my waterlilies...HELP!

[andi_mn]

hi from minnesota. (where winter is Never going to end)   i am desperate need of advice concerning my waterlilies.
my pond is too shallow to leave my lilies in all winter so i take them out and store them in the basement until spring.
this has Always been a bit of a problem for me, how to store them? i have tried a few different methods, none of which are reliable. this year i washed them all off and put them in a container with some leaves over and have tried to keep them somewhat moist. i should have checked on them sooner but what i have now is some moldy waterlilies. wondering what to do if it's not already too late? am thinking about trying to scrup the mold off, maybe dry them just a bit and then put them in a container Covering them entirely with water. my big question..is there anything household type that i can treat them with to kill the mold? will they just rot (had that happen when i tried shredded newspaper and plasting bags one year, not a pretty picture) if i put them in water now?
even aside from the $$, i'm attached to some of these lilies, i hate the thought that i killed them with neglect. what would you do?
andi

[Julles]

Well, I live in south Texas and our lilies stay in the pond all winter, and even bloom most of that time, so I don't have any answers for you.  But I wanted to say "hi."  Someone with overwintering experience will come along and give you some replies.  I know we have discussed this many times, so if you feel like doing some scrolling or searching, you may come up with answers, too.

[SueSTx]

Are the lilies hardy or tropical?

I live in zone 6 and we've had as much as 4" of ice on my 15" of water and my hardy lilies have had small leaves on them all winter.  They are in tanks with no pumps/filters.  I just break the ice up when it gets soft so it can melt on sunny afternoons.  I've never frozen solid or lost a lily to ice.  One winter I even set some tubs of hardy lilies out of the tank and after several light freezes, they still were trying to grow.  I think they're tougher than we think they are.

I have used a bleach solution to treat new lilies before adding them to my tanks.  It might work for a slight moldy problem.  Are the tubers soft and smelly? If you are fond of these lilies, it might be worth a try.  Clean them up and pot them up in small pots or margarine tubs and put in a plastic tot with an aquarum heater and see what happens...a jump start will give you blooms sooner.

This is what I'm gonna do with my tropicals that I've been storing dry in onion bags.  If they sprout...good for me...and if not, I need to treat them like annuals anyway.  Nothing lost.

[Kittyzee]

I live in Ohio and I don't have many lilies, the ones I have are hardies and they stay in the pond all winter.  I trim all leaves off in late fall and sink them back to the bottom of the pond until spring.  Once it starts warming up (whenever THAT may be) they start putting out green shoots striving for the top of the water for SUN!  (Just like ME!)   

[Rad Michelle]

are they tropical or hardy ? can you give us pics of the lilies / mold

[Jonna]

You might try regular listerine, orchid growers use it to kill fungus and mold.  My other thought is hydrogen peroxide, a soak and then rinse and submerge in water.   

[karen J]

I have the same question- tropical or hardy lilies? What zone are you in and how deep is your pond? I have a raised pond and my hardies come back every year even though I'm almost sure the thing freezes solid (zone 5) and it's only 15" deep. The lowest temp I've recorded here is -18F.

As to what to do now, I think Jonna has a great idea... Listerine! 

[Desertponder]

Whether tropical or hardy, you can store them in damp sand.

Since I repot in the early fall and no one wants to buy or trade lilies at that time of the year, I overwinter my extra hardies in sand.
Use clean play sand. I take ziploc freezer bags and fill it about 1/3 to 1/2 full of damp sand. BARELY DAMP SAND. If the sand is too wet they will rot.
Clean all the tubers of dirt, old roots and pads. Run them under water until they are good and clean working any debris off with your hands. Let them sit on the counter or table and dry for a few hours then place them in the bag of sand and cover with more damp sand. Close the bag, label it and place the bags in a dark container such as a styrofoam cooler, solid color plastic tote, etc. Then place them in a dark cool area where they won't freeze such as a basement or garage. Some people dust the tubers with anti-fungal before they place them in the sand but I never have done it and I have yet to end up with any with mold or fungus.
I'm on my second winter overwintering my trops and extra hardies this way. The trops sometimes make it but the hardies always survive just fine. I checked on mine yesterday and they are all still good.