I thought I had read there is a correct way to cut lilies. Can you help? Since the search feature is disabled, I can't find threads where this has been discussed. thanks for your help.
From the Garden to the Vase, how to do it
wow, was the search feature restored? somebody said it was. I did a fake search for lollipop and it brought up several threads. I opened one that was not related to liliums but what was interesting was that somebody had used the word "lollipop" and it showed that word in red. that's pretty cool!
I still don't know how to look up the discussiosn on how to properly cut lilies.
I typed "cutting lilies vase" into the search box at the top of the Lilies Forum page and came up with 16 options (which isn't bad because sometimes you pages and pages and don't want to wade through)...Here's one from 2005.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/557902/?hl=cutting+lilies+vase
I especially like Moby's suggestion near the bottom for how to remove the anthers with a comb.
TY Cmoose. Isn't that neat how the search words are highlited red? nice!
Yes! It's easy to spot if the search is actually applicable to what you really want...and You're welcome!
we cut the stems in the heat of the day and put right into warm water, cutting when the plant is under water stress and placing in tepid (NOT cold) water helps them take up water and do better in the vase. We never use any of the floral preservative when testing cut flowers-or change water and lilies last forever, or at least until the last bud is finished. Keeping the water clean and re cutting the stem will keep the flowers going at their best.
hiya Buggy! I just came in from sweltering heat, I don't know if I have it in me to go out again, but I do have some beauties to cut.
We are having or 3rd or 4th winter for the year now. Very wet and cold, really bad since we have had normal warm spells so there is much stress on the plants.
When we used to have a cut flower business weather like this rendered flowers unharvestable because they were too full of water to hold up in a vase.
I like it, wish it would stay this way all year!
we cut the stems in the heat of the day and put right into warm water, cutting when the plant is under water stress...
This does go against conventional "wisdom."
[wet] weather like this rendered flowers unharvestable because they were too full of water to hold up in a vase.
Meaning they don't last as long in a vase? Can you speculate on the science behind this?
Rick
I remember reading about cutting flowers during the heat of the day in a technical journal, and it makes sense to cut them when they are actively pumping water up. It also makes sense to put them directly into water of the same temperature or warmer to keep the water flowing up the stem. We have also found this to be true of our cut flowers, some tend to wilt when cut in the morning, but do not wilt at all when cut in the afternoon or evening. Many we learned to not bother to cut when it is cold and very wet like it can be here in the spring. They either break due to being too heavy or they wilt and either never come out of it or the stem becomes permanently bent. That just rendered them completely unsaleable and I never tried to see how long they would last in the vase. Lilies always do well no matter what the conditions are. Most bulbous flowers do. There is also conventional wisdom that one should cut only 1/3 of the stem to leave some leaves to feed the bulb, we always cut to the ground or close to it but our bulbs are large enough to be unfazed by this as long as they have a large bud count-more than 5 flowers.
Thanks Lisa. I too have my non-conventional methods of doing certain things. As I ponder your posts, "Actively pumping" got me thinking in new direction. In such a case, plant sap available to mix in the water or simply exposed to bacteria/fungal invasion would be minimal to nil. Food for such bacterial/fungal growth is similarly decreased. As these growths, plugging stem conduits, are the most common cause of premature death of cut flowers in a vase, your results seem logical.
Regarding the resilience of cut lilies, note the practice of purposeful wilting stems for transport to lily shows. Re-imbibing with water is not a problem, even for show quality.
Rick
Thanks
buggycrazy
..you just answered my questions comepletely.