Lily bulbs can be planted in fall and spring. If it is necessary to preserve the bulbs before planting, they are placed in a cool place (bottom drawer of the refrigerator, basement, etc.), covered with damp moss, sawdust, sand or just soil. Do not store bulbs in plastic bags. It is better to pack them in thick paper, cardboard box or fabric and periodically lightly moisten the packaging material.
To prevent and treat fungal diseases, before planting, bulbs are soaked in a bright raspberry solution of potassium permanganate or the drug “Maxim” for 30 minutes.
Low-growing varieties of lilies are planted to a depth of 10-12 cm, tall ones - to 20 cm. The planting depth of the bulbs also depends on the mechanical composition of the soil. On light sandy loam soils they plant deeper, on heavy clay soils - shallower.
Humus and mineral fertilizers are added to the soil prepared for planting. Lilies cannot tolerate manure , even applied before winter during spring planting. The bulbs are planted in grooves or holes at a distance of 20-30 cm between plants. On heavy soils, sand is added to the bottom of the hole, the roots are carefully spread to the sides and covered with fine earth. After planting, the soil is mulched with peat, rotted compost, and rotted sawdust. Mulching helps retain moisture in the soil, provides insulation during autumn planting, and provides additional nutrition to plants in the spring.
When choosing a place to plant lilies, you need to take into account that they do not tolerate stagnant water. White and light-colored varieties require well-lit and wind-protected places, while bright and dark-colored varieties tolerate partial shade.
Caring for lilies consists of regular weeding, loosening the soil, fertilizing and watering. It is very important to maintain optimal soil water regime. Avoid overwatering and too dense plantings. In hot weather, waterlogging provokes the development of fungal diseases, including fusarium (onion rot) and bacterial (wet) rot. Plants wither, turn yellow and die. Rotten bulbs need to be carefully dig up and remove from the site . In cool weather, excess moisture promotes the development of brown spot. With severe damage, the stems die, but the bulbs remain unaffected. This disease can be combated by spraying plants with antifungal drugs (Bordeaux mixture, HOM, Abiga-Pik, Fitosporin).
The lily beetle and its larvae, which eat leaves and buds, are very dangerous for lilies. The beetle is red-orange in color, up to 1 cm long. It is clearly visible on plants, so it can be collected by hand. If the lily plantings are large and there are too many beetles and larvae, you will have to spray them with special preparations. Unfortunately, spraying blooming lilies reduces their decorative qualities: stains remain on the leaves and buds, and cut flowers acquire an unpleasant odor. Sometimes the buds are damaged by the lily fly, which lays eggs in them. Young plants are often affected by aphids. We recommend drugs that are effective against the entire range of pests: “Karbofos”, “Fufanon”, “Iskra”, “Aktelik”, “Inta-Vir”, “Fitaverm”, “Zubr”, “Aktara”. It is advisable to alternate the drugs to prevent pests from getting used to them.
Bulbs in the soil are damaged by mole crickets, thrips, wireworms, and May beetle larvae. Fighting these insects is difficult, but necessary. We recommend the following drugs: “Medvetox”, “Provotox”, “Pochin”, “Zemlin”, “Grom”, “Grom-2”, “Mukhoed”, “Grizzly”. Rodents can also cause significant damage to lily bulbs. They are fought with baits, the beds are dusted with colloidal sulfur, covered with spruce branches, and daffodil and hazel grouse bulbs are planted nearby, the smell of which repels mice.
Feeding lilies is necessary, especially if you expect to get high-quality cuttings. From the beginning of the growing season until flowering, nitrogen and complex mineral fertilizers (urea, nitrophoska, Kemira Spring-Summer, Gomel) are applied 2-3 times. Doses and amounts of fertilizing depend on soil fertility. Excellent results are obtained by foliar fertilizing - spraying with a solution of “Quick Effect” fertilizer or similar. After flowering, superphosphate and potassium nitrate are added, or complex fertilizers with a high content of these elements, for example: “Kemira Autumn”, “Osennee”. Lilies respond well to the application of calcium nitrate and wood ash 3-4 times per season. This technique significantly increases disease resistance and flowering intensity of plants.
