My first time repotting lilies

[Jonna]

I've just been sticking them in the pond as they come but they are overflowing their pots so I repotted 5 today.  I got those clear plastic thingies (technical term) that are used to catch runoff from house plants.  They were pretty cheap, they are thin and a bit wobbly but I like that they are transparent and wider than they are shallow - no holes in the bottom of course. 

The first one I pulled up was really root bound and had a lot of small potato looking things growing off the roots.  Some of them had leaves and roots coming from them so I separated those and put all of them plus the main plant back in the same pot but with a lot more room.  I used compost on the bottom of the pot mixed with Osmacote and an inch or two of pond soil/clay gravel on top.  I am really hoping that the compost doesn't leak out as the only time I had a bad algae bloom is when I put a pot in the pond with compost and holes on the bottom. 

Here's what the roots looked like separated out:



All of those came from one 5" pot, you can see the roots were all wrapped around inside.  I used the hose to clean off the dirt and pull out some of the potato tubers.

Here it is repotted, I stuck the little tubers around the outside of the pot not covering the ones without leaves.



While I was rooting around in the pond, I found a lily pot that had fallen down behind the papyrus and I hadn't noticed it.  It had a couple leaves on it but the tuber was long and way outside of the pot.  Here it is after I pulled it out.


I cut the tip of the tuber off that had the leaves as well as roots and planted that separately but in the same pot with the rest of the tuber which only had roots.  Hope it makes it, I have no idea what it is.

I took some pics after I put the pots back in the pond but those greedy little wakin (and Roy the Koi) make it hard to take pictures of anything but them.


I distracted them by throwing some food off to the right and got a pretty good pic of one in shallower water.


The plastic catch pots worked pretty well although they are a bit flimsy, carrying them full of water is touchy as the sides start to bulge out.  I had to weight several of them down with rocks also, they aren't very heavy.

I didn't repot the Silver Mist or Afterglow because they are still blooming.  I guess I'll do them in the spring.  They are in bigger pots and I just bought them in May or June so they should be able to make it a year. 

If I did something glaringly horrible, please point it out as I still have time to redo it if I need to.

[JoshS]

Looks like you did fine.  My only suggestion for next time would be to mix your compost with some heavy soil.  Sometimes lilies don't like to root into pure compost.

Also, next time get some cheap plastic dish pans.  They are shallow and wide, but much sturdier than those liners you used.

Those little round tubers from the tropical will probably all sprout...you'll have a pot full of lilies!

The plant that is growing horizontally is a hardy lily.

[Ky Kim]

I agress with Josh, if you want a shallow pan use a dish pan or and oil pan.  They're much sturdier.  Maybe some heavier rocks on top.  What zone or location are you in.  You may not have needed to have fertilized until spring.

Kimberly

[Jonna]

I'm in zone 10b I believe, probably only shared by Death Valley and a small section near Yuma, AZ    I'm hoping they will grow and bloom through the winter which is a much less intense time of the year.  I know that tropicals like it warm but I'm not sure even they want it this warm.  I shade the pond by pulling shade cloth curtains during the summer and still the water can get close to 85*, I'm pretty sure it stays around 70* during the winter.  The nights do cool off here in winter, down into the 40's but no frost and no freeze and the days are generally pretty warm.

[Jonna]

   Yippee!  There are tiny little leafs coming up from the "potato' tubers that were bare before.  I didn't kill them!! Yay!