Overwintering hardy water lily indoors?

[Duxwig]

Getting ready to winterize (or am I behind? Lol). Water lily will only be at 1.75-2’ depth for winter and pond will freeze solid for winter in Wisconsin.

Aiming to bring it in but saw leaving it in the pot (hard sided, no drainage, buckets) and bring indoors, keep 50deg/moist, throw back in the pond. Another was take rhizome or tuber(don’t remember) out and store it with peat moss @ 50 degs?

Figured I was going the peat moss/saw dust route for the water canna and considered it for the lily too.

[brokensword]

Getting ready to winterize (or am I behind? Lol). Water lily will only be at 1.75-2’ depth for winter and pond will freeze solid for winter in Wisconsin.

Aiming to bring it in but saw leaving it in the pot (hard sided, no drainage, buckets) and bring indoors, keep 50deg/moist, throw back in the pond. Another was take rhizome or tuber(don’t remember) out and store it with peat moss @ 50 degs?

Figured I was going the peat moss/saw dust route for the water canna and considered it for the lily too.

You sure it'll get that thick (the ice?). Here in Mi, I count on no more than 14" generally. The ground will provide some heat, but you know Wisconsin better than me! In the coldest part of this coming winter, drill a hole and actually check how deep it gets as it's a lot easier to overwinter water lilies IN the pond.

If you're overwintering inside, yeah, keep it cold not freezing in a bucket. Cut back tall the stems, being careful of any eyes. When you send it back out, you can un-pot, put in some Osmocote (slow release fertilizer, about 1/4 cup below the roots, then repot. The canna will be fine if dried and kept cool. But don't let it dry out completely, that is, not sure I'd use the peat as it'll suck up moisture. I know it's for that purpose (so it won't rot), but years ago, I've lost dahlias doing that and it was because they dried out TOO much. Check them mid-winter if you can.

[Duxwig]

So don’t worry about taking the lilies out of the containers. Just toss them in the garage more or less, bucket and all? Drainage? (No holes as I was trying to contain)

[brokensword]

So don’t worry about taking the lilies out of the containers. Just toss them in the garage more or less, bucket and all? Drainage? (No holes as I was trying to contain)

more or less; just makesure the bucket doesn't freeze. With it above ground, it could happen. You can keep it near an inside wall for SOME warmth but I'd check it. I've had buckets ice up in the garage (trying to keep a lotus alive this way), hence why I'm trying to nudge you toward keeping it in the pond, but for sure, it has to be below the ice (the tuber). In the future, you could erect a winter tent to help keep up temps if necessary (it's what I do; I get, sometimes, a very thin film of ice on part of the pond now instead of the 8+ typical inches of ice). If you have some sort of cellar/crawlspace where you know the temp stays above freezing, that would be better but you can do it in the garage. Put a small aquarium aerator in it and that will help keep ice from forming. Another idea, if you have a larger tub for the lily, is to get a cattle trough heater. This unit is programmed to turn on when the temp approaches 35F, so not on all the time and doesn't take a lot of energy (cost).

And of course, the other idea is to take the tuber, trim it all off, wrap it in newspaper and put it in the bottom of your fridge. Not sure how mrsDux would be with this idea, though...

[Duxwig]

They live in water and all, but just to confirm, as long as this between 32-50 degrees, don’t matter if it sits in old stale water until next season?

Despite having two full-size fridges, and two mini fridges, havent convinced Wife to put the tubers in the fridge yet lol

[brokensword]

They live in water and all, but just to confirm, as long as this between 32-50 degrees, don’t matter if it sits in old stale water until next season?

Despite having two full-size fridges, and two mini fridges, havent convinced Wife to put the tubers in the fridge yet lol

they should be fine; my lilies sit in 34Fish water all winter, no appreciable circulation. Just don't let them freeze.

Gotta work on 'more' diamonds and flowers' or, buy another fridge??? heh heh



btw; as long as you have it out, you'll notice the growing portion is typically at one end; if you put this part TOWARD the center, you'll get more time before you have to divide and reset. If the back end is barren of any growing eyes, you can break the tuber and give yourself more space in the pot. Sometimes though, they WILL grow from the 'old' part, so if you want to multiply faster, break and stick that part right next to the growing end. I've even had branches form AND had growth from both ends, but there IS usually a portion 'not growing' and you'd break it there.