How to Grow Edible Lilies? The Latest Planting Methods and Timing Explained
The dual purpose of edible lilies is as food and medicine; as food they are mainly used to make infused water or soup, while medicinally they are mainly used in traditional Chinese medicine treatment and Western pharmaceutical manufacturing. In recent years, the number of people who pay attention to health preservation has increased a great deal compared with previous years, so lilies have also become a national planting support project, and many regions have begun growing lilies, but the quality and yield are not very high. Today what Qinnong Net wants to teach everyone is the correct timing and correct methods for lily planting, hoping to help all planting friends.
Planting Time
The temperature suitable for lily planting is around 15 to 28 degrees. Taking the Hunan region as an example, the planting time for lilies is generally August and September each year. Their growth period can be long or short; some can be left to grow for two years, while others are simply left to grow for one year, which means they can be harvested in October and November of the following year. The planting time cannot be too early or too late; they cannot withstand the cold winter or the twelfth lunar month, so during the cold winter and the twelfth lunar month attention must be paid to care.
Planting Methods
1. Seed selection
When selecting seeds, first we must choose good varieties with better yield, better taste and no bitterness; second, look at whether the lilies are complete and free of defects; and finally, choose relatively large, plump lilies with flawless white color as seeds, so that a high yield can be achieved and money can be made. Because the reproductive capacity of lilies is not very good, the number of seeds required per mu will be somewhat large, so estimate the area and density in advance as much as possible.
2. Land preparation
The growing environment for lilies requires the soil to be relatively fine and loose, so when preparing the land we must pay special attention to leveling the land flat, while continuously breaking up large clods of soil, then spreading a sufficient amount of farmyard manure, turning the land over once more at this point, mixing the fertilizer evenly, and finally making ridges and digging furrows. The ridges generally need to be two meters wide, which means digging a ditch every two meters, to facilitate later drainage and irrigation.
3. Sowing
Before sowing we need to treat the lily seeds with chemicals, which can prevent many diseases. After the chemical treatment, wait until the liquid medicine on the lily seeds has dried and then they can be sown in the ground. We generally use a spacing of 15 to 25 cm between each plant and 30 to 45 cm between each row. After placing the seeds according to this density, they must be covered, generally with 5 to 6 cm of fine soil, and then the soil is watered once. Seedlings generally do not emerge until February or March of the following year, so in winter a layer of straw should be spread on top to maintain soil temperature.
4. Fertilizing
Throughout the entire growth process of lilies, a total of three top dressings are needed. The first top dressing is after the seedlings emerge in February or March; the type of fertilizer applied is organic fertilizer plus urea or human manure and urine water. The second top dressing should wait until May, when the lily seedlings have grown to 10 to 15 cm, which is when the lilies are reproducing new lilies; at this time mainly phosphate fertilizer and organic fertilizer with a high microbial content are used, and an appropriate amount of potassium fertilizer is sprayed on the leaf surface. The third top dressing is after harvest. Since lilies can produce for many years, in order to ensure the yield for the coming year, fertilizer must be applied after harvest for maintenance.
5. Disease prevention
The most common pests and diseases during the lily growth period are cutworms, aphids and viral diseases. Viral diseases are generally caused by improper field management in the later stage and excessive field moisture. We can spray 1.5% Zhilingling emulsifiable concentrate at 1000 times dilution for prevention and control, generally spraying two or three times in succession. For cutworms and aphids, using phoxim can avoid them, or spreading some trichlorfon is also fine.
6. Harvesting
If you want to know when lilies are completely ripe, you can look at the condition of the stems and leaves on the surface of the ground. While the lilies are still growing, the stems and leaves are green; when the lilies are slightly ripe, the stems and leaves will turn yellow and gradually show signs of withering; when they are completely ripe, that is, when the stems and leaves on the surface of the ground have all withered, then they can be harvested.