very pleasant job.

[silly billy]

No expert here but i always divided my lillies in early spring.I find that to be the best time as you can see the new shoots just starting to emerge.
Lillies always become pot bound most times mine needed a larger basket every year.Ever considered having soil in the bottom of the pond an planting them directly into that?Also size of lillies,amount of leaves will depend on the variety.

[grawrc]

I bottom plant but I find it too cold here in Scotland in spring so I do autumn. That way I can plant 2 or 3 from the original plant and keep the best

[Svengali]

How deep would my soil need to be?
JeremyB

[silly billy]

The soil would need to be 6-10 inches, which is fine if you take that into account before digging your pond but as you already have an established one i doubt you would have suficent spare depth.
I used to use washing up bowls for my lillies.

[chriszog]

Sven.
   I think that pot size is way too small. Lillies are very hungary plants I always re pot with slow release aquatic fertilizer and they seem to roar away.
Do it in the spring for best results.
Chris

[Svengali]

Will do that. I certainly only have enough mud in my pond to facilitate invertibrate & amphibian hibernation.

[Margaret]

My lilies definitely have not been listening to advice and have gone the opposite way.For years i cossetted them,fed them,repotted them etc.Then  by accident i left one of the pots on the bottom of the pond whereas i usually have them about halfway up and it did so well i left the rest on the bottom the next summer.Now they are all bursting out their pots,and some have little or no soil left.yet they are fantastic,flowering non stop,sometimes i have over 10 flowers at any one time from different plants .The leaves virtually cover the pond.I would never advocate neglecting anything but it seems to work well with mine!!

[Old Central]

Caroline

We (or rather OH) separated a very mature water lily we were given in April/May. Both have now flowered in their new homes.

HTH

OC

[moonbells]

I asked about the right time to split a lily the last time I was at a plant fair with water garden suppliers there. They said April-ish.

I've got a large bag of aquatic compost and a new basket ready :)

(Mine's a nymphaea pygmaea helvola, grows in an 18" plastic pot!!)

moonbells