for koi, I do use those big palm sized river rock to keep the kids out of the pot. I
only repot every 3 years, and altho it is messy I dont have a problem with the roots
wrapped around the gravel. I set up the new tub with good loam been sitting in water
for a few hours, just plunge the root down into the muck then bring it back up to the
correct height. plug in the fert tabs and cover with rocks and gravel.

my comment about pea gravel is what I been told by Marilyn Buscher
http://home.wi.rr.com/windyoaks/ who wholesales to the Illinois and Wisconsin. She
has tried almost everything out there to make dividing, transplant and transport
easier.
Ingrid

Derek Broughton wrote:
The
only problem with pea gravel is not that it doesn't provide nutrients -
it's just an almighty pain to try dividing a lily whose roots have grown
around a couple of kilos of gravel! The only thing wrong with Ingrid's
suggestion, ime, is that topping the soil with gravel still ends up with
the roots all around the gravel. It's only there to keep the koi out of
the plant, and I'd use much larger stones (after all, koi can move pea
gravel, anyway).


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