Brightly colored lilies look good against the background of bright greenery, coniferous shrubs and trees, as well as against the background of blue and dark blue flowers (delphinium, blue cyanosis, lupine, bells, blue flax, kochia, etc.). Light-colored lilies are good when surrounded by plants with small, delicately colored flowers (gypsophila, alyssum, forget-me-not, cosmos, carnation, snapdragon, gillyflower, petunias, aquilegia, etc.). In the first year after planting, plants do not always reach their potential growth and flowering, but from the second year of life, lilies bloom continuously and abundantly. When cutting into bouquets, it is necessary to leave at least 1/3 of the length of the stem for normal nutrition of the bulb. In autumn, dried plants are cut off at soil level and burned.
LLC "Agrofirm "Alena Lux"
Kuzmicheva Svetlana Vyacheslavovna
Among perennial flowers grown in summer cottages, lilies occupy one of the first places in popularity. They amaze with their rich and chic variety, beauty and sophistication. And although perennial flowers do not require much attention to themselves, it is still required and necessary to know which ones.
What kind of lily flowers are they?
These are perennial bulbous flowers. There is a huge range of species and varieties in the world. The most popular are hybrids of trumpet lily, Asian lily, forest lily, etc.
Planting lilies
Typically, bulbs are planted in the fall, when the root system is growing. You can plant lilies in early spring, but then you should not wait for flowering in the summer.
The location for the bulbs must be sunny; shade and partial shade are not suitable for these perennials. The soil should be with good drainage, fertile, containing a minimum of organic matter. Acidic soils are not suitable for lilies, so before planting, the soil is limed with chalk or dolomite flour and the bed is periodically pollinated with wood ash during the growth of the lilies.
The bulbs are planted to a depth of 8-10 cm, and in the fall they are planted deeper than in the spring. Larger corms are planted deeper. Excessive deepening of the bulbs leads to the fact that the plant does not bloom and such a bulb will have to be replanted in a new place after 2-3 years. Because over time, the bulb is pulled deeper into the soil, and it can degenerate. Interestingly, an onion planted on a barrel multiplies much faster.
If there are rodents on the site, then the bulbs are planted in special baskets or in a metal mesh.
If you add wood ash or foundation to the soil before planting, this will protect the plants from diseases.
growing lilies
How to care for lilies in spring
- If there was shelter for the lilies for the winter, then you need to remove it and loosen the bed to provide the roots with air access. Loosening must be done carefully and carefully so as not to damage the sprouts.
- After wintering, the bulbs need increased nutrition. Therefore, it is necessary to apply nitrogen fertilizers (ammonium nitrate 1 tablespoon per square meter), or water the bed with a complex fertilizer such as nitroammophoska (40-50 g/10 l of water) or a solution of mullein in a ratio of 1:10.
- With the emergence of seedlings, the bed should be weeded and loosened.
- Repeatedly since spring, the bed with lilies is pollinated with wood ash, about a glass per square meter.
- To prevent planting flowers from possible pests and diseases, treat the bed with a solution of lazurine or Bordeaux mixture. You can prepare a homemade solution for treating plants and soil. To do this, pour 9 liters of water, add a tablespoon of ammonia, baking soda and copper sulfate, already diluted in a liter of water, and add it last, pouring it carefully in a thin stream, stirring constantly.
Caring for lilies throughout the season
The rest is not difficult: it is enough to remove weeds, loosen, water and feed.
During dry periods, you need to water regularly, avoiding the soil from drying out. Watering should be done carefully and carefully so as not to pour water on the leaves and stem, as this can cause a burn. Although excessive watering can lead to rotting of the tubers and their death.
When buds appear, it is necessary to feed the lilies with fertilizer containing phosphorus and potassium. To do this, you can use superphosphate, wood ash, potassium nitrate or complex fertilizer for flowers.
It does not interfere with treating plants against pests and diseases.
The plant loves the sun, but overheating of the bulbs is not desirable, so it is easier to mulch the surface of the bed with hay, straw, spruce branches, and sawdust.
Preparing lilies for winter
After the lily has flourished, the buds are cut off, and the leaves should be removed after they turn yellow.
For a bouquet, lilies are broken off, but the longer the stem remains on the plant, the better the bulb ripens, receiving nutrition from the foliage and stem, and the easier it overwinters. Dried stems should not be cut in the fall, but rather removed in the spring. Pruning the stems at the root in autumn will weaken the bulbs, which may not bloom next summer. In late autumn, you can trim the stems, leaving stumps 15 cm high.
