Originally Posted by ShearMe

I'm finally getting to the point of needing advice with my Ice Cream pups...

I've got 6 pups left after winter (the mother and it's oldest died) and they're rather tightly packed. Last summer I attempted removing 3 pups, but when I did, none of them had roots and they quickly died. I cut as closely to the mother's corm as possible, and the pups were J shaped on the ends. I think this might have been due to the dense clay soil we have here in Dallas, but I'm no botanist so any other explanation holds just as much weight as mine.

Anyways, question is, how do I break up this pack of pups without killing them? The mother and it's oldest's remains can be seen in the pictures below; I'm not sure how far down their rot goes...