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.
The garden lily is very impressive with its huge and chic assortment that it is simply impossible to pass by this beauty without purchasing a bulb to decorate your flowerbed.
Caring for lilies in spring
There are a large number of varieties and types of lilies. The most common of them are hybrids of Asiatic lily, forest lily, trumpet lily, LA, LO and OT hybrids. Caring for lilies is not to say that it is difficult, but, nevertheless, they also have individual needs that we need to know about.
It is best to plant a lily in a sunny area or in partial shade; planting in the shade is strictly not recommended. They need fertile, well-drained soil with a moderate content of organic matter.
Bulbs are planted in the ground in early spring or late autumn, although in principle it can be done throughout the entire season. The bulb should be planted at a depth of 8-10 cm.
If the bulb is buried too deep, the lily may not bloom. It is better to transplant the flower to another place after two or three years so that they do not degenerate, because often some bulbs go deep.
Features of caring for lilies in spring and not only
Caring for lilies in spring begins from the moment the snow melts. If the flowers were covered for the winter, then the covering should be removed. Loosen the soil around to ensure normal air access to the roots.You just need to do this very carefully so as not to harm the sprouts. When all the shoots appear, you should loosen, weed and hill up the soil.
How to fertilize lilies in spring? At the moment of germination, lilies should be watered and organic fertilizer can be added. You can apply nitrogen-containing fertilizers - a small amount of nitrate, a liquid fertilizer complex or nitroammophoska.
It is not advisable to apply mineral fertilizer, because it improves the appearance for a while, and then overworks the soil and, accordingly, this negatively affects the development of the crop.
When buds appear, lilies should be fertilized with potassium and phosphorus. In this case, wood ash, superphosphate, potassium nitrate or fertilizers for flowering crops are suitable.
Caring for lilies in the garden involves timely watering, removing faded buds, loosening the soil, weeding and fertilizing. It is necessary to water the lily regularly and be sure to ensure that the bulbs do not dry out.
Excessive watering, on the contrary, threatens the crop with rotting and imminent death. Although these beautiful flowers love the sun, their root system must be kept cool.
To do this, it is better to mulch the soil around the roots with leaves, straw, sawdust, mown grass or spruce branches. When watering the crop, it is advisable to avoid getting water on the leaves, as this can cause them to burn. If you are interested in a question, you will find the answer on our website.
Caring for lilies after flowering
After garden lilies have faded, the buds should be removed, and the leaves should be removed only when they are yellow.It is best to replant lilies in the fall, no earlier than 15 days after they bloom. When the lilies have faded, caring for them can be reduced to a minimum; only the simplest procedures can be carried out - weeding, watering and periodically loosening the soil.
If you need to make a flower bouquet, then it is best to break off the lilies and the longer the stem remains on the bulb, the better for it, because the plant receives nutrition from the leaves and stem. Also, if the flower is not cut, the risk of fungal disease is reduced. It is recommended to remove dry stems in spring.
Some types of lilies are very tall and have thin stems, so you need to take care of support for them. Flowers practically do not need shelter for the winter; in general, they tolerate frosts well.
The most frost-resistant Asian hybrids, OT and LA hybrids. Less resistant are Trumpet lilies and Oriental lilies.
Among the diseases that are almost inevitable for lilies is mosaic, the main cause of which is aphids. If the leaves of lilies turn yellow, then most likely they have chlorosis.
Also, bulbs often rot, so the plants should be provided with good drainage.
To prevent diseases, two-year-old and older plants, after leaves appear on them, need to be treated with one of the preparations - copper sulfate, actellik, karbofos, intavir or Bordeaux mixture.
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...
Some dacha owners prefer to plant perennial crops on their plots. Lilies are very popular. They amaze with their rich variety, sophistication and beauty. In order for them to delight you with lush flowering, you need to know how to care for lilies in the country. Let's consider what needs to be done during spring and summer, starting with planting this plant.
