two troubled lilies

21 years ago

I wasn't sure what to call this one. This spring I planted lots of new lily bulbs in a brand new bed of nice triple mix soil. I watered the hole really well before planting. Then sat back and waited. All the lilies in that bed came up really slowly despite good sun exposure. It was cold and cloudy for a long time. Then suddenly it got extremely hot and the whole time has been really dry. But I didn't water while it was cold because I did not want to cause the bulbs to rot while the soil was warming up. All the other lilies have come up, altho some took a long time. These 2 (either Black Beauty or Speciosum Rubrum) were last to emerge. One is about 3 inches tall, the other maybe an inch. The taller one looks twisted like when a leaf roller type bug gets in (but no evidence of bugs) and a bit tattered, with a few spots that look like rot. There seems to be some rot at the tip of the shorter one. I note improvements (more green emerging, some apparent vigour) in the last day or so. All the other lilies right near by look fine.

I was wondering if this might be rot because they sat in that wet hole for so long waiting to break dormancy and break the soil. I think they're starting to look better now that they've grown a bit. Or are these the signs of some plague that is new to me? Should I dig them up and segregate them lest they pass something to the other plants? Or cut off the rotten bits, even if I lose the tip? Or just sit back and give them a chance?

cnid

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Comments (4)

kdjoergensen
21 years ago
Give them a chance. Cold soil may make lilies look a bit ratty especially if it has hard/compact.

You never know with spring planted lilies.

You are correct to keep the bed just slightly damp in early spring. As temperatures get hotter, you may have to water more carefully.

Do not cut the lilies back now. Wait.

Lilies usually do much better their second year.
townhouserOnt
21 years ago
Next year should be fine: last year I had similar situation with Oriental Lilies mix from CanTire, they were strange-looking and maybe 6" in height (with good watering), but some of them flowered anyway.
This year in the full sun (with our hot weather now) they look normal, but not as good as first year Stargazer in partial shade. Too much sun, I guess.
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cnid
Original Author
21 years ago
The taller of the two is looking a bit better but still very ratty. The shorter one is still awful but no worse. And now they are contending with Sahara winds, high temps, and no rain.

One thing I will do differently in future - this is a new bed with soil that was pre-mixed. Up to now I have always mixed my own soil (sand, peat, compost, topsoil, local soil). I like it better than the pre-mix. In the next bed, I'm mixing sand and peat into the pre-mix to lighten it up a bit. I think it was too hard for those bulbs to push through - the soil was too dense and also it was cold for so long. I actually had an oriental just break through the surface last week! It looks fine and is growing fast but that's kind of weird.

cnid
vickster257
21 years ago
Still have lilies come up without a bud the first year or two, and now a few of them have one bud. I don't know what that is all about, soil too moist or is it within the characteristics of the variety? or was it immature as a bulb? does anyone know the cause of this situation?

Looking for answers......

Vicki