How to grow Oriental lilies? A full breakdown of the latest care methods
The Oriental lily is the queen among lilies. Its petals are completely unblemished and it carries a faint, delicate fragrance, making it very suitable for growing at home. So how should you grow Oriental lilies? Below, the editor will walk you through its growing methods and points to note.
Growth habits
Before growing it, let us understand its growth habits. The Oriental lily prefers a warm, humid environment with plenty of sunlight. It is relatively cold-tolerant, fears high temperature and high humidity, and is intolerant of waterlogging. It does best in fertile, loose soil with good drainage.
Growing methods
Propagation methods: these include bulb division, scale cuttings, seed sowing, and tissue culture.
Propagation time: the best time to plant is August to September; for potted plants, September to October is ideal.
Soil: it prefers fertile, loose, slightly acidic soil with good drainage, and dislikes alkaline or heavy clay soil.
Temperature: the suitable growing temperature is 15-25 degrees; above 30 degrees or below 10 degrees, growth becomes poor or stops.
Light: different growth stages have different light needs. During the bud stage, shading is needed; during high summer temperatures, shade is needed; in the early stage of flower development, light should be increased.
Watering: keep the potting soil moist; it should not be too wet or waterlogged, otherwise the roots and bulb can easily rot and the plant can die.
Fertilizing: it has a relatively high demand for nitrogen and potassium fertilizer, so apply once every ten days to half a month during the peak growing season. Remember to control phosphorus fertilizer; too much phosphorus can cause the leaves to turn yellow and wither.
Points to note
Pruning: to make the bulb grow fuller and stronger, after the Oriental lily finishes flowering you can cut it back to the base to reduce nutrient consumption. If you want to keep the bulb, then continue fertilizing to replenish nutrients; after about one month, the bulb can be dug out and planted again later.
Lopsided plant growth: many friends find during growing that their Oriental lily leans more and more to one side, affecting its ornamental appeal. Actually, this is easy to solve: during its growing period, rotate the pot once a week, and it will not grow lopsided.
How do you grow Oriental lilies? Through the growing methods, points to note, and growth habits introduced above, I believe you now have some understanding. Go ahead and give it a try.