Features of planting lilies
Experienced gardeners recommend growing several bulbs of the same variety together. Replanting can be done once every four years, otherwise growth will noticeably deteriorate. Moreover, it is advisable to do this in the autumn. But spring planting also has its advantages. The new plant will have time to please with good growth and flowering. The risk of bulbs dying during the winter is reduced. Spring plantings can be dug up in the fall and stored in the refrigerator so that they do not freeze or get wet.
It is also important to consider how to plant and care for lilies of one or another variety in the country. For example, North American species are recommended to be planted in the fall, and late-flowering plants in the spring. In addition, the climatic conditions of the region matter. So, if the summer is long and warm, then it is rational to plant in the spring. If it is cold and short, then it is better to do this in mid-autumn, otherwise the flowers will not appear until next year. In central Russia, seedlings are usually planted in April.
Preparation of planting material
In spring, it is better to give preference to bulbs with small sprouts. They should be free of rot, mold, stains and other signs of disease. To protect seedlings from damage by various fungi and bacteria, disinfection is carried out. To do this, first, all planting material is carefully washed with plain water and then dipped in a weak solution of fungicide or potassium permanganate. These are the fundamentals and one of the useful tips on how to care for lilies in the country.
Then the plant is freed from damaged scales and thoroughly washed in several clean waters. After this treatment, the bulbs can be planted in the ground using cut plastic bottles. This is an excellent mini-greenhouse for still immature and young shoots.
Soil treatment and preparation
Lily in general is an unpretentious plant, but it is quite demanding when it comes to soil. It does not tolerate heavy soils, which greatly affects the success of growth. It is better to give preference to loose, well-drained and fertile soil. At the very beginning of spring or even at the end of winter, you can carry out some preparatory activities. In the future, this will greatly facilitate the process of caring for lilies in the country and growing them.
You should choose an area that is never flooded and is always on the sunny side. Shade and partial shade are absolutely not suitable for this plant. The upper layers of the site are dug up about half a meter deep. Next, drainage is arranged using river pebbles or gravel to drain moisture. If necessary, fresh soil is brought to the summer cottage.
New or old land is enriched with potassium-phosphorus fertilizer or humus. Manure and other organic matter cannot be used. If the soil is highly acidic, then it needs to be reduced. To do this, add dolomite flour, wood ash or chalk. Adding foundationazole to the soil will additionally protect lilies from diseases. It is also important to keep the soil moist before planting.
Planting lilies in the country
Before caring for lilies in the country, you need to do proper planting. The depth of the holes depends on the type of soil. The lighter it is, the deeper the hole will be. The type of plant also matters. Tall flowers are usually planted to a depth of 12-20 centimeters. It is important to maintain a thirty-centimeter interval between the bulbs. For low-growing lilies, a depth of 8-12 centimeters will be good. The interval between them should be approximately 15-20 centimeters. If the plant has a well-developed root system, then another five centimeters should be added to these values.
Experienced gardeners note that it is important not to overdo it with deepening the bulbs. If it is excessive, then the lilies will not bloom even after a few years and they will have to be transplanted to a new place. It is recommended to lay the bulbs on their sides. According to numerous observations, they reproduce much faster this way. If rodents constantly live in your summer cottage, then it is better to plant flowers in a metal mesh or special baskets.
Primary feeding
The first feeding is one of the most important stages of how to care for lilies in the country in the spring. As a rule, wood ash, ammonium nitrate or nitroammophosphate are added to the soil as fertilizers. One thing you should be more careful about is the frequency and dosage when feeding. Because an excess of nutrients, as well as a lack of them, has a detrimental effect on plants. The most harmless additive can be called wood ash. It can be applied up to six times per season. It not only creates a favorable environment for good growth, but also protects flowers from pests and mold.
Features of watering lilies
Even if you prepare and feed the soil in advance and correctly, but do not take care of its moisture from the moment of planting the bulbs, then all your efforts can go down the drain. Flowering will either be sparse or not occur at all. If you want to know how to properly care for lilies in the country, you should not neglect proper watering of the plant.
It is recommended to thoroughly moisten the soil immediately after planting. But this is not enough. It is important to maintain regular watering throughout the season. At the same time, neither stagnation of water nor overdrying of the soil should be allowed. Otherwise, it will inhibit the development of lilies and negatively affect flowering.
