When to Plant Daylilies? A Detailed Guide to the Best Planting Time

Daylilies can be planted in spring and autumn. In spring, sowing is usually completed from mid-to-late April to early May, and in autumn, sowing is usually completed from late September to mid-October. In Northeast China, spring sowing is generally completed from late April to early June, and in autumn, sowing can be done from the first frost until before the ground freezes.

Introduction to daylily planting methods:

1. Site selection and land preparation

Daylilies are not very strict about soil requirements. They are extremely strong in tolerance to poor soil and drought, and they also live relatively long, generally able to grow for five to eight years. Therefore, they are quite suitable for being planted alone on hillsides, mountain land, and similar areas. However, if they can be planted in places with looser, more fertile soil, they will grow better, yields will be higher, and their service life can also be extended. When preparing the land, dig as deep as possible, as this can help avoid the threat of some pests and diseases and can also prevent lodging.

2. Planting methods

There are two ways to plant daylilies. The first is raising seedlings by sowing, placing daylily seeds in a seedbed to raise seedlings, and transplanting after the seedlings have grown. However, this method has two drawbacks: yields are not high and quality is poor. In addition, after planting, they do not flower until the third year, and only reach normal yields in the fourth year, so the first method is generally not recommended. The second method is propagation by division. After harvesting daylilies in autumn or after dormancy, separate the young roots newly grown from old plants and plant them. In this way, they can flower and be harvested the following year, making it much more efficient. If you do not have old plants, you can also buy them from others.

3. Field management

Daylilies should be planted at a reasonable density, generally with a spacing of 35 to 40 cm per plant. The most suitable temperature for daylily growth is around 15 to 20 degrees, so temperature regulation is needed during their flowering period. This can promote flowering and improve quality and yield. The most important thing for daylilies is fertilizer management. Generally, we apply fertilizer three times. The first fertilization is at sprouting, applying a mixed fertilizer of nitrogen fertilizer, phosphate fertilizer, potassium fertilizer, and urea to promote sprouting and shorten the sprouting period. The second fertilization generally uses urea and potassium fertilizer to promote new branch growth. The last fertilization is at flowering, which helps shorten the flowering period for harvest.

4. Disease prevention

Daylilies have relatively few diseases, though aphids or leaf spot disease sometimes appear. Therefore, when few aphids are found, they can be removed by hand. If there are many, dimethoate emulsifiable concentrate should be sprayed, and harvesting must not be done within half a month after spraying. For leaf spot disease, chlorothalonil is generally enough.

5. Harvesting and processing

Daylilies generally bloom at night, so they are usually harvested every morning. Once noon arrives, they wither. If rainy weather occurs, harvest as early as possible one day in advance, because at that time they grow very fast, and if you still follow the usual schedule, it will be useless. After harvesting, daylilies need to be processed. Generally, first steam them dry, then sun-dry them, and finally pack them up.