I grow the daylilies in containers. It's a control issue. I got a deal on some used, nursery tree containers this year. It takes some creative maneuvering to move them, but I devised a method to do that. A bigger problem has been the drain holes are large and that has allowed a lot of soil to escape. Also, due to the size, I sort of used a hugelkultur method which involved a lot of things in the bottom which apparently decomposed a lot faster than I counted on. Now the poor plants have settled too much and the containers need dumping and the soil replenished.
But the biggest problem in my growing conditions using these really big containers has been soil shrinkage on the sides of the containers. Then the root balls get too dry and it's really difficult to get moisture back into the soil. Today on garden.org the article about growing citrus plants in containers has the following statement:
"Rewet dry citrus rootballs by placing a few drops of mild dishwashing soap directly onto the soil, then water with slightly warm water.'
I haven't tried that and I'm curious whether others growing daylilies in containers have tried that. Under my normally hot and dry conditions combined with daylilies penchant for appreciating lots of water, it's a problem I would like to solve. On my big cattle tubs where I drill the holes myself, I've taken to putting the drain holes up a couple of inches on the sides rather than in the bottom. That ends up creating a built in water reservoir in the bottom of the container and that method has clearly worked for the daylilies. It would probably be a death sentence for some plants, but daylilies here cope with sitting in water during the growing season. Those that have a mosquito castle to sit in clearly manage the hot summer months better than others.
So if that dishwashing detergent will help, I love to hear some people who have actually used it. How many are a 'few drops' - that sort of thing :).