After flowering, phosphorus-potassium fertilizers should be applied to the lily bed so that the bulbs ripen.
To prevent diseases, it is worth treating the plantings with Bordeaux mixture.
As you can see, it is not complicated. And these are so gentle and graceful that there is always a place for them in any summer cottage. With proper care, this beautiful flower will delight its owners for many years.
Various insects and diseases not only spoil the appearance of flowers, but can also cause the death of all plants in the flowerbed. To maintain plant health, you need to learn how to correctly identify lily diseases and take appropriate measures to combat them.
The most common diseases and pests of lilies with treatment methods and photos will be described in this article. From it you will learn about the characteristic signs of diseases, as well as traditional and folk methods of treatment.
Diseases of lilies and their treatment with photos
The fragrant lily has always been the main decoration of flower arrangements. They also love it for its simple planting method and ease of care, but they often forget that only compliance with the rules of agricultural technology ensures full, healthy flowering.
In addition, a crop's resistance to disease depends on the geographic origin of the plant. For example, people from the tropics have a hard time withstanding the winter and may even die due to insufficient air humidity. Therefore, plants planted in unsuitable climatic conditions grow weakened, get sick more often and longer, and die faster.
Causes
Most often, lilies are susceptible to fungal and viral diseases. Thus, in dense plantings or during prolonged cultivation in one place, there is a risk of developing fungal diseases, among which are (Figure 1):
- Gray gil;
- Rust;
- Sclerotial rot;
- Root and bacterial rot.
Viral diseases are transmitted by insect pests or through infected garden tools. The most common among them:
- Variegation virus;
- Rosette disease;
- Mosaic.
Figure 1. Main symptoms of diseases in flowers Let's take a closer look at lily diseases, their symptoms and treatment methods with photos.
Symptoms
To begin the proper fight against diseases, you need to familiarize yourself with the characteristic symptoms of each pathology using photos and descriptions.
- Gray rot (botris)
It appears as rapidly growing brown spots on the lower leaves, which soon form large areas of mucous tissue covered with plaque (Figure 2). Affected stems die very quickly, so it is recommended to carry out preventive measures aimed at preventing the development of this disease.
Ways to combat gray mold are::
- Preliminary disinfection of bulbs before planting in a foundation solution;
- Changing the location of planting the bulbs every 4-5 years;
- Maintaining sparse plantings;
- Watering in the morning using the root method;
- Construction of a protective canopy over the flowerbed in case of rainy periods;
- Preventive spraying of seedlings in early spring with a solution of copper sulfate (0.5%), Bordeaux mixture (1%) or copper oxychloride (0.3%).
Figure 2. Symptoms of gray mold When a disease is detected, the solutions are applied one at a time with an interval of 10 days, the affected parts of the plants are destroyed.
Appears on bulbs with mechanical damage. The disease manifests itself most clearly during storage. Symptoms are yellow-brown spots that appear where the scales are attached (Figure 3). These spots subsequently turn into soft rotten areas and the bulb disintegrates.
Note: The disease spreads most actively in hot weather with high humidity levels. Spores of the fungus that causes fusarium can persist in the soil for about 3 years.
The fight against the fusarium fungus consists of freeing the bulbs from the affected scales in case of mild disease and in destroying the bulbs in case of severe damage.
Figure 3. Signs of fusarium In addition, the soil is disinfected 2-3 weeks before planting with a solution of 40% formaldehyde (250 ml of the substance per bucket of water) and the soil is sprayed with foundationazole (0.1%), euparene (0.2%), bavistin (0.05% ) in early spring.
- Rust
Spores of the fungus that causes rust can overwinter in stems and leaves, as well as in bulbs. Rust, as a disease, is manifested by the appearance of small, colorless spots on the leaves; later they turn yellow, and the leaves and stems dry out (Figure 4). The dark growths remaining on them contain a large number of fungal spores, which can infect other plants in the spring.
Figure 4. Manifestations of rust Therefore, for preventive purposes, pre-sowing treatment of bulbs and frequent fertilizing with the application of potassium-phosphorus fertilizers are recommended. In addition, at the beginning of spring, preventive spraying of seedlings with Bordeaux mixture or copper oxychloride is carried out. When the first signs of the disease are detected, ditan, polycarbacin, and zineb are used. If the lesion is still minor, then its infected parts are removed and destroyed. In case of severe damage, the entire plant along with the bulb is removed from the area and destroyed.
