bare root lilies

[CanadianPonder©]

I just wanted a review on doing this. I believe Derek had some good
points on the advantages of planting lilies bare root.

Some of my questions are :

How do you fertilize ?
What type of fertilizer to use ?
How do you keep them in place ?

Thanks ! :)

[DavidM]

CanadianPonder© wrote:
> I just wanted a review on doing this. I believe Derek had some good
> points on the advantages of planting lilies bare root.
>
> Some of my questions are :
>
> How do you fertilize ?
> What type of fertilizer to use ?
> How do you keep them in place ?
>
> Thanks ! :)

I've not got the answers, but thought I might add some questions:

My lilies have been producing their new shoots for about two weeks, they
are only 1" long at present. Would it be OK to remove all the soil and
go bare-root now? UK spring has just about sprung where I am in East Anglia.

How does the plant root in the wild, is it into the pond bed, or as a
mat on the surface?

Could the plant be weighted in a garden pond and allowed to grow
straight on the liner?

cheers
DavidM

[Derek Broughton]

CanadianPonder© wrote:

> I just wanted a review on doing this. I believe Derek had some good
> points on the advantages of planting lilies bare root.
>
> Some of my questions are :
>
> How do you fertilize ?

I don't.

> What type of fertilizer to use ?

See above :-)

> How do you keep them in place ?

I tend to wrap a bit of copper wire loosely around the lily and a rock. The
bigger the rock, the less often you have to divide the lily (because the
lily pads & stalks are bouyant enough to lift the rock off the pond bottom,
eventually). I use copper wire purely because I have large amounts of it
lying around at any time. It's not the best thing to be using in a pond
(copper being toxic to invertebrates).
--
derek

[Derek Broughton]

DavidM wrote:

> CanadianPonder© wrote:
>> I just wanted a review on doing this. I believe Derek had some good
>> points on the advantages of planting lilies bare root.
>>
>> Some of my questions are :
>>
>> How do you fertilize ?
>> What type of fertilizer to use ?
>> How do you keep them in place ?
>>
>> Thanks ! :)
>
> I've not got the answers, but thought I might add some questions:
>
> My lilies have been producing their new shoots for about two weeks, they
> are only 1" long at present. Would it be OK to remove all the soil and
> go bare-root now? UK spring has just about sprung where I am in East
> Anglia.

I'd not have a problem with that. I tend to do my dividing in spring when
the water's still too cold to be wading in - ie, probably about equivalent
to right now for you.
>
> How does the plant root in the wild, is it into the pond bed, or as a
> mat on the surface?

It'll root right into the bottom.

> Could the plant be weighted in a garden pond and allowed to grow
> straight on the liner?

Sure.
--
derek

[~ janj]

>I use copper wire purely because I have large amounts of it
>lying around at any time. It's not the best thing to be using in a pond
>(copper being toxic to invertebrates).

Since most ponds are on the alkaline side, probably not a problem. I'd
worry more about the ends, either stepping on it and puncturing my liner or
my foot. Ouch! ;o) ~ jan


~ jan/WA
Zone 7a