Is it a good idea to trim off some of the very long fibrous roots from my bare root daylilies before I plant them? Thanks so much for your help!!

I don't trim the roots when I plant, unless they are damaged or broken. I dig a hole deep enough to accommodate the roots, then I add my amended soil, and build a little cone and sit the crown on the top of the cone with the long roots draped down over the cone, then I gently add soil all around the roots and make sure there aren't any gaps under the crown. I add soil until the crown is covered, but not deeper than 1 inch. Then a thorough watering, and I am done.

Others may have more suggestions, but this is what has worked for me!

Valerie's suggest is what I do also.

But, daylilies are tough. If you have to trim some of the roots, I would make it minimal.

Don't trim the roots, as that is where the plant gets its nutrients. I think that you'd delay their adapting to their new home. The fat roots have the energy stored in them that the plant needs for a while and the smaller roots (including ones that are really small) are the ones which absorbs the water and other nutrients. As they have stated, water well after planting. We soak the ones which have been shipped and out of soil for a few days. Superthrive or a similar additive would help them rebound.

I forgot about Superthrive! Thanks for mentioning that Doris!

David Kirchhoff used to trim the roots to 3". I would squawk and make noise and he would keep trimming. Do what makes you comfortable. The daylilies will grow.

florange said:David Kirchhoff used to trim the roots to 3". I would squawk and make noise and he would keep trimming. .

Really??? wow.. wouldn't expect that!

In my (very limited) experience DL's with a lot of roots and no leaf will thrive, but DL's with leafs and no roots will struggle


Mayo

It depends on what kind of shape they're in.

There is a school of thought which holds that a daylily will shed all of its existing roots soon after shipping and replanting. I've not found this to be true, however there's no point in planting a bunch of obviously dead roots either.

If they've been grown in a highly amended soil, especially if frequently divided and pushed hard in a fast-turnaround nursery, daylilies will tend to have a high proportion of fibrous roots. When shipped in a dry condition, these are the first to whither.

I'll comb through the root mass with my fingers and pull off anything that's limp and obviously dead. If the plant hasn't dried too long, or was shipped slightly moist, a lot of the fibrous roots will be in pretty good shape.

Sometimes the ends of the tuberous roots will have shrunk to the point where they won't recover, and I'll trim those, but in general, I try to leave as many of them as possible, because a network of new, fine, "feeder" roots will quickly grow from them.

I do exactly the same thing Ken. I don't cut roots but like Ken said, I run my fingers through the roots and if there are any loose ones, they will come off.