Lily propagation and care

Lilies are luxurious perennial flowers that amaze with a variety of shades and splendor of flowering, they have a huge army of fans around the world and many dream of growing these stunningly beautiful flowers in their summer cottage. Of course, the easiest way to plant a lily is to buy an onion from a flower shop or garden center and grow it in your country house. But what if you want a big flower bed with lilies? Or is there an opportunity to exchange planting material with neighbors in the country? How to get this planting material? You will probably be surprised, but in addition to the traditional reproduction by daughter bulbs or "babies" there are several more ways to breed lilies, they are quite diverse, so you can probably choose the one that is more convenient for you.

Reproduction of lilies: dividing the bush

This method is good for fast growing varieties of lilies that form a large number of bulbs and need to be planted about every three years. Anyone, even a novice florist, can cope with such a procedure, the main thing is to prepare well and act carefully. Remember, in the first year after planting a lily bulb, you grew one stem? How many of them are there now? It is precisely into so many parts that you have to divide the bush. Prepare the wells in advance for new plants. Very carefully (preferably with a pitchfork, not a shovel), dig out the bush, carefully separate the bulbs and stems and plant each in its new place. I repeat that if you act carefully and carefully, then the stress for the plants will be minimal and the next year they will fully bloom. It is possible to carry out the procedure for dividing the bush in the summer, after the end of flowering, when the plants are preparing for a state of dormancy. There are no contraindications against the spring transplant, but in this case, most likely, the lilies will not bloom in the current season, since all forces will be directed to rooting and adaptation in a new place. By dividing the bush, you will not get a whole garden of lilies overnight, but these plants will bloom as quickly as possible.

Lily propagation: daughter bulbs

The principle of operation is the same as in the previous method - dig up the bush and separate the newly formed daughter bulbs or "babies". The difference is that this should be done when the plant finishes its growing season, accumulates nutrients and goes into a dormant state. This happens about a month after the end of flowering, and the final wilting of the stem can serve as a signal for action. Also, carefully use a pitchfork to dig out the mother plant, inspect the part of the stem that was underground - it is on it that the daughter bulbs grow. Most likely, they will turn out to be small and unable to bloom in the next season, so they must be carefully separated and placed on a specially prepared bed with fertile soil, where they will remain until complete formation. For the winter, it is recommended to mulch the soil surface with straw or dry fallen leaves in order to protect young bulbs from frost.

If next year you find that some of them have formed buds, it is better to cut them off, since flowering will take a lot of energy and will not allow young bulbs to grow strong enough. After the procedure for separating the children, return the mother plant back or transplant, the work done will not be reflected on it and flowering will come at the usual time.After a year, the children will be formed, and they can be transplanted into flower beds to a permanent place (it is better to do this in the fall). Thus, we get flowering lilies two years after the separation of the daughter bulbs. Most suitable for reproduction in this way are lily varieties that form many daughter bulbs: "Canadian", "Golden", long-flowered varieties, as well as "predatory" - "Tigrovaya" and "Leopardovaya".

Bubbles

As we already said, lilies are all very different, and their development process may be slightly different. Not all of them form replacement bulbs, not every variety grows "babies" on the underground part of the stem. There are also such varieties of lilies, in which children are formed on the aerial part, in the axils of the leaf plates, and are called air bulbs. On one lily, several dozen such airy bulbs or "bulbs" can form, which then simply fall off, put down roots and then develop as an independent plant. To avoid thickening of the plantings, it is necessary to control this process and have time to collect the bulbs before they fall off and begin to germinate. As soon as you notice that there are roots on them, try to separate one air bulb from the stem - if it worked out easily, then the time has come and you can collect all the bulbs. Their size usually does not exceed 1 cm in diameter, ranging from 4 to 8-9 mm and they are arranged in pairs or triplets. Prepare in advance the place where your lilies will gain strength in the next years, in order to fully form and turn into full-fledged flowering plants, they will need three to four years, but you will immediately receive a large amount of healthy strong planting material.