- Sclerotial rot
The first sign is the unevenness of seedlings in the spring. In bulbs that are lagging in growth, a thick white coating is observed at the neck of the bulb or on its bottom. The developing disease leads to the death of roots and leaves (Figure 5).
Note: Most often, sclerotial rot develops at air temperatures below +13 degrees in conditions of high humidity. Therefore, when the temperature rises and the humidity drops, the disease stops spreading.
Figure 5. Symptoms of sclerotial rot Prevention of sclerotial rot is similar to methods of combating fusarium and botrys. Diseased plants are removed along with a lump of soil, and foci of infection are treated with wood ash or bleach. In addition to lilies, daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, and gladioli are also susceptible to this fungal disease, so it is not recommended to plant lilies after these decorative bulbs.
- Root rot
In accordance with its name, the disease affects the roots of the plant, as a result of which it begins to lag in growth and then loses its buds. A signal about the onset of the disease is yellowing of the tops of the leaves, which soon spreads to the entire stem and leads to its drying out (Figure 6).
To prevent plant disease from root rot, the following set of protective measures should be carried out:
- Carefully select planting material;
- Treat the bulbs before planting;
- Disinfect the soil with a solution of colloidal sulfur (0.4%).
Figure 6. Signs of root rot All affected plants must be removed from the flowerbed and destroyed to prevent the rot from spreading to other crops.
- Bacterial rot
Leads to rotting and falling of leaves and peduncles. The plant's bulbs are also affected by rotting sunken spots.
To combat this disease, the following procedures are taken::
- Regular inspection of bulbs during storage for the purpose of timely detection and further destruction of infected planting material.
- Pre-sowing treatment of the soil and the bulbs themselves.
- Spraying the seedlings with a fungicide in early spring, and if bacterial rot is detected, such spraying is repeated every ten days.
While fungal diseases can be prevented by various preventive measures, the same cannot be said about viral infections. In addition, this type of infection not only cannot be prevented, but is also very difficult to diagnose and treat. Viral infections are transmitted by insect pests and through plant sap through untreated equipment. Such diseases manifest themselves in different ways, and the fight against them consists of destroying the affected plants. The most widespread viral infections are variegation, rosette and mosaic.
The main symptoms of viral diseases are:(Figure 7):
- Variegation virus causes a spotty color of the flower, unusual for lilies. This disease can be carried by aphids, and it is also transmitted through gardening tools.
- Rosette disease provokes the action of a whole complex of viruses. It is manifested by delayed growth of peduncles, deformation of the stem, and the formation of irregularly shaped leaves. The carrier of this disease is aphids.
- Mosaic- a viral disease that has symptoms similar to botrys. In this case, the leaves become covered with oblong spots of pale gray color. The viral mosaic of aphids is also transmitted through garden tools.
Figure 7. Viral diseases: 1 - variegation, 2 - rosette, 3 - mosaic Methods to combat viral diseases include preventive inspections of bulbs stored for storage and the removal of specimens with unusual discoloration of the aerial parts. Since mosaic can be transmitted with plant sap through equipment, when cutting flowers you should use a set of blades, which are disinfected after use. It is also necessary to combat aphids by spraying lilies with karbofos or ragor.
Lily diseases: video
If you want to preserve blooming lilies in the garden or pots, we recommend that you watch the video, which describes in detail the main diseases, methods of combating them and effective means of prevention.
Asiatic lilies: diseases
Lilies belonging to Asian hybrids are the most unpretentious, and therefore the most common. They can be grown almost all over the world, even in Alaska.
In cold climates, the flower stalks of the plant are cut at ground level so that they do not rise above the snow cover. However, Asiatic lilies are more susceptible to some fungal and viral diseases than others.
Causes
A fungal disease known as botrys affects flowers in cold weather with high humidity levels. Therefore, when choosing a site for planting, you should choose a place that is well ventilated.
Rotting of the bottom of the bulb is also caused by a fungus and is called fusarium. The reason for its occurrence is stagnation of water as a result of poor drainage or lack thereof, the use of fresh manure as fertilizer, and drying out of the earthen coma.
Quite often, lilies are infected with the variegation virus, which is transmitted to them from tulips that previously grew on the site. Therefore, it is not recommended to plant lily bulbs after other bulbs. Viral diseases can also be caused by insect pests. Regular control of them will protect your plants from viruses. Remember that well-groomed plants are much more resistant to various diseases.