It is most effective to water in the morning or afternoon using the root method. But you need to try to prevent water from getting on the leaves. The fact is that excess moisture on them or even splashes can contribute to the occurrence of diseases and burns. Experienced gardeners give useful advice. How to care for lilies in the country and water them without stagnating water in the ground? A little trick is that you need to mix rotted sawdust or pine needles into the soil. They prevent the soil from drying out by retaining water. Also, in order for moisture to be distributed evenly among the plants, when planting you need to maintain the interval mentioned earlier.
Planting lilies with sprouts
When planting lilies with sprouts in the spring, you are guaranteed to get beautiful buds in the summer. To do this, the bulbs are first germinated and only then buried in the ground. It is better to do this at the end of May, when the frost season ends. The degree of development of the sprout is of great importance. If it is small, then it is planted at the usual depth, which was mentioned earlier. If the sprout is already well developed and has even unfolded its leaves, then the bulb should be immersed in the soil shallowly, only up to the neck. Otherwise, it will not break through the layer of earth and will rot.
But with this method there is a high risk of lilies freezing in winter. Therefore, it is recommended to replant in the fall to the usual depth. Also, to prevent freezing, sprouted bulbs are laid sideways in the ground. If you know about approaching frosts, then you need to urgently take protective measures. Therefore, it is important to know how to care for lilies in the country in such situations. Usually the bushes are watered abundantly with water with the addition of epin. This substance will help plants relieve stress, and moist soil will absorb frost.
Usually, as soon as the stems appear from the soil, re-feeding is carried out.
Repeated feeding of lilies
Whether flowers will please you with abundant and long-lasting blooms or not will mainly depend on how to care for lilies in your dacha in the spring. Feeding plays an important role in this matter. They contribute to the accumulation of forces necessary for the successful formation of buds. During this period, the plant most of all needs a large amount of nitrogen. Some gardeners add a solution of nitrophoska to the soil, and after flowering - superphosphate.
At the same time as fertilizing lilies, it is recommended to prevent various diseases. To do this, in May the soil is soaked with a one percent Bordeaux mixture. The procedure is repeated several times already in the middle of summer, treating not only the soil, but also the plant itself. If there are obvious signs of disease, then fertilizing is continued so that the bulbs are additionally saturated with useful substances.
Features of fertilizing
When applying fertilizers, it is important to know some of the nuances of how to properly care for lilies in the country. Fertilizers should only be applied to heated soil. This is explained by the fact that the plant’s root system needs to absorb nutrients that are completely dissolved. Otherwise, they will all leave with meltwater. For example, in central Russia this period begins in early May. The length of the sprouts acts as an additional signal. It should be at least ten centimeters, and the leaves should deviate from the stem in different directions.
In some cases, fertilizing lilies can, on the contrary, become harmful. This procedure can be carried out only as needed. After all, excess minerals slow down the growth of roots and above-ground parts of the plant. For example, fertilizing will not be required in the first years after planting if the land is sufficiently fertile and not depleted by other green plants.
When and what to feed lilies?
Let's look at the secrets of growing and how to care for lilies in the country with the help of fertilizers.
In the first year, the planted bulbs are fed with organic ingredients. Before planting, humus is added to the soil, and then slurry is prepared, which is then used to water the seedlings. Usually half a liter of fertilizer is used per bucket of water.
In the second and third years after planting lilies, fertilizing is carried out with complex mineral compounds. The ratio of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in them should be 1:2:2. Also, after two years of plant life, in addition to mineral fertilizers, it is recommended to use ammonium nitrate. It requires approximately thirty grams per square meter of land. Feeding with this substance is carried out three times during the growing season of the lily (after the appearance of sprouts, buds and directly at the flowering stage).
In the third year, complex fertilizer is also applied. It should consist (per square meter) of twenty grams of superphosphate, twenty-five grams of potassium salt and fifty grams of ammonium nitrate. This procedure is repeated three times in accordance with the growth of the lily.
