I finally got around and cleaned out the turtle pond outside, which is basically nothing but a 160 gl tub with a filter, a papyrus plant, an overgrown parrot feather, and 2 pots of hardy water lilies to overwinter in....Well, and of course the turtles....

I took the water lilie pots out, got rid of the soil in it, and now have with one plant a huge clump of root system, and baby shoots of new lilie coming out of that clump. But no clue which roots belong to the new offspring. Its all just a big clump with roots all over. Can I cut through the clump to divide the off spring, or is there a safer way?

Is there some way that you can pull them apart
with out breaking them,or are they really like into a clump like
they are growing in each other kinda?

Cut the clump into several pieces. Each piece should have at least one terminal eye that is producing leaves, a section of fleshy tuber, rhizome or crown with roots. If there are no roots on a section of fleshy rhizome I believe it will produce roots after it is planted. I've found the hardy lilies to be pretty prolific and always wind up with more than I can possibly use after dividing and repotting. Good luck.
Milo

Thanks, Milo, I will give it a shot once the little babies are a bit bigger. Don't wonna accidentally kill them off! BTW, some fishy babies are waiting....!

I had my lillies grow one year like they had mutated! They busted the pot and grew about 3 foot long - it was a mess. I just took some babies off and pitched the rest of it. I hated to do that, but didn't have anyone to give any to at the time.

Thanks, Lachfra! THey just sprouted a few leaves, so I will keep a close eye on them. Can't have enough blooms though!

how deep does the water have to be for water lilies
is it true they wont flower if its not planted deep enough?

On the site where I got one of the lilies from (Bonniesplants.com) it says if I remember right, between 6 and 18 inches. Mine are around 8 inches in the water....

6-18in ok
thanks Ranchugirl