Features Of Growing And Breeding Lilies

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Features of agricultural technology of lilies

Among decorative perennials, bulbous plants are one of the main places. Every year they become more and more important for both industrial gardening and hobby gardeners.

This has a simple explanation: after all, such wonderful cultures as daffodils, tulips, hyacinths and, of course, lilies belong to the bulbous group.

Lilies belong to the lily family. It is a perennial bulbous plant with a height of 60 to 180 cm. The bulbs consist of separate scales, which are quite close to each other.

The shape of lily flowers is very diverse: they can be tubular, cupped, bell-shaped, funnel-shaped, but they are all unusually beautiful and graceful. The color is varied: white, yellow, violet-brown, pink, orange with a brown tint or dark specks. Some lilies have a very pleasant scent.

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Lilies are very demanding on the soil. They grow well in humus-rich and permeable soils. Lilies grow in one place for several years, so the place for planting them must be prepared. Before planting, the soil is dug to a depth of 35–40 cm. In a heavy-textured soil, add 1 bucket of sand and peat, and in a light one - 1 bucket of peat per 1 m ².

All lilies require protection from strong winds. But at the same time, the site must be well ventilated, otherwise infection of the plants with gray rot may occur. Planting sites should not be flooded with water, because the bulbs can rot and die from stagnant water.

The lighting requirements of the planting site depend on the group of lilies. For example, for a snow-white lily and Tubular hybrids, a sunny site should be selected, but Martagon lily and Oriental hybrids require placement in partial shade.

The best time for planting in central Russia is September - October; lilies are planted in the Northwest in August - the first half of September.

The planting depth depends on the size of the bulbs and the presence of underbelly roots. The planting of bulbs that do not form stem roots is carried out to a depth of 7–8 cm, and of bulbs that form roots - 15–20 cm, at a distance of 20–40 cm. Lilies are transplanted after 3–5 years, preserving the sublucid roots … Before digging, the stalks of the lilies are cut, then the nests are dug and the ground is shaken off. Dead scales and roots are removed, and the bulbs are washed under running water. Clean bulbs are etched for 20 minutes in a 0.2% solution of foundationol. Then they are slightly dried in the shade. The roots of the bulbs are shortened before planting, pruning to a length of 5-10 cm.

When buying lily bulbs, you should pay attention to the quality of the planting material. They must be dense, firm with living roots at least 5 cm long.

Before planting the bulbs, coarse sand should be poured on the bottom of the hole, then the bulbs should be spread on it and covered with sand, and after that with earth. After planting, the area must be watered so that the lilies take root faster. After that, the soil is mulched. For Eastern and Asian hybrids, peat or sawdust (5 cm layer) is used as mulch, and snow-white lily, Martagon and Tubular hybrids are mulched with leaf humus with the addition of ash, since they do not tolerate acidic soils.

Subsequent care comes down to watering, which must be carried out in hot dry weather, especially in the first half of summer. Water lilies under the root only in the morning or afternoon. The soil around the stems is loosened very carefully, and mulching is used to retain moisture in it, for example, with mown grass.

The first feeding of lilies is carried out in the spring, in the snow. It is recommended to make complex fertilizer at the rate of 30 g per m ². The same feeding is carried out during the budding period.

In the first year after planting, experts advise partially or completely removing the buds, since the plants are still weakened. And during flowering, tall stems can be tied to a support.

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In order for lilies to delight your eye with abundant flowering in the summer, you need to take care of this in the fall. In August - September, it is necessary to feed the plants with phosphorus-potassium fertilizers: 30 g of potassium sulfate and 10 g of superphosphate per 1 m ². This will help your plants survive the rough winter. In September, the yellowed aerial parts of the lilies should be cut off at soil level. In this case, it is necessary to ensure that the fallen leaves also do not remain on the ground, since pathogens of various diseases can remain on them. Therefore, the cut stems and leaves must be burned.

Most lilies require annual shelter for the winter. To do this, you can use fallen leaves, spruce branches or peat. Cover the flower garden with lilies after the first frost. The layer of foliage should be at least 10 cm. To prevent the foliage from being blown away by the wind, it is pressed with branches.

In the spring, foliage and spruce branches must be removed, but peat can be left. It will serve as a source of additional nutrition and protection for the bulbs from overheating of the soil. However, you should be aware that when tubular hybrids are covered with peat, chalk or ash should be added to the soil in spring, since they need a slightly alkaline soil for normal development.

Reproduction of lilies

Lilies reproduce by seeds, dividing nests - bulbs, bulbs - children, buds - bulbs (bulbous varieties), scales and leaf cuttings.

The easiest way is seed propagation. This produces a large amount of healthy material. However, with seed propagation, not all species of lilies retain their qualities. When grown from seeds, full-fledged bulbs are formed in 3–6 years. Seeds and bulbs are sown in a box in the fall and grown there to the desired size. Bulbules can be planted in a permanent place.

It is possible to get offspring that retains all the features of the mother plant only with vegetative reproduction. The easiest way is to divide overgrown nests. Nest division and replanting should be done 3-4 years after planting lilies, when 4–6 bulbs are formed in the nest. The best time for this is early autumn.

In order to propagate a single bulb, you need to plant the scales in a box with soil for growing. To land on a permanent place in 2-3 years. This makes it possible to get from one bulb to 20-50 new plants. The scales are harvested in spring, summer and autumn.

Treatment of individual scales with growth regulators allows to significantly increase the multiplication factor (by more than 50%). Succinic acid (100 mg per liter of water) is suitable for this. The material is placed in a solution for 6 hours at a temperature of 20 … 22 ° C.

In the conditions of central Russia, it is possible to successfully grow lilies of the following types: Chinese lily, white, tiger lily, Thunberg and others.

Lilies can be used both for single plantings and for group plantings. All of their types and varieties provide excellent cutting material. Lilies placed in water fully open all the buds and delight your eye with extraordinary beauty and grace.