Features of summer feeding of lilies
Let's look at how to care for lilies in the country in the summer, because during this period it is most important to support the plant's strength with nutrients and increase its resistance to various diseases.
Most often, gardeners use wood ash to make the plant happy with its beautiful appearance, bright, abundant and long-lasting flowering. But fertilizing with this substance must be carried out regularly and competently. As a rule, a glass of wood ash is placed in a bucket of water. It should be applied once during watering or constantly added in small portions throughout the summer.
During the period of bud formation, it is recommended to treat the vegetative parts of lilies with special solutions against various pests. To strengthen the stems and enhance the brightness of the flowers, superphosphate containing potassium magnesium is added to the soil in mid-summer.
It is worth noting that during flowering it is preferable to use liquid fertilizers. This is explained by the fact that granular fertilizers dissolve in water for a very long time, and therefore do not have the desired effect. It is best to fertilize plants with liquid products after good watering.
Do I need to feed after flowering?
Many people wonder how to care for lilies in the country after flowering. First of all, you should pay attention to fertilizing. At the end of summer, the bulbs are already beginning to move to the stage of storing nutrients that will be required next year for full flowering. To help lilies regain strength and easily endure the harsh winter cold, it is recommended to feed them. Typically, ornamental plants are fertilized at the end of summer or early autumn with phosphorus-potassium compounds. Also during this period, potassium magnesium or superphosphate-based fertilizer is ideal.
Spring-summer care for lilies consists of a number of activities that help the plant maintain vitality and beauty.
First of all, the shelters under which the seedlings were kept in winter are removed. Afterwards, you need to carefully loosen the soil around the bushes. It is also necessary to do regular watering and timely apply organic and nitrogen-containing fertilizers. With the appearance of buds, the soil is enriched with potassium-phosphorus fertilizers in the form of potassium nitrate, superphosphate or wood ash. When watering, it is important not to touch the leaves so that droplets of moisture do not cause a burn. It is also necessary to weed the weeds and remove faded buds. Experienced gardeners, in addition to everything, recommend mulching the soil around the roots of the plant with organic materials such as straw, sawdust, leaves or mowed grass.
When and how are flower stalks cut?
In how to care for lilies in the country and in the garden, pruning is not the least important. This procedure must be carried out in several cases. If the leaves have rotted, dried out or become diseased, if the flower stalks have faded, when it is time to clean up before winter storage. Peduncles must be trimmed to preserve decorativeness and stop the ripening of seeds. Otherwise, they will take away the strength needed for growth.
How to care for lilies in the country in autumn and late summer? Everything is very simple - you need to wait until all the leaves become limp and acquire a pale color, then they can be cut off at a distance of a few centimeters from the soil. This makes it easier for the bulbs to adapt to winter and to sprout new shoots faster in the spring.
Solving some problems
Sometimes flowers do not appear on lilies, and there are several explanations for this. The plant has underdeveloped bulbs or is very young, there was no dormant period in winter or there was insufficient rest. In these cases, changing the substrate and adding nutrients to the soil can help. Some gardeners plant lilies in pots that are too large. Therefore, the plant begins to grow exclusively the root, bulbous and leaf parts. The optimal solution would be a smaller pot.
Another common problem is yellowed or dried leaves. This problem occurs due to thickened plantings, lack of moisture and nutrients. Therefore, you need to plant the bulbs, feed them and water regularly.
Now you know how to care for lilies in the country in the spring and summer. If everything is done correctly, this luxurious ornamental plant will delight its owners for many years.
Purchasing planting material is very important - the success of growing lilies depends on timeliness. Before buying bulbs, or ordering through an online store, you need to find out which group of hybrids the selected flower belongs to, perhaps it’s even a species lily, they require special care.
If you are offered lily bulbs of unknown origin, it is better to refuse the purchase - you simply may make a mistake with the choice of location, planting depth and further agricultural technology, but even worse if the lily turns out to be unsuitable for your region in terms of frost resistance.
For example, varieties of LA hybrids or Oriental lilies (Orientals) require shelter if winters are harsh, while American hybrids are generally very thermophilic and can only be grown in southern regions or containers (overwinter in the basement).
