How to Grow Lanzhou Lilies? Detailed Planting Methods and Tips

Lanzhou lily is a specialty of Lanzhou City, Gansu Province, and a Chinese national geographical indication product. Lanzhou lily is extremely sweet and is a premium variety among lilies, the only edible sweet lily in the country. So how do you grow Lanzhou lilies?

1. Seed Selection

Lanzhou lilies generally use large mother bulbs of about 25g as seed. In addition, the lily core remaining after the scales are peeled off can also be used as mother seed.

2. Site Selection and Land Preparation

The best preceding crops are melons and legumes. Choose a plot with deep soil and good drainage, plow deeply first, and clear debris from the ground.

3. Fertilization

Base fertilizer should be applied to the soil before sowing. When applying base fertilizer, use high-quality decomposed farmyard manure as the main component, with an appropriate additional application of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer. In the autumn of the 1st and 2nd years after planting the lilies, an appropriate amount of topdressing can be applied, and the soil should be covered immediately after fertilizing.

4. Planting

To facilitate later field operations and drainage, the planting furrows should rise perpendicular to the contour lines. The planting depth is generally about 10cm. In the 1st year, after the lily seedlings have all emerged, use a hoe to dig about 20cm deep between the lily plant rows. In the 2nd and 3rd years, dig shallower than the previous year.

5. Watering

Water in a timely manner, watering lightly and thoroughly. After irrigation, loosen the soil promptly to keep the soil loose, and there must be no standing water in the plot. For high-ridge cultivation, use seepage irrigation in the water furrows.

6. Field Management

When the flower stem elongates to 1-3cm, remove the flower buds to prevent flowering from consuming nutrients. Since the timing of flower bud appearance varies among plants, check every day and pinch off the tips at the right time.

In September 2004, the former General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine officially approved “Lanzhou Lily” as a product protected by designation of origin, namely a geographical indication protection product.