I'm curious what others thoughts are but I feel like I must be doing something wrong when I plant lilies. I ordered a few hardy lilies from texaswaterlilies.com a few weeks ago. They arrived in 2 days and looked great. I put them in water deep enough so the couple pads that were on them were on the surface. I laid the tuber on the mud and held it down with a large staple but not tight. Since planting the leaves died and/or disappeared. I put a tomato cage around them with tighter mesh fence around to keep the couple mallards that we had move in away. I'm not sure if I needed to do that. Is it typical for the pads to die back on a transplant and if so when would you expect to see more? One tuber had no leaves but I haven't seen any sign of pads. The biggest fish are 2 to 3 inch bluegills and she'll crackers that were stocked last fall as inch or so. Am I just impatient? I have more coming to put in a couple other spots so if I'm doing something wrong it would be a help.

Thanks!

If you read the lily pond literature they suggest the proper way to plant a lily rhizome is to bury the root at an 45 degree angle in the dirt so the cut end is deepest and the growing tip just peeks above the sediment. I always do this first in some sort of large pot or small tub so I can see exactly what I am doing so I get it planted correctly. Then just submerge the pot in 12" of water until new leaves emerge. With several new leaves I keep nudging the pot into deeper water of 2-3ft.

When the plant is growing well I transplant the entire root system where ever I want it in the pond. Most all bare root rhizomes arrive with at a bare minimum a tiny shoot or sprout at the growing tip. Without that amount of visible growth, I would take a picture of the sickly rhizome and send it to the lily seller for a free replacement. Roots with 1 to a few leaves are often how they are commonly shipped. I've had the shipped leaves die and new shoots sprout toward the surface in 5-10 days. It might be a good idea to call the supplier and see what they say and also ask about their replacement policy.

When I used to sell hardy hybrid lilies the poorest success was always with customers that planted bare root rhizomes directly into the pond bottom. Most often poor success is because one cannot see what you are doing underwater and careless planting technique.

Bill,

My lilies came without a rhizome. They had multiple string like roots. Plant the same way?

Edit: They are yellow lilies and came with 10 to 12 inch leaves.

I think I fall into the didn't do a good job planting based on what you describe. I was thinking of planting the new ones in peat pots and putting that in the pond so I know I got the rhizome right. What do you think?

Pot planting first usually provides the highest success rate of them growing. There are four basic types of rhizomes for water lilies. One of them is the "multiple string" root type. his one tends to be a little more susceptible to root rot.

I got a mix of odorato and marliac. The odorato seems like most of the videos I've seen but I'm not as sure with the marliac. I got a few packs of the rectangle peat pots that are for 10 seedlings. I just cut out the dividers in the centers to make them more of an open square. I'll put pond muck in there and plant the rhizomes then set them in the clay pond bottom. My thinking is that I'll get them planted correctly in a pot the they will just grow through so I don't have to disturb the roots again. I hope this works.

I got 15 new lilies at the end of last week and planted them in the pond. I put them in peat pots so I potted them correctly and then set the pots down in the pond bottom. I'm pretty confident I got them planted correctly. I had some tomato cages that I wrapped fencing around to protect the smaller lilies from ducks or geese. Between Saturday and today, every pad on every lily is gone. What could be tearing my lilies up? I at least figured if something came after them, the ones in cages would have been ok. The opening of the fence is maybe 1.5-2" square. It extends down a few inches into the water but I didn't have a top.

Any thoughts? Is there any hope for my lilies at this point?

That is a Bill C. question and hopefully he will see it. FWIW I have read that new pond plants need to acclimate to a pond if the water is significantly different from the water they came from. It is not unusual for all existing growth to die off. New growth will come from the rhizomes/roots (if they are still there.) I have no idea if this is what is happening with you. Again, hopefully Bill C. or somebody else with first hand experience will chime in. FWIW I planted my lilies 10 days ago or so and they are surviving but not thriving.

Good Luck.

Bill D.

I checked a few and the rhizomes are there. In a lot of cases I can see the stems for the pads but just no pads. Cut right off it looked like. In other cases I couldn't see either. If its animals, maybe I can fence better? I have a couple mallards that come by. One was thinking about coming in this afternoon till he saw me. There have been 2 geese but I haven't seen them the last couple times I was there. There are deer as well that I know of.

I have been measuring pH and it's normally around 7 to 7.2.

Again, FWIW I have ducks (mallards and woodies mostly), geese, herons, deer, etc visiting my pond daily and none have shown an interest in the lilies. How far from shore did you plant them and in how deep of water? Mine are about 3 feet from shore in around 18 to 24 inches of water.

Wild guess now. Are you sure you don't have any veggie eating critters in your pond like muskrat? IMO a fence extending a couple inches below the water will provide no protection against a muskrat.

I've had geese eat the plants that I've planted, but I didn't cage them.

If you can see the stems but not the leaves, are the ends rotted off or cut? If cut, I'd go with smaller mesh to exclude whatever is doing it.

I've never seen a muskrat and they aren't supposed to be in central Virginia. The stems look cut I think. When I pull on a stem they fall right out though which I thought was odd. I know the ducks have been moving around all the straw I have on the dam scratching at the seeds and new oat shoots. I'm just not sure what I'm doing. This makes nearly 20 lilies that have had this happen.

I have then in 1-2 feet of water about 3-4 feet from shore in a shallow end of the pond.

We did just as Bill Cody above suggested and we have had 100% success.


The only thing I have not done is dump them from their tote or pots. I expect them to be root bound this year and will do my best to dump them out.

