When I purchase new daylilies and I do not have time to plant them in soil I put them in water. In the past I have made my own water beds with plastic sheets and wood edges. This year I used a small pool.
The water level in the water bed/pool is allowed to rise up to above the crown.

Water bed/pool. The daylilies have been in the water since July 28.


One of the daylilies from the water bed showing growth of new leaves and new roots. There were no visible root hairs on the new roots. None of the daylilies show any sign of crown rot. I do not remember ever having lost a daylily that was kept in water after purchase.

The daylilies that I grow inside in pots during winter are put back outside when the temperatures are above freezing. They are kept in trays with water.

Potted daylilies kept continuously in trays with water until freezing temperatures return in the autumn. The daylilies grow and flower well in their "mini water beds".

how often do you change the water? I'm amazed at this, because my daylilies die every chance they get

I keep daylilies waiting to be planted in children's wading pools, too. I have kept them in the pool all summer some years. One year I had divided a lot of daylilies in the spring, and I placed them in the pool to give away. When people would visit, they often went home with a daylily. They grew and bloomed in the pool, too.

@Frillylily

Frillylily said: how often do you change the water? I'm amazed at this, because my daylilies die every chance they get

I only change the water when I see mosquito larvae (wigglers) in it. That might be about once a week - I don't keep track. If there were no wigglers in the water I would not change it at all.

I sometimes have very small daylilies that have been newly transplanted die. I sometimes have newly purchased daylilies not survive their first winters. I sometimes have daylilies that are in pots and kept outside all winter above the soil die. I have also had very small daylilies that have been transplanted into pots and grown inside die. Those are all infrequent.

admmad said: @Frillylily


I only change the water when I see mosquito larvae (wigglers) in it. That might be about once a week - I don't keep track. If there were no wigglers in the water I would not change it at all.

Maurice, have you tried mosquito dunks? A dunk lasts about 30 days. I just checked Amazon and Amazon has the Summit brand, a six pack for 5.99. These are the ones I use for the koi pond.

I was going to suggest Mosquito Dunks, too. I get them at Lowe's. I use them in my veggie Grow Boxes and in the gutters on my house.

Thank you @Passionate4gardening and @DeweyRooter. I have not tried Mosquito Dunks.
I would need them to cover sizes of about 1 square foot (for the trays) as well as for the larger pool.
Do you know if they can be cut into smaller pieces?

I also use mosquito dunks and have cut them up into chunks. The package has directions for that. 0.1 to 3.0 sq. metres of surface area of standing water requires 1/4 dunk, 3.0 to 6.0 metres requires 1/2 dunk.

Sure. I just break them into pieces--easy-peasy.

I've had great luck with these Mosquito Bits. Directions are included to also use them for fungus gnats.

Love that billboard!

Apparently (according to one seller of both in the U.S.), Mosquito Dunks are approved for use in Canada but Mosquito Bits are not.

I love chunks of Dunks. I bet the daylilies in the pool would prefer not to get new chlorinated water. Great info about soaking and delayed planting y'all, and thank you for the confidence-promoting pictures, Maurice! In Southern sun, that would get awfully warm, but afternoon shade would help.

In contrast, I have inadvertently tested daylilies' ability to recover from hot-and-dry abuse: leave them bareroot in the hot summer sun propped in big pots for 2 months, then plant what's left. Those were unwashed roots. Somehow, nobody died. (What's alive can usually be babied back to vigor.) They weren't very happy to be treated this way and some didn't bloom much the next year, but they recovered eventually. I'm not recommending this- just offering it for encouragement not to give up on daylilies in transition.

@Hembrain

Hembrain said: I bet the daylilies in the pool would prefer not to get new chlorinated water.

Please, rest assured, the daylilies never get chlorinated water. We are on a well. So they sometimes get well water, although it has high iron, is quite basic and "hard".
However, most of the time they get topped-up with pond water, which from the growth of algae and weeds, and assorted wildlife, I assume has some nutrients.

What is this Maurice and Valerie - a great Canadian habit of 'growing' our daylilies in water? I too have long grown hems in a pool, either potted or bare root, ever since I read that many hems can actually be grown in pots in an actual pool for Spring/Summer and Fall. I have also kept them bare root in tubs for up to 5 months and like Maurice just check for larvae however if found I put a few drops of washing up liquid in the water that effectively suffocates the mosquito larvae

I thought I was the only one with pools and tubs of daylilies, now I know differently. My daughter does it, too.

5 gallons buckets
I drain them once a week (water into the grass that never gets any help), let them dry out for 24-48 hours and refill. I pulled out a bunch of clumps this year (early August?) and I still haven't gotten them all shipped off- so they live in a bucket.

Every order that comes into the yard, lives in a bucket of water until I can dig them in. Sometimes it's a few hours but it has been as long as several weeks. They all do fine.

Zoia said: Every order that comes into the yard, lives in a bucket of water until I can dig them in. Sometimes it's a few hours but it has been as long as several weeks. They all do fine.

Mine too, have done it this way for thirty years and have never lost one to rot.

I also use the water bath if I inadvertently break off a fan when dividing If there is even only enough tissue to keep the leaves falling apart, after sitting in a bucket of water for a few weeks new roots will always appear