Richard Sexton wrote:

Your plants may grow just swell, but that's not the same as "they
get everything they neeed". You can prove this by fertilizing them
and observing more and more vigorous growth. Until then you're just
guessing, not stating objective fact.

How is "more vigorous growth" an indicator of anything? Gardeners
frequently don't _want_ vegetative growth. Especially with lilies: we want
blooms. Considering I've had dozens of blooms off a single lily _at one
time_ I think it's pretty safe to say I've been doing it right.

Your opinion is just that and should not be passed off as factually
correct.

My opinion is that years of water gardening experience has proven that
bare-root planting of some species works. In many cases, for many reasons,
better than alternatives. Your _opinion_ would seem to be that if you're
not getting the absolute maximum growth out of your plants, you're doing
something wrong.

Your _opinion_ is only "factually correct" under limited conditions - like
no fish in the pond, and you'd rather see lily pads than flowers. Most
water gardeners consider it a failure when they get lots of growth and few
blooms. A failure, I might add, that is commonly caused not by
fertilization or lack of it, but by getting dirt on the crown - which can't
happen when you plant bare-root.

We all have different preferred ways of doing things, and there's plenty of
disagreement in this group, but there's no need to come in here and start
telling us you have all the right answers.
--
derek