A Detailed Guide to the Excavation and Storage of Lily Bulbs
1. Bulb excavation: When the autumn temperature begins to drop, the above-ground stems have begun to wither and die, and the mother bulb has developed to a certain degree, choose a sunny day to dig up the bulbs. Before excavation, be sure to pull up the withered above-ground stems, gather them and burn them to reduce pathogens. At the same time, take care not to damage the scales during excavation, or remove damaged scales, so as to...
1. Bulb excavation: When the autumn temperature begins to drop, the above-ground stems have begun to wither and die, and the mother bulb has developed to a certain degree, choose a sunny day to dig up the bulbs. Before excavation, be sure to pull up the withered above-ground stems, gather them and burn them to reduce pathogens. At the same time, take care not to damage the scales during excavation, or remove damaged scales, to reduce rot.
2. Treatment of bulbs before storage: Before storage, the bulbs must undergo grading, cleaning, disinfection, packaging and other treatments.
(1) Grading: Generally speaking, large lily bulbs produce more flowers, while small bulbs produce fewer flowers. Therefore, grading the bulbs is helpful for planting them separately and for easy management. After excavation, separate the large and small bulbs; the grading standard is that mother bulbs form one group and daughter bulbs form another group. At the same time, pay attention to the following aspects:
If any scales are found to have rotted, remove them promptly. Bulbs with a circumference of about 12 cm can be used for cut flower cultivation. Small bulbs that have already sprouted or grown new roots can be planted immediately; never damage the new roots or new shoots. Large bulbs that have already grown new roots should be grouped together, and this group of bulbs must not undergo low-temperature treatment at -2°C.
(2) Cleaning: Whether the excavated bulbs need cleaning depends on how much soil they carry. Those carrying a lot of soil can be cleaned, while bulbs planted in sandy loam and excavated on a sunny day need not be cleaned. Removing excess soil is beneficial for the disinfection treatment before storage and also helps eliminate soil-borne pests and diseases.
(3) Disinfection: To prevent viral diseases, rot and leaf spot, the bulbs must be disinfected. Disinfection is generally carried out 1-2 times: the first time before the bulbs enter the cold storage, and the second time after the bulbs leave the cold storage and before planting. If stored long-term, that is, 8-12 months, the above two disinfection treatments are required; if short-term, that is, within 8 months, only the first disinfection treatment described above is sufficient.
(4) Packaging: Before storage, the bulbs must be packaged to facilitate management during the storage period. The packaging material is plastic (11410,25.00,0.22%) film that has been strictly cleaned and disinfected. The plastic film must be perforated with 14-18 holes to allow ventilation. In addition, a filler with a certain moisture content must be used; wet sawdust or moss may be chosen. Note that the filler must also be strictly disinfected, and its moisture content should be such that no water can be squeezed out by hand. The packaging method is: first place the plastic film into the box, then place a layer of filler at the bottom of the box with a thickness of 5 cm, place a layer of bulbs on the filler, making sure that bulbs in the same layer are separated from one another by the filler, and so on with one layer of filler and one layer of bulbs. After the box is full, bring the plastic film together and tie it tightly.
3. Bulb storage: After lily bulbs are excavated, low-temperature treatment and storage are necessary to achieve year-round flowering.