Symptoms
How to recognize the onset of a disease in order to provide the plant with the necessary help in a timely manner? To do this, you should know the symptoms of diseases. For example, when affected by gray mold, signs of the disease appear on the leaves in the form of brown spots, which merge into entire foci, moving to the buds (Figure 8).
Figure 8. Disease manifestations in Asiatic lilies It is important to know that viral diseases are much more dangerous than fungal diseases, because they often occur hidden, and when the symptoms become visible, it is impossible to save the plant. This is how, for example, the variegation virus occurs. Therefore, if you notice features and color of a flower or the shape of a stem that are uncharacteristic for a plant, you should immediately get rid of it so as not to infect the entire flower garden.
Treatment
The best way to combat Asiatic lily diseases is prevention. So, to prevent botrys disease, it is recommended to water the seedlings with a solution of copper sulfate, ammonia and soda ash.
Note: To prepare the solution, 1 tbsp. copper sulfate is dissolved in 5 liters of hot water, and the same amount of ammonia and soda is diluted in 5 liters of cold water. Then the solution of copper sulfate is poured into a solution of ammonia and soda.
If preventive measures have not been taken, then to treat gray mold, plants are sprayed with Bordeaux mixture, and in case of severe damage, with foundationazole or phytosporin every 2 weeks. In case of fusarium disease, it is necessary to dig up the bulbs, wash them well and soak them in the foundation solution for 30 minutes.
Remember that it is impossible to cure viral diseases, therefore, when viral lesions are detected, your main task is to remove and destroy the infected plant as soon as possible in order to save the entire flower garden.
Pests of lilies and their control
The bulbs of the crop contain a large amount of nutrients, so they are a delicacy not only for rodents, but also for various insect pests.
They not only weaken plants by eating leaves and bulbs, but are also carriers of dangerous viral diseases. Let's look at some types of lily x pests and methods of combating them.
Lily Pest Control: Red Beetle
The red lily beetle is similar in appearance to the fireman, and in fertility and gluttony it is similar to the Colorado potato beetle. The adult insect and its larvae eat the leaves, flowers and bulbs of the plant (Figure 9). Adults appear on flowers already in April, and if protective measures are not taken, then dealing with the larvae that hatch soon will be extremely problematic.
Figure 9. Red beetle larvae and adults Therefore, as soon as red beetles appear on plants, you need to immediately begin to fight them. It is best to collect and destroy insects by hand. If time has been lost, it is necessary to spray the plants with any insecticide that is used to combat the Colorado potato beetle, for example, actor, confidor, decis.
Oval orange beetles with two dozen dots on the elytra are onion leaf beetles. Adults and their pupae overwinter in the soil and emerge to the surface at the end of April. The onion leaf beetle mainly damages lilies by eating leaves from the edges or gnawing holes in them. The larva of the onion leaf beetle is capable of skeletonizing leaves (Figure 10).
As preventive control measures, it is recommended to regularly destroy weeds in the flower garden, on which leaf beetles can lay their larvae, collect adult individuals by hand and destroy them, spray plants affected by larvae with chlorophos or an infusion of herbs from wormwood and larkspur.
Figure 10. Flowers affected by onion leaf beetle To prepare an infusion of herbs, you will need a bucket of finely ground wormwood or 800 g of dried, which is filled with cold water and infused for a day, then boiled for half an hour and immediately diluted with water by half just before spraying. Spraying with wormwood is repeated several times at weekly intervals.
An infusion of larkspur is prepared at the rate of 1 kg of chopped herbs per bucket of water. The product is infused for 2 days, then filtered and used immediately.
Aphid
Aphids are one of those insects that not only cause harm to plants themselves, but are also carriers of viral diseases (Figure 11).
For this reason, this insect must be destroyed quickly to prevent it from reproducing. Inta-vir (1 tablet per bucket of water) and fufanon solution (10-15 ml per bucket) have proven themselves to be effective in the fight against aphids.
From the video you will learn additional information about lily pests and methods of controlling them.
Treatment of lilies in the spring from diseases and pests
Unfortunately, lilies often get sick and are damaged by many pests. Experienced gardeners know that the best way to fight is prevention and timely assistance. After all, the earlier the disease is detected, the easier it will be to treat, and the greater the chance of preserving the entire blooming collection. That is why it is strongly recommended to water the emerging seedlings with special solutions. For example, a mixture of soda, ammonia and copper sulfate or Bordeaux mixture and copper oxychloride.
