Harvesting, Grading, and Packaging Methods for Cut Lilies

(1) Harvest time - Cut flowers when the first flower bud at the base has fully swollen and colored (the true petal color is already visible). If a single flower stem has more than 10 buds, harvesting must wait until 3 buds have colored.

(2) Harvesting method - Cut with a sharp knife 15 cm above the ground (about 5-6 leaves). If the flowers cannot be graded and bunched immediately after harvest, they must be placed in clean water and refrigerated within 30 minutes (to cool them and replenish water).

(3) Grading and bunching - According to stem length, number of buds, stem firmness, and the normal condition of leaves and buds, flowers are divided into 4 standards: grade 1, grade 2, grade 3, and substandard. After grading, remove the leaves within 10 cm of the stem base, and bunch every 10 stems or 5 stems into a bundle and place it in cold water. Oriental hybrid lilies and Easter lily hybrids both have larger flower diameters than Asiatic hybrid lilies, taller plants, longer flower stems, and fragrance, so the cut flower grading standards for these two strain groups should differ from those for Asiatic hybrid lilies. The above standards can be appropriately modified to establish corresponding grading standards.