Fertilizing lilies

[mgmine]

I need to fertilize the lilies but don't have any spikes or tabs on hand. For those that use everyday fertilizer what do you use, how much and how do you add it to the plants. Do you have any problems with it in the pond? I'm thinking Osmocote but I'm not sure if it's safe.

 

[mrsclem]

I use osmocote when I first pot up my lilies. Not sure how you could use it with lilies that are already growing. Just use a tablespoon mixed in with kitty litter in bottom of pots.

 

[j.w]

You can take the Osmocote and wrap it in a small piece of paper towel and jab a hole down into the pot as deep as you can go. I've used it before lots of times w/lilies in pots.

 

[Tula]

I usually use Osamacote. This year I had a bunch of pond tabs from when I was trying lotus, so used them. Not sure if it's related, but they're growing very slowly this year.

 

[mgmine]

I used the Osmacote advise but used it to refill my old spikes. This was talked about in another thread.

 

[addy1]

All of these lilies got around 1/4 cup of osmocote dumped in their oil pan pots, under the clay and plants. Done in the fall when grooming, I just lift the plant and toss the osmocote under the plant and clay, not measured. I have not given them one drop of fertiizer this year. There are a ton of buds getting ready to open, and a bunch open. I am tickled with how well they have done.

 

[lamby]

Hi addy1. I'm just looking at these photos today of your plants. They're amazing, but how on earth do you manage them? I think you have them in oil pans so how many pans are there, and how on earth do you get in amoungst all those leaves to lift them for fertilizing and trimming? I have 20 pans and am finding the monthly fertilizing to be a really difficult chore. The pots are so heavy--I'm guessing each weighs about 30 pounds. Lately, I've been wondering about taking some out of their pots and just setting them on the liner to let them grow freely. If I do that, I'd be reducing the number of plants that I need to lift and would probably get greater coverage. On the other hand, it might make it difficult to clean the pond. Any thoughts?

 

[addy1]

Well if you let a lily free it will take over. I saw a post quite a bit ago about someone cleaning free running lilies out of their pond and they had to use a back hoe to get them out. Massive roots full of debris and dirt.

Mine are in walmart oil pans with kitty litter. I used to go into the pond and groom the leaves. I used to go into the pond and add fertilizer tabs. Notice the used to.

Now all I do is add 1/4 cup osmocote under the kitty litter when prepping them for winter. Then they just grow. In the oil pans they were real easy to move. You can push them with your toe, easy to lift up. The few that jumped their pots and ended up with roots out of the pot they filled up with muck, those I had to get hubbies help to even get them out of the pond and that is with just one summer of growth. Unreal how heavy.

And now I do not groom them or feed them all summer. The osmocote gives them enough food for the summer. The leaves rot, fall off and poof away. The bog sucks the extra nutrients right out of the water.

I used to net the bottom of the pond, quit about 5 years ago, never got enough stuff to make it worth my time.

I think I have around 14 or so lilies in the pond. Maybe a few more. I have not counted in quite a while.

 

[lamby]

Wow. Okay. I guess I've got some decisions to make. Not sure I want to open Pandora's box! Maybe best to stay the course.

 

[addy1]

The other thing I did this last fall, per brilliant hubby idea, I drilled holes in the edges of the oil pans. In those holes I put yellow floating rope a triangle type set up. Three holes three short ropes per pan. I tied those three ropes together like a t-pee over the pot. Now I can take my plant mover and just snag the rope and pull the lily up to work on it. This is only for pulling them out in the fall to groom for winter, ie cut off all leaves stems anything left over from summer and fertilize them for the next year. Then used in the spring to pull back to shallow until they start growing, then used to lift to the deeper part of the pond for the summer. I did not crawl into the pond at all this summer.

 

[lamby]

Thanks for all the tips, addy. I've been awake all night...just got a new grandson! My son and his wife had their first child at 3:30 this morning. What a happy day. We're not allowed to visit them in the hospital due to the Covid restrictions, so I'll take myself out to the pond as a good way to distract myself. I find being in the pond to be such a therapeutic activity--very calming.

 

[gimpy]

Congratulations!

 

[Lisak1]

I did not crawl into the pond at all this summer.

Well, what a sad summer you've had!

 

[addy1]

Well, what a sad summer you've had!

lol I should crawl in, it has been so darn hot! The pond is sitting at 77f even though we are on our 19th day of above 90F (think it is 19, and we have another week of 90's coming)

 

[Lisak1]

We just passed day 15 over 90 degrees for the summer... our average is 14 days, so that was fun. I love mid-80s. Can't stand 90-plus.

I was in the pond the other day and it was soooooo refreshing!