Figure 11. Lilies infested with aphid colonies In addition, immediately before planting, it is advisable to treat the bulbs with a 0.2% solution of foundationazole or a solution of karbofos (1 tablespoon per bucket of water). You can also disinfect the bulbs in a weak solution of potassium permanganate.
So in the spring the snow has melted from our beds and flower beds. And the first thing we do is put things in order on our site: we collect old leaves and dried plants with a rake, loosen the soil and remove weeds. And this is where you need to be careful in the flower beds where lilies are planted. Hasty lily care in the spring could harm her.
Do not rush to disturb the lily plantings. Of course, the weeds will grow much earlier than the young shoots of lilies emerge to the surface. Only in mid-May will they be born, and then it will be their turn. Be sure to wait until their sprouts appear, and then start weeding. If you start fighting weeds earlier, you can easily damage the shoot of the lily while still underground. And then you definitely won’t see flowers today. The bulb will remain dormant until next year. There is also a worse option: new bulbs may form on it at the base of the scales. This process will delay the flowering of this specimen for another couple of years. 
When the lilies grow 25-30 cm and the leaves unfold, it’s time to feed them. This fertilizer contains calcium ions and nitrogen, which is so necessary for lilies during the period of active growth. Calcium will subsequently strengthen the stems of lilies and prevent them from bending under the wind and rain.
And at the same time you need to start. To prevent your lilies from looking like untidy red-brown sticks after flowering in late July-early August, treat them with antifungal drugs. For ecologists, phytosporin is suitable; for radicals, copper-containing preparations: HOM or Bordeaux mixture. And a completely radical approach to destroying the spores of the botrytis fungus was suggested by one foreign lily grower: after the snow melts, immediately treat the surface of the bed with a blowtorch. I don't have a blowtorch. But maybe for those who are desperate in the fight against gray mold, this method will be suitable...
Lilies are one of the most popular flowers in garden beds, attracting attention with their delicate, colorful and abundant blooms. Moreover, they add their own note to the range of smells in the garden. As a rule, these flowers are planted in the fall, but recently spring planting of lilies in open ground has become popular. But in order to grow beautiful flowers, you first need to select and buy high-quality planting material, save it until planting it in a permanent place in the garden, plant it, and then properly care for the flower until autumn.
As a rule, lilies, depending on their origin, are divided into the following groups of hybrids:
- Asian;
- Martagon;
- Candidum;
- American;
- Long-flowered;
- Tubular and Orleans;
- Eastern (orientals).
There are also interspecific hybrids of lilies:
- LA hybrids (Asian + long-flowered);
- OT hybrids (orienpitas - eastern + tubular);
- LO hybrids (long-flowered + oriental);
- OA hybrids (Oriental + Asian).
Video: types, varieties and hybrids of lilies
How to choose lily bulbs
The choice of planting material should be approached with the utmost seriousness if you want to get a flower that will delight you with abundant blooms and decorate your flowerbed until the fall.
Here are some important points to pay attention to when choosing lily bulbs:
- The optimal size of the bulb diameter is 2-3 cm. If the bulbs are smaller, then most likely they are after forcing, which means you will not get flowering immediately, but only in the 3rd year.
- The bulb should be dense to the touch, and the scales should not fall apart. Excessive dryness and looseness are signs of poor-quality planting material.
- The specimen should not have any strange stains or signs of rot.
- The bottoms should be in good condition, without damage, and the roots should be alive, not dry or completely rotten.
- The sprout should preferably sleep. If it has already begun to stretch, then such a bulb will have to be grown at home in a pot (if purchased early) or immediately planted in open ground (if you bought it in May).
- The color of the bulb does not matter. The color is affected by the type and variety.
How to preserve lilies before planting
If you bought lily bulbs in advance, or were given them as a gift on March 8 (yes, this happens), then you should worry about the problem of preserving them before planting them in open ground.
It is optimal to store lily bulbs in the refrigerator, cellar, or basement, where the temperature fluctuates between 2-6 degrees.
During storage, be sure to periodically observe the bulbs. If suddenly they begin to germinate too early, then you need to plant them in a pot, so to speak, as seedlings. This method of germinating bulbs will be discussed in more detail below.
