Lily Seedling cotyledons
Stephen Willson on May 20 asked about how long species lilies should take
to get past the cotyledon stage. The answer is of course, it depends.
Each species is a little different, and each
needs slightly different treatment. "Asiatic" species germinate in about a
month to six weeks, with true leaves appearing approximately that much
later. Trumpet lilies/Aurelians are slower,
but display the same pattern. I mostly grow hybrids, which are somewhat
faster than species. My comments will need to be adjusted for species.
If I start Asiatic types soon after harvest (September), and grow them
under lights, they should be large enough to plant out in February or
March. Above ground growth will be lost quickly, but
will regrow with extra vigor, and there may be a few stems, and even a
flower bud or two by the end of the first summer. Hybrid trumpet types
will do almost as well. Other types, such as american
species or hybrids will be slower, and flowers by the third summer may be
the best to hope for. I know one experienced grower who told me it took
seven years to get L. columbianum to flower.
Seedlings need as much light as possible without burning the
leaves--remember, light diminishes very quickly the further from the
source the leaf is. That presents a problem because some
seedlings will grow quickly, reach a light tube or bulb, and be "burned".
Meanwhile, sister seedlings are not getting enough light. To avoid
"burning" I tried LED shop lights instead of
flourescent shop lights. A few leaf tips still burned, but not as many.
LED lights are becoming available in a variety of "colors" and perhaps some
will prove better than others, but I've only
tried bright "white".
I've noted that much light is wasted out the sides of the plant stand, so
tried a white background, aluminum foil, mirror squares. None seemed to
make much difference.
Gro-Lux flourescent lights were great for flowering plants, but I (and
others) couldn't see any advantage for seedlings. I no longer use them.
Lily seedlings need moisture, warmth, and light far more than
fertilizer. I do not fertilize until there is at least one true leaf.
Plain water only until then.
Incidentally, one of the major problems experienced was damping off.
Three things that are
1) watering all pots from below--I've used aluminum cookie sheets, set
the pots in the cookie sheets, and water the cookie sheet. Practice will
show how much to water.
2) cover the top of the potting mix with a thin layer of sand (which
has been boiled in water to kill at least of the phytophora organisms. Dry
the sand and store--coffee cans work.
3) A small fan blowing past the light fixtures to stir the air and dry
the tops of the pots. Not aimed directly at the pots.
--I've tried some of the organic organisms claimed to kill damping off
organisms. Not very successful, under other conditions, perhaps they work?
Given a sterile potting mix such as Stephen mentioned, fertilizing will
eventually be necessary. I use a different mix--1/3 each of peatmoss,
pumice, and soil, all sieved and mixed.
I sterilize pots being re-used (Chlorox and water for at least five
minutes, but the potting soil isn't sterilized. There are some weed
seedlings, but not enough to bother.
Stephen didn't mention which American species, but eastern and western
American species need different dormancy treatments.
enough for now.
Ken
On Sat, May 26, 2018 at 8:29 AM, Luca Bove <info@studiobove.com> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I would like to know if someone here could give me some growing experience
> for Hippeastrum angustifolium.
>
> I got a bulb of h. angustifolium and i'm looking for notes of cultivation,
> and the best medium mix.
>
> Please let me know if you have an tips.
>
> Thanks
>
> Luca
>
>
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