For residents of central Russia, the Urals and Siberia, it is important to know the flowering time when buying lilies, so for Eastern hybrids the flowering period is very extended, some varieties bloom earlier, others later, but late-flowering lilies may not have time to ripen by winter (store nutrients), by spring they will be exhausted and die.
If you have the opportunity to examine and touch the bulbs, choose those that are dense, hard, without spots of rotten scales, especially mold, always with living roots at least 5 cm long, and the bulbs of snow-white lily hybrids are viable only if they have good long roots . You should be wary if the bulbs are very dry - a good gardener will not allow this, soaking in water or wrapping with a damp cloth may not help, do not take risks.
Problems with purchasing lilies arise for gardeners if you buy imported bulbs from Holland out of season. The fact is that in the fall, imported bulbs go on sale only from last year's unsold stocks. In October-November, the Dutch only begin to prepare the bulbs for sale: they dig them up, wash them, dry them, put them in cold storage, and they arrive in Russia only in the middle of winter.
Our domestic gardeners, on the contrary, only dig up planting material in the fall. Therefore, in the fall you need to buy bulbs from friends in the garden, through clubs and forums of lily lovers, and at the end of winter and spring - lilies from Europe. However, it is very important to buy bulbs that are in the dormant stage. Sometimes the desire to purchase a beautiful variety is so great that gardeners, without hesitation, purchase bulbs with sprouts, while others are ready to sell lilies immediately after flowering! It is a very common occurrence when at the market you are offered a dug up lily, with a flower that has not yet faded - to prove the authenticity of the variety. You are asked to cut off the peduncle and plant the bulb immediately.
If you are an experienced florist, then you most likely understand how risky it is to buy lilies with sprouts, and even more so, dug up during flowering. The recommendation to break out the sprouts and simply plant them in the ground is especially frightening. It is a huge stress for a plant to survive after its growth is broken, to rebuild its biological rhythms from vegetation to suspended animation. When dug up, lilies that are fragile after flowering take a very long time to recover and take root, and very often die! The survivors bloom weakly and grow bulbs slowly.
Planting lilies
We have already written about this stage of cultivation - read: .
Let's repeat it more briefly:
If you bought the bulbs at the end of winter or very early spring, before planting them in open ground you need to store them in the refrigerator, in the vegetable compartment or where the temperature ranges from 0 to + 4 ° C, no higher, the longer the storage is expected, the closer the temperature should approach zero - optimally 0+1°C. The bulbs should be placed in damp sphagnum moss and a plastic bag with holes.
Important: ethylene gas is emitted by almost all fruits and vegetables, and it has a detrimental effect on lily bulbs, so it is necessary to isolate them from fruits and vegetables. Moreover, it is the fruit that needs to be sealed tightly in the bag, not the lilies.
You can keep lily bulbs in the refrigerator until the sprout reaches 5-6 cm. If the sprout has formed ahead of time and it is too early to plant in open ground, do not wait until the bulbs are depleted in the absence of ultraviolet light on chlorotic sprouts - plant them in containers and place them on a glazed balcony, in a film greenhouse, until the frosts have passed. Then simply transfer (reserving the entire contents of the pot) into the prepared holes in the flower beds.
If you missed the moment when sprouts began to appear on the bulbs in storage, and they grew too large, then when planting, place the bulb in the hole at an angle.
If you bought lily bulbs in the fall, plant them immediately or at most they can wait 3-4 days, wrapped in damp moss. If you plant your own lilies, then take into account two important factors:
- Lilies can be divided and replanted only 1.5 months after the end of flowering; this time is necessary for the bulbs to gain mass, store nutrients, they will grow, and look strong and elastic in appearance.
- It is better to divide and plant lilies when the mother bush reaches four and five years of age. By this time, it will have grown enough for the daughter bulbs to easily separate on their own.
Tubular and other large lilies can be planted less frequently - once every 6-7 years. An earlier transplant of lilies may be associated with damage to the flower garden by gray rot, an attack by mice that gnaw the entire flowerbed, or when serious damage was caused by thrips (gnawed on the bulbs) or infected with a virus.