Video: how to plant lilies with sprouts in spring
Growing lily seedlings (preliminary early planting of bulbs in a pot)
As a rule, lily bulbs are always immediately planted in open ground, but in some cases it is still useful to germinate them at home, so to speak, by planting them as seedlings.
This method has its advantages. You will immediately see how the flower takes root and takes root, and whether it needs feeding. Plus, you will have the opportunity to know in advance where to plant the grown flower bulbs.
Before planting a lily bulb for germination in a pot, it must first be processed. To begin with, it should be thoroughly cleaned of soil and its condition assessed by its appearance. Now you need to soak the onion (only the onion, no need to immerse the sprout) in a slightly pink 1% solution of potassium permanganate at room temperature, and the water should be settled. There are different opinions about the duration of the soaking procedure: some do it for 1.5-2 hours, and others for a few minutes.
It is advisable to choose a transparent container so that it is convenient to control the humidity of the substrate. It will be good if you make drainage holes not only at the bottom, but also on the sides.
You cannot plant a lily bulb deep in a pot. When planting in open ground, it should be buried to its 3rd height; when planting in a pot, it is enough to fill the bulb right up to the tip of the sprout.
Advice! You can make multi-layer bedding for better growth of lily bulbs. Pour regular soil down, then make a cushion of river sand, on which to place the bulb itself, and cover it with the same soil on top.
After planting, it doesn’t hurt to spill the soil on top with water or a solution (to suppress pathogens of fungal diseases). Moreover, this is necessary if you have refused to disinfect the soil by calcining it at high temperatures.
The most illuminated window sill or loggia is suitable as a place for further growing lily seedlings.
After planting lily bulbs in a pot, further care consists of regular watering as the soil dries, that is, approximately 1 watering every 5-7 days will be enough. There is no need to fertilize.
If you want to continue growing lilies in a pot at home, then keep in mind that this is still an outdoor flower, and it requires slightly different conditions, which are quite difficult to organize at home, so there is a high probability of its death.
As for the timing of planting lilies that were warm on your windowsill at home and did not experience night and day temperature fluctuations, they need to be planted in the garden in a permanent place a little later than when planting bulbs directly in open ground, in other words, only after after all possible return frosts, that is, at the end of May - at the beginning of June. When the time comes, carefully remove the sprouted lily bulbs along with the soil from the pots and plant them in open ground in a flowerbed.
Video: germinating lily bulbs in pots in spring
Technology for planting lily bulbs in open ground
Optimal planting dates
The optimal time for planting lily bulbs in open ground should be selected in accordance with the climate of your region and weather conditions. In any case, you can start planting in May. By this point, the earth should have warmed up sufficiently, and the likelihood of return frosts will disappear.
According to the lunar calendar in 2019
This can help you choose the optimal date for planting bulbs. Moon calendar.
Important! It is also recommended to plant lily bulbs in a pot (for germination at home) in accordance with the lunar calendar.
So favorable days for spring planting lily bulbs in 2019 according to the Lunar calendar are:
- in February - 15-17, 23-25;
- in March - 12-17, 22-25;
- in April - 6-8, 20-26, 29, 30;
- in May - 6-8, 14-17, 21-23, 31;
- in June - 1, 2, 9-11.
Unfavorable days according to the lunar calendar for 2019 The dates for planting lily bulbs in the spring are as follows:
- in February - 4, 5, 19;
- in March - 6, 7, 21;
- in April - 5, 19;
- in May - 5, 19;
- in June - 3, 4, 17.
According to the lunar calendar from the magazine “1000 tips for a summer resident.”
Site selection and soil preparation
Depending on the variety, lilies require different levels of light to thrive in the garden. Asian, trumpet and LA hybrids will grow well only in sunny places or in very light partial shade. Orientals and martagons are not a sin to plant in shady places. You can find out more about lighting requirements by reading the instructions on the packaging of the bulbs you purchased or are planning to buy.
To plant lilies, it is important to find a place in the garden that is well protected from the wind. It would be great if it was a little ventilated. If you plant flowers in a corner completely closed from airflow, this may negatively affect their development, namely: the humid air will stagnate excessively, and the bulbs will simply trample and rot.
The main requirement of lilies for the soil in which they will be planted, as for most bulbous flowers, is good drainage of the soil. For example, excessively light and sandy soil will provoke a constant lack of moisture for the growth of bulbs. For example, heavy and clayey soil will not allow it to develop normally, and the flower will rot.