Used good clay top soil with some fertilizer in a rubber made tote. Planted and placed in shallow water as they grew we moved them deeper and deeper. Now they are placed at 8 feet and come up every year right after the toads are done.

Cheers Don.

Not seen Muskrat in S central VA either - although we have plenty of Beavers.
Good luck on getting it figured out because its my next step and going to need some experienced advice.

I planted some and crafish ate the new tender sprouts and the undveloped root sytem could not generate fast enough.

I have planted some new ones in conatiners, I have them in a kiddie pool to let the root sytem spread and mature and get some good growth. Once they are healthy and established I will move the conatiners to the pond.

Seems to be working well so far, they are filling out and look good.

Lowes had some cultivated hardy hybrids $8 each, not bad. was bare root in a peat type mesh bag with rocks to make them sink. I believe market for koi ponds.

I have always suspected that crayfish eat water lilies. Is that a known fact?

When crayfish are abundant and other foods are in short supply crayfish will eat new sprouts of water lilies. Crayfish at very high density can eliminate water lilies in a pond. Others browers such as turtles and grass carp can also eat water lilies, although they often trim off the stems and probably do not eat much of the plant. In bare new ponds with little vegetation water fowl can also damage lily stems and leaves. Rotting stems at the base could be due to improper planting technique by burying the root too deep; a common problem in direct pond planting.

I know there are crayfish but I don't know what type. I don't see them everywhere though. I accidentally dug one up last year is the only reason I know they're there. I do have water fowl but they don't seem to bother iris or the rushes I have planted. I just planted picklerweed and some more rushes and sedges so I'll see if something eats them. I see no signs of the leaves which makes me think they were eaten. I haven't seen any turtles but I would think they would be around. Next time I'll try them in plastic pots in a kiddie pool or completely fenced I guess.

Update: I found 1 pad had come back to the surface in one of the caged lilies. A day later I gad another pad on one that was not caged. Those pads were still there 2 days later. I dug up 5 rhizomes that I could find since they were under cages. A couple had the start of a pad so I potted them in styrofoam coolers from the dollar store back at the house. Most of the 5 now have at least one pad. I'll let them get established then cut the sides off the coolers and set them in the pond and just let them spread from there without disturbing the roots. Does this sound reasonable? Maybe my issues have been just chemistry shock on the plants? I hope anyway. I'll update with any other changes.

Idea is pretty good. Hope it works.

I ended up having to cage the lilies in tomato cages wrapped in fine mesh plastic fencing folded over the top. I'm 99% sure it's deer eating the. If I move pads outside the cage they are gone in a day or two. If I pound a few metal posts in the ground just in the water line and run that wite used in electric fencing to make a quick and dirty fence does that seem like it would deter them? It would probably be a 5 ft fence with 4 rows of that wire. I was thinking of just running it in front of the area with lilies turning it into the water at the edges but not surround the lilies from the middle of the pond side. I don't know how deep a deer will wade but I was thinking they wouldn't wade out in the 2 to 3 ft water.

Just some side thoughts. Some of the vegetation I plant are in deeper water. I place the roots in a clay ball and drop them in water too deep to hand plant. If any of your hardies can grow in deeper water it might keep them away from deer if they may be causing you problem. I know hardy lilies are a little expensive to just be tossing them in like that. I planted yellow's, pink's and red's 15 years ago. The yellows disappeared after 5 years, the pink's didn't show a flower for the first time this year but the red's are still going strong. My pink was Pink Sensation if I remember right and with 15 years of growth the pads were only about 7 feet in diameter spread. The red's about 20 feet dia.

I too have deer problems. Thorny honey locust branches placed over the water lilies after planting has worked very well for me. By the time the branches rot away, the plants are large enough to stand up to the deer.

If I can get these established, at least the deer are more than willing to help me keep the lilies under control! Glass half full anyway.

Wow, never heard of deer jumping into water to eat. Mine will put a ladder up to the roof if I planted a new apple tree up there, but into a pond?

Probably a deterrent around here is the mud. Two steps into the water and they would be head over heels.

The painted turtles are the problem here, they eat off the lower stems of the lilies leaving the leaves to float.

I had originally thought of painted turtles but I have never seen any on the logs I have around, not that they aren't there. The first cages I made didn't have a top on them since I thought it was something small like a duck getting out there or a turtle. They got eaten right out of the cages. My next iteration had the top closed too. I was also worried turtles were swimming under the cage since the fence part went just below the water. When I closed off the top I extended the fencing all the way to the bottom. That worked but now the lilies are crowded in the cage.

The mud isn't to bad except in a few spots. I had the back dug out some when we built the pond last year but we didn't compact it any more than the track hoe driving around moving stuff around. Some of the mud is deep and I'll sink half a foot or so. The lilies are only in 1.5 foot or so of water so they don't have to go out that far. I put up a long fence today and took some pads out of the cages behind it to see if the deer will go around in 2.5 to 3ft water to get to the lilies. I also uncovered a couple and covered them with deer fencing instead using sticks to hold it about a foot above the water in a bigger circle. I left most of the lilies in cages while I see which works better. I moved my game camera closer to some I uncovered so hopefully it will catch them thinking about it or trying to get around. We'll see how clever they are.

The game camera should identify the lily vandals.

I once watched a whitetail eating submerged plants like a moose. I did not know they did that either. We had deer in a very small pond near the house that left the water muddy like a pig wallow. We used a motion activated sprinkler to cure them of that.