After you collect the air bulbs, soak them for a couple of hours in the foundation, and then plant them to a depth of 1-1.5 cm, keeping a distance of about 9-11 cm between them. The distance between the rows of bulbs should be at least 20 centimeters. Yes, now they are very small, but do not forget that in three years they will turn into adult bulbs, and if they are very tightly planted, they will not have enough space and nutrients. After you have planted everything, water the soil and mulch it using peat, straw or spruce branches. In this form, your bulbs will winter. The next year, in the spring, clear out the mulch, providing light access to the lilies, and care for them as usual - water and weed in a timely manner. During this year, only leaves will appear on the surface of the earth, most likely the stem will not be formed, and the bulb will grow in diameter to about 11-13 mm.

In another year, the bulbs will already be able to grow a small stem, no more than 30 cm high, but in the third year, buds may already begin to tie. And starting from the fourth, you have at your disposal a certain number of full-fledged adult bulbs that are capable of blooming profusely and for a long time. If you have planned in advance for the current season the breeding of lilies using air bulbs and want to get as much planting material as possible, then experienced flower growers recommend removing the lily buds before they begin to bloom. In this case, the flower forms a larger number of air bulbs and they grow noticeably larger, which means they will have more strength for further rooting and growth. But there are varieties that do not form bulbs in principle, so this breeding method is not suitable for them, these are Asian types of lilies, tubular varieties, as well as "Tiger Lily" and "Sargent".

Vertical rooting of the cutting

Cutting is a well-known propagation method used for both indoor plants and garden flowers. It is necessary to do this in the spring. Separate a flower shoot 10-14 centimeters long from the plant, no more. Use only very sharp and disinfected tools, the health of the plant largely depends on this.Prepare a flower pot in advance with nutritious soil and a layer of expanded clay (drainage is always a prerequisite for growing bulbous plants). Dip the stalk into the root and plant in the soil. In the event that it is already the second half of May in the yard and it is warm enough outside, you can plant the cutting directly into the open ground. In any case, after planting, water the cutting well and cover with a cap from a cut plastic bottle - in such a "greenhouse" an ideal microclimate for rooting is created. Do not forget to maintain the moisture content of the soil and after a couple of weeks the shoot will take root, you will learn about this by the appearance of new young leaves. And after a while, daughter bulbs will begin to form near the base of the cutting, at this time it is recommended to spud the plant to increase their number. In late summer - early autumn, the formed bulbs must be separated and planted so that they form and grow. Flowering in this case will most likely be in the second year.

Horizontal rooting of the cutting

A very convenient way of reproduction, in which you can not sacrifice flowering in the current year, but carry out all the work after its end. And you can also use the lily from the bouquet presented to you, if you liked the shade of the flower so much that you wanted to grow it on your site (well, or for the sake of experiment). You will need a stem of a plant, but if you take it from a flower bed, then do not cut it at the root, leave some part of the shoot with leaves so that the process of photosynthesis does not stop and the bulb can prepare for winter. Choose a shady place, prepare the soil by digging it up and clearing it of weeds, make a furrow no more than 3 cm deep, lay the cutting horizontally there and cover it with earth. Then you need to water abundantly, and you can use one of the drugs that accelerate the rooting process: "Epin", "Zircon", "HB-101". After that, cover the soil with foil or geotextiles for a while to prevent moisture evaporation and maintain an optimal temperature. After about a couple of months, onions form on the handle, which can be planted next spring.

And for the winter time, do not forget to mulch the soil to protect the plants from freezing. In the same way, you can get planting material in an apartment. To do this, you need a flower box, expanded clay and nutritious soil mixture. For the winter, it is best to move the box with the cuttings and bulbs to the glazed balcony, provided that the temperature there is above zero (otherwise the plant will freeze in the box). After a year, the bulbs can be transplanted into soil or planted in different containers so that they grow to the desired size.

Lily propagation: leaf rooting

Lilies are truly versatile plants when it comes to breeding methods! Let's discuss how you can root a leaf and get a bulb from it. This method is best suited for the following varieties: "Snow-white", "Tigrovaya", "Regale", "Maksimovich's lily", "Thunberg's lily", as well as for sulfur-colored and long-flowered lilies. It is necessary to pluck (just pluck, not cut off) the leaves from the upper half of the stem during the period when the plant forms buds. Then plant the leaves in nutrient soil, not straight, but at a slight slope (half of the leaf should be in the ground). Planting is best done not in open ground, but in containers with a drainage layer, fertile soil and a top layer of river sand. Cover the plants with a bag or a plastic bottle, build a greenhouse, ventilate daily and after 3-4 weeks you will notice that tiny bulbs appear at the base of the leaves. From this point on, the cover can be removed. For the winter period, the container must be placed in a cold, but not freezing room. Or, alternatively, bury it in your garden and mulch it on top.In a year, the bulbs will be ready for transplanting, but it will take another 2-3 years for them to gain strength and prepare for flowering.

