Lilies are intolerant of drying out; and, the soil must be kept moist. In hot, humid climates lilies perform best in very light filtered shade. The lilies we have growing in the hoophouses are watered two to three times daily. Your Stargazer lilies are heat stressed. This is why they are blooming for you now, and such a small size. It's called survival of the species. We no longer grow lilies in the field. They perform better for us growing in crates in the controlled environment of hoophouses. Also, because we now cut long stems, the bulbs will be composted after they bloom. It's not cost effective for us to carry them over or plant them out. Lilies are so popular at the moment, we are pushing them through the hoophouses the entire season.

It's probably just me and market fatigue; but, Walmart and flower farming is an oxymoron.

Flowerfarmer--Thanks for responding. I can't imagine how exhausted you really must be--I've thought of you & your 1000 bouquets a lot the last few days! Wow! You have my admiration for your stamina, and, well, yes, envy, for having enough flowers to make a 1000 bouquets, per week! Way ta' go!

I only said Walmart 'cause that's where I bought my one sample package a few years ago--to see if & what the lilies might do for me. I figured if a $2.50 package of "Walmart's" quality would grow, then I could add others later. I think I even forgot/ignored them in their package for WAY too long, so when I did get around to planting them, my hopes were about nil for any growth/blooming at all. Obviously Walmart is NOT my regular source (except in emergency) for my cut flower needs.

I probably do have the Stargazers in filtered sunlight most of the day. They're in one of my house gardens, and most of the house gardens have 60'-100' oaks VERY nearby. The lilies might get 2-5 hours of direct sun, maybe, but they get lots of dappled sunlight too.

I agree w/ you about the water. I probably haven't watered them as often as I should, but since they were apparantly coming back as normal, I wasn't worried til I saw their blooms. Oooooh, dear. I just remembered my "real" first year lilies up at my field. I only have a few dozen. All have bloomed out already (late planting/early warming here), and several have scorched stalks! Oh dear! I'll have to rescue the rest and do more watering in that bed. Thanks for the indirect reminder! Not sure what I'll do about the grasshopper eaten stalks!

My "hoophouse" is about 12' square, 2 halfway decent homemade shelves, no in-ground beds, not heated or cooled at the moment. It does have some plastic over it, w/ sides open. I'm hoping to close the sides this winter and put in a little electric heater, but I have no way to cool it other than with shade from the nearby trees and the open sides in the summer. Do you keep your hoophouses cooled w/ AC in the summer?

It never occured to me til recently, hearing about your & Jeanne's and others' hoophouse growing set-ups that I could do hoophouses, too. (I wondered if it was suitable for Texas growers in the summer, or if my little house was big enough for any kind of crop.) I also figured you Northerners didn't have to worry about heat build-up in your hoophouses--but I know you've mentioned high temps in Michigan recently, so you have to cool your hoops somehow, I assume.

Anyway, thanks for the lily advice, again. Hope you have a restful & happy 4th weekend.

Susi.

I'm not familiar with hoophouse growing in Texas. I don't know what Jeanne uses for film on the hoophouses in her fields and with her elevation. However, we have a problem with the film on a couple of our hoophouses. It isn't the Kool Film with the UV factor which is the recommended method. This film costs 75% more than regular greenhouse film; but, it is essential to control the heat (We intend to correct this when we replace the film). Under normal conditions, it does cool down during the night here in Michigan. I use the term normal loosely because we don't know what normal is anymore. We are, however, getting a bit of a breather from the heat during the night. The plants are very, very appreciative. But, anyway, yes we do get heat build-up in the hoophouses. The endwalls are situated with the prevailing winds. Some growers remove the endwalls and roll up the sides. We don't remove the endwalls because we have large doors on each end. We have fans pulling the air through the hoophouses. This is essential in the houses for disease control as well. It isn't necessary for us to use the cooling that is used in Texas. We are in Michigan; but, the Mason-Dixie line is really not that far south of us.

flowerfarmer,

Well, DUH to me, I didn't even remember/think about fans! I'm guessing that's what is used in the big hoops down here for production growing of anything. Can't imagine plants being grown in AC--they'll have to live in the heat someday!

My little hoop house has ordinary plastic from Lowe's on it. It's a little thick to ward off tearing, but NO UV protection at all--I didn't know to look for that, and, being the perpetual beginner that I am, probably couldn't afford it anyway.

I know hoop houses are used for season extension and/or year round growing of certain plants, but I wonder why you use them in the warm months? Maybe it's another duh. I'm guessing less bug damage & prettier blooms, but you and I think Jeanne have commented on how much better the hoop grown plants are compared to the field grown ones. What's the difference?

Beginner minds want/need to know. LOL!

For future reference: Is there anything I could/should consider putting in-ground in a little 12 x 12? Obviously, climates are different, but in general, is that small of space useful for anything, and what would that anything be?

Thanks again,

Susi