To make the soil more nutritious and suitable for growing lilies, you should add peat to sandy soil, and peat and additional sand to dense and clayey ones (1 bucket of each per 1 sq.m of flower bed).
Too acidic soil is also not suitable, so to reduce its acidity you should use dolomite flour.
If you want the soil to become just ideally suitable and as fertile as possible, then do not skimp and add a bucket of excellent humus or rotted compost to the planting site. You can also use mineral fertilizers, for example, use potassium sulfate and: the first will require 60-80 grams, the second - 80-100 grams.
Planting bulbs
The basic rule when planting almost all bulbs is that the depth of planting the bulb should be equal to 3 times the height of the bulb itself. If your lily bulb is 3 centimeters high, then the depth of the planting hole, or more precisely, the hole should be 9 centimeters.
When making a planting hole for lilies, keep in mind that there must be drainage at the very bottom. You can pour expanded clay, broken brick, crushed stone or something else there. After such drainage, you should make a special pillow of fertile soil (just do not place the bulb directly on the expanded clay drainage), in which the flower will grow.
The distance between planting lilies should be around 20-40 centimeters. This planting scheme will provide an opportunity for the normal development of the plant’s root system.
By the way! Before planting, you can pre-treat the lily bulb by soaking it in a solution of potassium permanganate or some fungicide for disinfection.
The process of planting a lily bulb in open ground is simple: simply place the bulb bottom on the soft bottom of the hole, secure it a little, and then sprinkle soil on top. After planting all the bulbs, water the plantings thoroughly to ensure they take root as quickly as possible. If the soil suddenly settles after watering, do not be afraid to add additional soil.
Video: spring planting lilies
Note! If you are planting a lily candidum, then the depth of its planting is slightly different. Under no circumstances should it be planted too deep, because... the leaves of the flower are laid directly above the soil surface. Therefore, the bulb should be covered with soil no more than 2-3 centimeters. Another important nuance is the fact that its planting can only be done in spring and summer; it cannot be delayed until autumn. Otherwise, it will not have time to form special wintering leaves, the plant will not be able to overwinter normally and will die.
A slightly more complex (perhaps more promising) process of preparing a planting hole and planting lilies is proposed in the following video, which we still highly recommend watching.
Video: how to plant lilies in spring
Caring for lilies in the open ground
Further care for lilies in the garden is quite simple. All these plants need to bloom is regular and fairly moderate watering. Remember that these flowers do not tolerate excessive humidity. So, during the flowering period they especially need watering, but they should be watered abundantly, but not often. But in dry and hot weather, lilies need to be watered more often. When flowering ends, watering can be stopped completely.
Note! You cannot water lilies using the sprinkling method. Moisture must be applied precisely to the roots, without getting on the leaves, and especially on the flowers.
It is better to fertilize lilies using mineral fertilizers. In spring, flowers respond especially well to nitrogen fertilizing, for example, ammonium nitrate or urea. And closer to flowering and during it, it is good to use the solution.
Video: feeding lilies
Advice! It is advisable to tie tall varieties of lilies with thin stems to supports so that they do not break off and fall.
The main pest for lilies is the lily beetle, which damages the buds, leaving its ugly passages in them and even eating holes in the leaves. You can get rid of beetles by collecting them by hand (it is advisable to do this in the morning and in cooler weather, when they are less mobile) or by spraying flowers with insecticides such as “Inta-Ts-M”, “Korado”, “ Commander Maxi", "Senpai" and "Aktara".
Video: how to care for lilies - pest control
When you cut the lilies, you don’t need to do this completely; you need to leave most of the stem. The more leaf mass you leave, the larger the bulbs you will grow. And the larger the bulbs, the more buds you will have on the branch. The cut must be made obliquely. This way, rainwater will quickly roll off and not get inside, otherwise it could cause rotting of the stem.
Advice! To prolong the flowering of lilies, remove the stamens from flowers in a timely manner. It is recommended to do this in the morning.
Video: tips for growing lilies from an experienced gardener
Thus, now you know that planting and growing lilies in your summer cottage is not so difficult; even a novice gardener can cope with it. All you need is to follow simple rules for planting and caring for this beautiful flower. And then its abundant and bright flowering will make your garden even more beautiful.
Video: spring planting lily bulbs in open ground
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