Hi Lilyfolk,
I have some Casa Blanca (and other Oriental) lilies whose leaves started turning brown from the bottom up. Just as it bloomed, the last leaves (under the bud) turned brown. Anyone know what causes this? The lilies are pot and ground grown.
Thanks
Sue
PS, my Casa Blancas are about 7 years old and have become smaller and smaller over the last couple of years. I've changed (improved) the dirt in the pots every year. Is this normal?
Leaves turning brown from the bottom up
I'll be curious to hear the responses. Many of my lilies had their leaves turn brown
after they bloomed. I finally cut them down today and removed the folliage in case
it was some sort of disease.
Tam
Hi Tammy,
My lily leaves always turn brown (along with the stalk) after they bloom, but it usually takes a couple of weeks. I leave the stalks up (for the spiders to make webs) and then when it falls over, I remove it.
I also wanted to add that I'm from SF Bay Area (if that makes a difference).
Sounds like botrytis. Here is a good article to learn more about it.
http://www.plantlilies.com/read/botrytis.html
This must have been a problem all over the country this year, as I've seen several posts about it (botrytis, I think). I'd never had a problem with it till this year, but have been spraying with baking soda & dish soap solution constantly to keep it under control.
Moby - thanks for the link. It sounds like I should spray next spring as a preventative.
The lilies I got from our mini-coop (woodenshoe) show no signs of problems BTW Neal.
Though they were damaged by the roving deer - I think of the 25 bulbs, I only got to
see 5-6 bloom. The rest are just very healthy stems w/ the tops chomped off. Grrrr.
Thanks
Tam
That's terrible Tammy! It's kind of the worst and the best that they just ate the flowers off; worst for the you not to see color from them, but the bulbs should be nice, big, and bloom packed for next year. Mine from Wooden Shoe have only been mildly effected with botrytis, but they're about the only things in a new bed I added in spring, so the air circulation is very good.
same here. will they come back next year though?
I believe they will, Nery. A couple of years ago some of my lilies turned brown soon after blooming. At the time I thought it was from an aphid infestation I'd overlooked till it was too late, but now I'm wondering if botrytis was a culprit too. But the lilies came back as strong as ever the next year.
Thanks Moby, it probably is botrytis. Oh arrgh! I've got way too many lilies to spray both sides of leaves. I'll dig up the ones that have been this way for a couple of years, clear out the diseased phlox and start over.
:)
oooohhh, you don't need to destroy them ~ perhaps they just need a better location with more air circulation.
Although having botrytis in successive years does take a toll.