Lily question

16 years ago

I asked this on the lily forum but didnt get any replies, so thought I would ask here. My stargazer had three buds on it, one was ok and opened normally, the other two were brown on the outside, and are all curled up, after opening. They look deformed. What is the matter and what can I do to prevent this? Is it a fungus? Last year one of the buds was like this too. Love the Lily but not like this. Thank-you for your help. Tricia

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Comments (7)

hostaholic2 z 4, MN
16 years ago
Tricia, saw your question on the lily forum but was hoping someone with more expertise would reply. I don't know for sure, but it might be botrytis. Do they get overhead water? I don't know what your weather has been like, but that might also be a factor. I do know that Orientals like a somewhat acid soil. In my zone 4 garden I no longer bother with Orientals. With the exception of Casa Blanca I seldom get more than two or three blooms per stem, to me just not worth it when there are so many other vigorous lilies out there. I bought two or three Stargazer lilies back when they first came on the market. They haven't died, but they really don't do much either. Though the blooms aren't quite as large, to me Scherazade or Black Beauty blow Stargazer right out of the water. And with 35 to 40 flowers per stem, well that speaks pretty loudly to me.You probably have a little longer growing season than I do, but for me the orientals usually don't have enough time to ripen their foliage and feed the bulb. You might want to contact your local extension service or check the internet for the North American Lily Society.
covella
16 years ago
I'm not a lily expert but I'd suspect an insect before a fungal or viral infection in the absence of a photo. Botrytis is certainly possible though - but so is a lily beetle. Is your foliage impacted? That would tell you more than the flower. If you have browning or malformed foliage then I'd suspect a viral infection. If so, you must take care to keep your beds clean and don't let the foliage fall on the ground. Also, move some things to improve air circulation around the base of the plant.

I use Bulbtone on all my bulbs and tubers and have not found that the high acidity of my soil has any impact at all. Agree on the Black Beauty - mine is almost 7 ft tall this year and at last count had around 30+ flowers per stem but it hasn't stopped growing yet. I grow Casa Blanca, Stargazer, Black Beauty and the species lilies L. speciosum rubra and alba all in the same bed. I find the orientals always follow the asiatics and trumpet lilies, and the species lilies ( of which Black Beauty is more closely related) always bring up the end of the lily season. In fact my orientals will be opening in the next few days and the species lilies are weeks away still.
I had what looked like a botrytis like infection in one Black Beauty and the top of the plant was like blasted and the leaves were coming out malformed - dug it up and it looked perfectly healthy and gigantic but I tossed it anyway. You can propagate with bulb scaling or they don't really cost that much if you think they are diseased.
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jkunkel
16 years ago
If you propagate lilies from scaling on a plant with a virus, you take the chance of producing a sick plant. You can however propagate lilies by seed and not pass on any type of infection if you are a patient person.
BTW-if any of you have any extra Black beauty bulbs you can send them this way! Ive been dying to get my hands on some! I was thinking about ordering some from John Scheepers, but they harvest them so late, and Im afraid they won't have time to settle in before it freezes here.
-Jessica
triciae
16 years ago
It sounds like a fungal disease to me as well. If you're having trouble with Orientals...you might try the Orienpets. They are a cross between Oriental & Trumpet lilies &, in my garden, very prolific bloomers. Here's a picture of l. 'Shocking' I took this past weekend. I planted these as already potted bulbs (3 stems) in '05. I don't normally purchase lilies already potted but there was one flower open & I loved it so much...well, it jumped into my cart!

{{gwi:255162}}

Tricia
calliope
16 years ago
Lily buds can "blast". The browning and shrinking can be caused by diseases, but environmental changes can also impact them and cause this. I force lilies commercially in my g'houses and I know that blasting can be caused by too high a temperature, drying winds, lack of water. If you can rule those out, then I'd suspect a disease.
covella
16 years ago
Jessica
Van Engelen is John Scheepers sister catalog for larger quantities - here's a link for Black Beauty - very reasonably priced at 5/$9.75 compared to other sources.

http://vanengelen.com/catview.cgi?_fn=Item&_recordnum=7639&_category=Lilies:Heirloom
jkunkel
16 years ago
Tricia, Your Orienpet is beautiful. I like the colors on Satisfaction too. I need more lilies! I already have over a hundred cultivatiors of daylilies, but I love the look of them planted Lily lilies. My favorite that I have is casa blanca, it smells heavenly, and the blooms are huge. There are so many that I want now. Love the turks caps varieties too. Geez, better start saving my money. -Jessica

Lily question

Comments (7)

hostaholic2 z 4, MN

covella

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