That's exactly the video I was going to post! It's excellent!
BUT...... They don't tell you how stinky it's going to be!!!!!
Anyway, yesterday was the day and I spent a good part of it messing with my 4 lily pots. Here is the link to my general opinion regarding dividing and repotting water lilies....
https://www.gardenpondforum.com/thr...favorite-thing-about-ponds.20143/#post-320410 
@tbendl I took some "eye" pics for you. And now that I've seen them, they are easy to spot. In fact.....I found so many on one plant [don't know whether to call it a tuber or a rhizome, so it's a "plant'] that I gave up trying to cut off individual sections. It was getting hot & humid and maybe it was partially where I'm still recovering from foot surgery, but this took it out of me.
The "eyes" are circled in red. And yes, there was a lot that got tossed -- what a shame!
The hack-it-with-the-hand-spade method worked very well for me, then scissors to trim the roots. Two of the plants were really overgrown. The 3rd was fairly easy, and the 4th was the newest so it probably didn't need to be repotted, but I did so anyway. I'll be posting later to see if anyone wants "free" water lilies! As many babies as I got from these, I find it hard to believe that they cost as much as they do in the retail market. I could make a fortune selling these!
And let me tell you....!!!!!! When
@addy1 and others say to use shallow pans, do as they say! Of course, some of us have to learn from our own experience -- I have learned!! One of these plants was already pot-bound when I got it year before last. So instead of re-potting it, I was lazy and just used a larger pan. The diameter is just a little larger than the WallyWorld plastic oil pan, but it's a good
inch or 2 deeper [it's a rubber livestock feed bowl] (and when filled, it's quite heavy, too). Of the 4 plants, this one was
hideous, just hideous!! No part of the plant or its roots made it to the deeper section of the pot......
So all of that clay beneath was total rot and stench! Yuck, yuck, yuck! Then I had to clean all that excess clay-y crud out of the roots -- what a mess that was, as well. So, always use a shallow pan or pot!
So, @addy,
@j.w,
@Nepen,
@Gordo33,
@Lisak1 .... I wanted you to know that I made it, and to give you my heartfelt thanks.
Now, another question. The rhizomes [or whatever] were covered with algae, but under the film of green there were rows & rows of things that were identical and reminded me of tubules. Looked kinda like octopus suckers, or something sci-fi-ish. What are those? In one of the pictures I have circled one in blue. They look like they should have a purpose.
