On Tue, 07 Oct 2014 10:07:44 +0100, Chris Hogg wrote:

On Tue, 7 Oct 2014 09:19:55 +0100, sacha wrote:

I've never had the courage to do that, either though sometimes we take a
small saw to really tough root balls on e.g. mature Cannas or Hedychiums
when splitting them. It never does them harm.

I divide my hedychiums (H. gardnerianum) with a hand axe! As you say,
never does them harm and they come again with lots of vigour.

Heh, I divided mine for the first time this past winter. I had waited
too long as they really put on a lot of root mass. Ensued much hacking
with a fully extended cutter blade... But maybe hedychiums are a special
case, like crynoids.

As for teasing roots, the thing you have to worry about is encircling
roots strangling the plant as it grows on in the ground. When this
happens you end up having to cut major roots in the ground, which can set
it back or even kill it. So for really pot bound plants I do like David
and make 4 cuts. If the pot is just "full" or a little more, I tease out
the roots to avoid encircling, and sometimes remove the very longs ones.



--
Gardening in Lower Normandy