It is not a secret that lilies are very capricious inhabitants of our gardens, they require care throughout the dacha season - in spring, summer and autumn. But the painstaking care of flower growers onion culture responds to the luxurious, beautiful and lush flowering, from which it is impossible to take your eyes off. If you want to have healthy bulbs that grow and bloom well, you need to give the plant the right care during the important autumn period. Read on to learn how to properly care for lilies in autumn and how to prepare them for winter.
Contents [Hide]
1 Outdoor lily care in autumn: procedures and rules
1.1 Watering
1.2 Pruning lilies in autumn
1.3 Lily feeding in autumn
1.4 Preventive treatment of lilies against diseases
2 Preparing lilies for winter: mulching and sheltering in autumn
3 Winter excavation of lily bulbs
4 Lily bulbs transplanting to a new location in autumn
Outdoor lily care in autumn: procedures and rules
So, what to do with the lilies in the fall? There are a number of autumn activities that are very important for the successful cultivation of perennial bulb crops. These include pruning, top dressing, and preventive treatment against diseases.
Watering
Starting from the second half of August lily watering stops completely! Excess moisture can cause fungal diseases, soaking and rotting of bulbs. The only exception is watering with liquid fertiliser and after applying dry granules.
Lily trimming in the fall
Lily trimming in autumn is the most important care procedure for onion culture, which helps the plant to prepare for winter, successfully survive the frost and start growing with renewed vigour in spring.
Cutting lilies in the summer immediately after flowering is not possible, it can be very damaging to the plants or even cause their death. The fact is that after blossoming the plant actively continues its life activity: in the foliage there are processes of photosynthesis, roots continue to grow, the bulb is filled with nutrients, is gaining strength for the winter, matures. And if you cut off the above-ground part immediately after flowering, the bulb will not be able to mature and prepare for winter.
After flowering, only the lily's peduncle can be trimmed in the summer so that the plant does not waste resources on seed formation. By removing the flower noses, the bulbs will ripen better.
The timing of lily trimming in autumn is determined by the appearance of the plant: the leaves and stems should dry out. These signs indicate that the bulbs are ripe and can be cut above ground. As a rule, the time of lily trimming is in September, early October (in different regions of Russia due to different climatic conditions, the timing of the care procedure may differ).
The scheme of autumn lily trimming is very simple: you need to prepare a disinfected pruning shear and then cut all the stems and leaves completely, leaving hemps about 15 centimeters high from the soil surface.
Important: If you don't cut off lilies in the open, there may be pests and pathogens left in the leaves and shoots, and they can affect your lilies and other plants in the garden in spring.
For the same reason, you should burn all plant residues immediately after the autumn pruning.
https://youtu.be/_zTKTeI7NWo
Lily feeding in the fall
Lily feeding in autumn is a guarantee of good health of the perennial plant, successful overwintering of bulbs, resistance to diseases and pests, lush, and beautiful flowering in the next season. Phosphorous and potassium are the most important elements that the bulb crop needs during this period (they increase the winter resistance of bulbs, make flowering more lush and lasting).
When is it better to feed lilies? It is most effective to feed lilies immediately after flowering. However, if you haven't fertilised your lilies during this period, you should feed them in the autumn, but before the ground cools down and cools down (approximate timing for autumn fertilisation: at the end of September or the beginning of October). It is also possible to combine and make 2 reinforcements! In this case it is better to apply fertilizer in liquid form after flowering, but in autumn - in dry form.
As a phosphorus-potassium fertilizer you can use the following mineral fertilizers: superphosphate (40 grams per square meter of flower bed) and potassium sulfate (20 grams per square meter). Or you can use the ready-made complex potassium-phosphorus fertilizer for autumn fertilization of different crops (according to the instructions to the drug).
Pay attention! If you use dry pellets, you have to lightly pour them into the soil and then water them (in dry weather).
And to make the solution, you need to completely dissolve the granules in the dosage of 10 liters of water (for better dissolution you can first dissolve the fertilizer in a liter of warm water, and then mix with normal water). Then water the flowerbeds (10 litres per square metre) with the solution.
As organic phosphorus-potassium fertilizers you can use wood ash (potassium source) and bone meal (phosphorus source), 100 grams of each substance per 1 square meter of flower bed. However, wood ash contributes to soil snapping, so it can not be used in the cultivation of Asian, Oriental, American lilies, LA-hybrid (these species do not tolerate alkaline soil).
Important: Water the flower bed with normal water before applying liquid fertiliser. Also water the flower bed after finishing the dry pellets.
As an organic fertiliser you can fertilise the flowerbed with humus or compost in late autumn. However, you should not refuse mineral fertilisers in favor of such organic fertilisers, because the latter serves as an additional fertiliser, but is not the main fertiliser, because they do not contain the necessary potassium and phosphorus.
Prophylactic treatment of lilies against diseases
Any garden crop disease is easier to prevent than to treat. Therefore, in order to protect the flower from fungal diseases in the next season, it is very important to carry out preventive treatment of lilies in autumn.