Reproduction using scales

A wonderful way of reproduction of lilies, which is suitable for all varieties of lilies, without exception, does not affect the health of the mother bulb and allows you to get a good amount of material for planting. You can work at any time of the year, which is also very convenient. If the bulbs of daffodils or tulips are whole, then the bulb of a lily consists of scales. Usually, the outer scales are slightly biased outward, so it will be very easy to separate them. And you can separate about a third of the total amount without harming the main bulb. But it is better not to get carried away and confine yourself to the outer layer, since it is this material that will ultimately be the most productive - thanks to one such scale, you will receive about 6 bulbs within a period of time, but they will bloom only after 2-3 years.

As soon as the sale of planting material begins in stores (often this happens already at the end of winter), you can go shopping. With the necessary knowledge, now you can purchase just one onion of each variety you like and thus save a lot. Prepare a tight bag and fill it with peat, coconut, sphagnum or just a nutritious peat mixture of your choice, punch small holes in it to provide ventilation. Separate the outer row of flakes from the bulbs, place them in a bag of filler, and cover the top with a moistened filler as well. Tie the bag and put it in a warm place, where it will stay for a month at a temperature of about 22-25 degrees Celsius. After this time, through the bag, you will see that onions began to form on the scales. After another couple of months, they will take shape so much that they can be planted in separate containers, and transplanted into a flower bed at the end of August or in September. Flowering will come in about a couple of years. If you plan to propagate not purchased material, but lilies growing in your flower bed, then it will be most convenient to do this in the fall. At this time, the bulb goes into a dormant state, it can be dug out to move to a new place without fear of harming the plant. Then proceed in the same way, but after the bulbs appear on the scales and plant them in different containers, place them in a room with a lower temperature (about 15-16 degrees Celsius) in order to observe the natural annual cycle of the plant.

Lily propagation: sowing seeds

Not the most popular breeding method for bulbous plants, but since it has a place to be, we will also discuss it. Propagation by sowing seeds is possible only for species varieties; this method is not suitable for hybrids. This is a very painstaking and long process and most often it is used only by specialists who create new species. But this does not mean at all that you cannot try and grow lilies from seeds. But some types of lilies will have to be artificially pollinated, this is the only way to get a full-fledged planting material. And independently high-quality seeds can be obtained from the lilies of the following varieties: "Lily Henry", "Tibetan lily", "Lily Uiolmotta", "Shaffrannaya", "Daurskaya", "Regale", "Martagon", "Lilia Maksimovich", "Drooping lily ". Lily seeds can be divided into two types: aboveground and underground. The first ones develop like most plants - the leaves come out to the surface and grow. The second - the cotyledon leaves remain in the ground, and the first real leaf emerges from the ground. The seed boxes should be collected as soon as they darken, because if you wait longer, it is very easy to miss the moment and lose the seeds. If you have a large number of seeds available, then you can sow them directly into the flower bed.If the quantity is limited, then it is recommended to pre-grow seedlings at home (sow, then pick in separate pots) and when it gets stronger, transplant it into the garden.

In the case of reproduction of lilies by seeds of flowering, wait the longest - at least five years, and possibly more.

Dissection of the bottom

And in conclusion, one more, very unusual way of breeding lilies. Its obvious disadvantage is that the mother bulb will die, but the number of daughter bulbs formed will be much larger than in any other case. Therefore, use this method only if you are ready to donate one of the adult lilies. In spring, take an adult onion and carefully cut the bottom (the bottom part where the roots grow). After that, plant it, but not as usual, but on the contrary - upside down. After that, you just need to water and remove weeds, mulch for the winter. And in the spring, having dug up the bulb, you will find many “babies” that will need to be placed in the flowerbed for further growth.

Summarizing

We discussed with you nine different ways of breeding lilies, thanks to which you can increase the number of beautiful lilies in your summer cottage. Some methods are more laborious, others, on the contrary, are very simple. Yes, in most cases flowering will have to wait for several years, but when it comes, you will receive great satisfaction and joy from the work done. Choose the most convenient way for you and go for it!