Hello hemahollics ,


Dus anyone know if cutting back the foliage on daylilys improves the roots to grow when you plant them in pots.
Never checked it out myself , but some friends tell me that cutting back improves the growth , other tell me that it is not good to cut them back

Hope some of you have experience with this

Johan

Anytime I dig and divide daylilies, I always cut off the tops to within about 6 inches from the crown. Not sure if it helps with the roots, but it keeps the tops from flopping all over the place.

Some people think that daylilies are like daffodils and crocuses that have bulbs, which the foliage does help to feed the bulbs. But I don't think that is the case with daylilies.

The thing to bear in mind is that plants make their own food by photosynthesis and it is the leaves that do that. So cutting back leaves reduces the amount of food the plant can make. If you think about that, the leaves supply the roots with food for growth so cutting back leaves is not likely to help the roots grow, more the opposite. It's also likely, as Vickie noted, that plants recycle nutrients from naturally dying leaves at the end of the growing season.

However transplanting is a different situation because the damage to the roots from digging means the plant can no longer supply the leaves with the same amount of water as before. That is a potentially life-threatening situation for the plant and overrides the need for photosynthesis, so we cut back the leaves so that the plant doesn't lose as much water through transpiration. So cutting back reduces the stress of transplanting and the plants should recover more quickly.

If I'am just transplanting, I do everything in my power to not bare root, try to keep that soil around the roots. If I'm successful, I leave the foliage as is. They usual have little to no foliage die back. If I must divide and end up with exposed roots, then I do cut back foliage. More to keep things neat than anything else. I don't think it's necessary for the plant.

Tina makes a good point, it can vary depending on the situation. A plant transplanted with a soil ball, especially in cooler damper weather/times of year may barely notice being moved even with full foliage. But at the other extreme, if moved bareroot and in hot sunny weather then leaving full foliage is more stressful to the plant, and if the leaves wilt then it is not able to photosynthesize in any case (because the stomata are closed).

I once did an unintentional experiment when some clumps had to be moved hastily in summer. Some were cut back and some were not. They did still have some soil on the roots. The ones that were cut back recovered quickly and bloomed, the ones that were not cut back had their leaves die back and aborted their scapes.

Johan,
Due to covid 19 causing our daylily club to cancel our holding the regional meeting this year, I ended up with a lot of plants I was growing in pots for the club. I have given away many of those plants, but replaced those with new divisions and proliferations, so now I have around 200 potted daylilies. So I am very interested in any info I can find on growing daylilies in pots. So far from what I have seen, growing in pots is basically the same as growing them in the ground, but it does seem they do require more frequent watering and more fertilizing.
If I am potting up divisions they are bare root I do trim the foliage back and often also trim the long fine roots back. I can not add much but to affirm what the others have said. Looking forward to reading more responses!

Thanks all for the info
Still thinking what is best , soil is everything when growing in pots
I always cut back the foliage abd plants grow ok in pots , but this year a have created my own potting soil and that is a huge difference , here a picture of a seedling , seed was planted from begin april this year

Johan, I too have had to grow in pots this year and I'd love to know what you put in your potting soil.

Yes, that is nice looking growth since April. Whatever soil mix you are using seems to work well!

The recepy for my potting soil , this formula works the best for me
Included pictures

50% white ore blond peat



25% soil improver from dcm , vivimus



25% good potting soil with clay and cocofibers from dcm



And add regular water and every week universal liquid fertilizer , they will love it and grow like crazy

!

Pot size makes a difference. I have a daylily garden on my deck and was planting in 3 or 5 gallon pots. They seem happiest in 5 gallons - but it does take a lot of Happy Frog potting soil!