Disease agents can be eliminated by means of preventive spraying with fungicide solution, e.g. Bordeaux liquid, Hom. In addition to spraying the plants themselves, you also need to spray the soil around.
Preparing lilies for winter: mulching and sheltering in autumn
The care measures described above are generally aimed at preparing the bulbous perennial for wintering. However, there are measures that help to prepare the lily for winter in a targeted and effective way in the autumn, so that it can survive the frost safely.
Important: Leave lily bulbs outdoors without mulching and shelter only when growing perennials in southern regions with mild winters.
Mulching of the flowerbeds should be carried out first. Mulcha protects the bulbs from frost and adverse conditions. Optimal timing of mulching - in case of stable cold weather. Peat, humus leaf, sawdust, compost or humus can be used as mulch. By the way, compost and humus, as mentioned above, not only protect the bulbs from frost, but also act as fertilizer. The optimal thickness of the mulch layer of lilies is 15-20 centimetres.
In some situations, in addition to the mulch, lilies need to be covered in autumn to prepare for winter. Long-floral, Oriental, and American lily hybrids are particularly in need of shelter (unless you dig them up for the winter). It is recommended to hide all bulbs outdoors if you are growing a perennial flower in regions with cold winters, such as the Middle Stripe (Moscow Region), Siberia, the Urals, and the Leningrad Region. The mulch layer can be covered with spruce pawn, leaf fall (but not from fruit trees!), boards. It is optimal to put fallen leaves or lapels on mulch and to protect the covering material from strong winds on top of the board. It is very important to remove the cover immediately in spring when it gets warm.
It's important! You have to hide the lilies when you get frosty, not before!
https://youtu.be/Y-OHCyOBuCE
Digging up lily bulbs for the winter
In some situations, to save bulbs from winter frosts in cold regions, it is not enough just to blur and hide them, you need to dig them up in the autumn and store them at home. And in spring, plant them in the open ground. Or they can be transplanted into a greenhouse for the winter.
You need to dig for the winter:
Bulbs of American, Longiflorum, Eastern lily hybrids.
Onions of exclusive and unique lily varieties, which do not have accurate information about their resistance to frost.
It is also necessary to dig up Asian hybrids every year. They form a lot of babies, so it is very important to dig up and separate the babies from bulbs. Otherwise, the babies will grow very tightly to the mother bulb and it will be difficult to separate them later on. At the same time children will take away nutrients, moisture, because of this the plant will weaken, flowering will be poor and unsightly.
After digging up the Asian hybrids bulbs, the babies should be separated immediately and the mother bulbs should be placed back in the open ground. Babies should be planted in spring, and in winter they should be kept at home.
To dig up lily bulbs for the winter it is necessary under the following scheme:
The first step is to cut the lily bulbs as standard.
Then you need to water the flowerbed with the plants in 24 hours or 12 hours.
Afterwards, the bulbs should be carefully dug up with forks, avoiding any damage to the bulb itself and the root system.
Take the bulbs out of the ground together with the earth coma. After digging out, inspect the bulbs for rottenness and damage. Heavily affected specimens should be discarded.
After that, wash the bulbs in cool water.
All damaged and dead scales should be removed.
Then all damaged and too long roots should be cut off.
It is recommended to disinfect in a fungicide solution, e.g. soak in "Maxim Dachnik", "Carbofos" solution.
The onions should be dried completely in a dark, dry place and stored.
Store lily bulbs in a cool, dark room with high humidity (at least 70%) in winter. The temperature should be about 6-8 degrees Celsius. The best way to store bulbs - in a wooden box, covered with paper, it is recommended to cover the top with a mixture of peat and coniferous fall or overflowing coniferous sawdust, and again cover the top with paper. During the storage process it is recommended to inspect them sometimes for signs of diseases, rottenness, mold. If they are found, the affected specimens should be treated in a fungicide solution.
Lily bulbs transplanting to a new location in the fall
An onion transplant can also be referred to as an autumn care event. Lily bulbs should be transplanted in autumn if the plant has been growing in one place for about 3-4 years. Asian lily hybrids should be transplanted every year.
The fact is that in a few years the onion becomes overgrown children, they begin to take away nutrients and moisture from the mother's bulb, which makes them more loose, weaker. Therefore, it is very important to plant lilies in a timely manner.
Dug up according to the scheme described above. Mother bulbs are immediately worried about the new suitable place in autumn. But the lily babies should be sent to grow or stored in a fridge before planting in the spring.
Video: How to dig up and transplant lilies to a new location.
https://youtu.be/L9Yho7VC2dY
Please note: In autumn, the lily bulbs are optimally placed in the open soil. This article describes the timing, rules, and planting patterns of lilies.
The same information is relevant for transplanting bulbs in autumn, based on the information in the article, you will be able to decide when to transplant them to a new place, how to choose the right place, prepare the site and do the transplant.