Before planting, the bulbs need to be soaked in the fungicide-protectant Maxim. If the Lily (lily) red beetle has been noticed on your site, it is better to additionally treat the bulbs in the preparation Prestige or Prestigator - it is intended for treating potatoes against the Colorado potato beetle, but it also works well against the lily beetle. Treatment is especially helpful when planting lilies in the spring, since the maximum effect of the drug is observed in the first month (in the fall the bulbs will sleep), but the fully active substance of these insecticides decomposes for more than a year.
We plant lily bulbs in prepared soil to a depth three times greater than the size of the bulbs (excluding Candidum hybrids and immature children - lightly sprinkle them with soil).
After planting, make a small border around the hole, like a tree trunk circle, so that water after watering does not spread into the rows. Now they need to be watered, especially if the soil is dry.
How to care for lilies
To grow and bloom, lilies, like all plants, need light, warmth, regular moisture, protection from diseases and pests, fertilizing, mulching, and tying to supports for tall varieties.
We take into account the need for sunlight when choosing a location.
Many species of lilies available commercially: Lilium leichtlinii, Lilium speciosum, Tiger lily (Lilium tigrinum), as well as Orientals and Tiger hybrids prefer very light partial shade or bright places where there is sun. at least 4-6 hours in the morning or evening.
Asiatic lilies and LA hybrids prefer sunny areas, but also grow normally in light partial shade.
LO hybrids, Trumpet lilies, OT hybrids prefer full sun. But even they sometimes require shading on particularly hot days in the summer. You can organize it by stretching a mosquito net or installing a beach umbrella next to the plantings.
Lilies with a height of more than 50 cm must be tied to a support so that they are not broken by the wind.
Mulching
After planting lilies, the soil must be mulched - straw, peat, pine or leaf litter, pine sawdust. Of all types of mulch, the best is forest litter. If your soil is quite acidic, use leaf litter (from birches, aspens, lindens); if it is close to neutral, you can use coniferous litter from pine trees. But the needles strongly acidify the soil and are not suitable for mulching Tubular hybrids, Lilies regale and others who need slightly alkaline soil.
By the way, OT hybrids that form supra-bulb roots especially need mulching. As soon as they begin to appear above the surface, add soil.
Mulching is necessary so that the soil does not dry out quickly, the surface roots do not overheat in the heat and do not freeze in winter. In addition, the mulch gradually decomposes and creates a new humus layer. Also, mulching allows you not to loosen the rows - with mulch the soil is not compacted and remains porous.
If you have the opportunity to get horse bedding - sawdust mixed with horse manure, then you can use such mulch only after six months - so that the composition has time to rot well and decompose.
If you are growing lilies surrounded by ground cover or low growing plants, mulching is not necessary. Variegated bulbous ryegrass looks very good next to lilies - its variegated leaves are an excellent frame for lilies and protect the soil. By the way, tall lilies look and grow great surrounded by shorter daylilies.
How to water lilies
Lilies prefer the soil to be constantly moderately moist. This is how they grow in nature - in the undergrowth, where a large layer of fallen leaves protects the soil from drying out, but does not create excessive dampness - the soil is very porous. Lilies do not tolerate excess dampness - for them, stagnation of water in the roots is destructive.
Therefore, we carry out watering as needed - in the absence of rain, about once a week, and water should be poured at the root in the inter-row spaces. The best time for watering: morning or before 14-15 hours of the day - the soil should have time to dry out from above by night.
Experienced gardeners advise being especially careful with watering in the spring, when recurrent frosts or sudden cold snaps at night are possible. In such cases, many use watering in conjunction with growth regulators and anti-stress drugs - Epin, Zircon, Previscur Energy. This is especially necessary during the budding period.
The greatest need for soil moisture occurs in June, when temperatures are equal day and night, it is very hot during the day, and also after flowering, when the formation of lily bulbs begins and the accumulation of nutrients before the dormant period.
