wrote:

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.

Well, I know people do it, and I guess others haven't had as much trouble as
I did, but I can't see how dividing anything can be easier than dividing
bare-root lilies :-) Richard's comment that "they will grow much much
better with proper food" definitely applies when you're a commercial grower
- then you want to fertilize and divide as often as possible. Me, I stick
to bare-root because they do well enough that I have to divide annually.
--
derek

"Derek Broughton" wrote in message
...
Well, I know people do it, and I guess others haven't had as much trouble
as
I did, but I can't see how dividing anything can be easier than dividing
bare-root lilies :-) Richard's comment that "they will grow much much
better with proper food" definitely applies when you're a commercial
grower
- then you want to fertilize and divide as often as possible. Me, I stick
to bare-root because they do well enough that I have to divide annually.
=================
The year I tried to grow mine bare-root and a few in just pea gravel they
didn't thrive at all. They grew small leaves and there were no flowers. I
went back to using rich topsoil and Jobe's fertilizer spikes. They grow
leaves as large as dinner plates and flower for several months.
--
Koi-Lo.... frugal ponding since 1995...
Aquariums since 1952
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
*Note: There are two Koi-Lo's on the Aquaria Groups.*
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o