However, waterlogging of the soil is detrimental for lilies, especially when the plantings are dense; if lilies are planted in a flower garden next to plants that need to be watered and fed frequently (for example, roses), diseases develop from constant moisture. Most often this is gray rot and botrytis - a fungal disease typical of bulbous plants (the lower leaves become covered with small spots, turn brown, dry out, flowering is weak, the disease goes from bottom to top).
The frequency of watering also depends on the type of soil - on light sandy loam soils it is necessary to water more often, on loams (even taking into account their improvement, adding sand and peat) - less often.
After flowering, you must completely stop watering the lilies. The exception is abnormally hot weather in the fall, when the earth dries up into dust, you can water the lily 1-2 times after flowering, until the foliage has completely turned yellow.
Feeding lilies
The first thing to remember is that lilies cannot tolerate any organic matter! You can add humus to poor soil to improve its composition before planting (planting a flower bed), but it must be well-rotted compost - that is, if you bought a car of fresh manure, you can use it for flowers no earlier than four years later.
By the way, lilies do not like green fertilizer - freshly infused leaves and weeds, which with love and gratitude accept vegetables - tomatoes, cucumbers - as fertilizer.
All organic lilies tolerate well-rotted leaf litter.
In total, it is enough to feed these flowers three times a season:
- in spring, you can use calcium nitrate, twice with an interval of 2 weeks (6 g per 1 liter of water)
- during the period of budding and flowering - complete mineral fertilizer, for example, Fertika Lux, Fertika Universal, or feed with potassium magnesia (1.5 tablespoons per 10 l), feeding every 2 weeks
- after flowering - phosphorus and potassium fertilizers once
In autumn, you cannot replant and fertilize plants at the same time.
Combine all root feedings with watering, do not apply fertilizers on dry soil, only with plenty of water.
In addition to root feeding, lilies sometimes need leaf feeding; if chlorosis appears on young leaves, perhaps there is not enough iron, then you need to spray with iron chelate (just not on a sunny day). Iron deficiency manifests itself in soils with an alkaline and neutral reaction, so lilies that are grown on such soils, OT-hybrids, Tubular lilies, Candidum hybrids, are primarily affected. Iron is well absorbed at an acidity pH of 6 and below.
But in addition to iron, neutral and alkaline soils may lack boron and zinc, so these minerals can also be used for foliar feeding, boron is especially useful, as for vegetables, it is diluted at the rate of 5 g per 5 liters of water, for spraying during budding. To compensate for the lack of zinc, add zinc sulfate 2.5 g per 5 liters of water to the solution.
If your soil is slightly acidic, then chlorosis can be caused not by iron deficiency, but by molybdenum deficiency; use a complex fertilizer that contains this element.
Lilies for cutting
Sometimes, when gardeners cannot be in the garden often, they tend to cut blooming lilies in order to take this beauty home with them in a bouquet. But you need to cut lilies correctly:
- Do not cut the peduncle too low, leave as much of it as possible in the flowerbed, otherwise the bulbs will not be able to ripen properly.
- Powder the cut area of the stem remaining in the flowerbed with wood ash, then add a drop of medical glue to prevent the wound from rotting.
Lilies after flowering
When lilies fade, remove fading flowers to prevent the formation of seed pods; there is no need to cut the stem itself!
In the fall, when all the leaves turn yellow, you need to cut the stems at a height of 10-15 cm from the ground and leave them like that until spring. In the spring you just need to pull them out of the ground (they practically fall out on their own).
Shelter for the winter
After transplanting lilies in the fall or after final pruning, the flower beds need to be insulated if winters in your region are harsh.
Usually the shelter is multi-layered: rake up leaf litter, for example, from under apple and pear trees, cover with spruce branches or peat. You can lay plastic film on top and press it down with stones.
Oriental hybrids (Orientals) especially need shelter for the winter; in the northwestern regions of Russia they should be covered not with foliage, but with a layer of peat of at least 10 cm, then spruce branches.
In the spring, you need to remove the film and spruce branches, and leave the peat or mulch, but it’s a good idea to water it with special preparations to increase fertility, for example, Baikal-EM1.
It is important to remove the covers in a timely manner, before the lilies begin to grow, so as not to damage the sprouts or to prevent the young shoots from rotting away.
