What is wrong? Help please!

Hello all, I usually hang in the daylily fourm but just this last year started enjoying and buying lilies too. I bought from a coop this spring and they have been doing fantastic - even have some blooming. But they reason I started this thread is my "Pep Talk" lilies.

They look horrible. I have them planted in a couple different locations including some in pots and ALL of them are looking like they are dying. Can anyone help me? Am I doing something wrong? DO they have a disease? DO I need to isolate them or worse yet destroy them? I do not want the problem to spread if it is contagious. ANY help is appreciated.

Lisa

It looks virused to me and should be destroyed. Did you say these are all of one variety that you received on a coop? I would let the coop organizer know about this so that other buyes can be warned and told what to do if they also find their plants virused. Get rid of it immediatelky and your other lilies should be OK. Remember, don't toss virused plants in your compost or with other plant materials that will eventually become compost.

beaker, these were from the Blooming Bulb;coop that was delivered in March; you were also in the co-op. My Pep Talks, all in pots, one sunk into the ground, are just peachy, as are the remaining 29 or so lilies....but it will be good to hear from everyone else. We ordered lots of Pep Talk.

Ok - bagged and tossed all 5 - 3 that were in pots (pots and all) and two I dug out of the ground. So SAD!!!!

Now can some please point me in the right direction to educate me about lily virus. How much soil should I remove from where the 2 were in the ground? If anything else has been infected - how soon will it show signs? Can it spread to daylilies or other perrenials? Please help so I can minimize the damage.

Lisa

The soil is fine. Virus is spead by sap sucking insects like aphids, and many other plants can be infected. This virus is usually called tulip breaking virus or mosiac virus. Disposing of the infected plants asap is usually enough to stop it dead in it's tracks as well as making sure to get rid of any insect infestations.

4paws - I didn't participate in the BB Coop. I'm not impressed by the quality of their bulbs and I've also been burnt (overly so) on true to type. I wouldn't go near a coop with them.

I show no signs of any insect infestation so whew!!! I still might do some preventative measures to prevent an insect infestation.

Thanks for the info.

Edited because I had "investations" some how I hit the V key instead of the F key - silly me

This message was edited Jun 8, 2007 5:43 PM

From the looks of the second pic, it could be botrytis. ??

I'd contact Bloomingbulb directly. We did a co-op with them a couple years ago and several of us received wrong bulbs; they were very good about replacing them.

You might be right, Moby. With the leaves dying off like that, it very well could be something besides a virus. I'll have to take a close look at that first picture again. That one sure did look virused.

If it is botrytis, which is a fungal disease that can be brought on by cool, wet weather and not enough air movement to keep leaves dry, the bulb should be OK, but may be set back a season or two.

looks life a fungus to me .probably botrytis.

This message was edited Jun 8, 2007 2:10 PM

Here is another picture if it helps

About 95% sure its botrytis. Not Virus . botrytis usually starts at the bottom and works the way up.

This message was edited Jun 8, 2007 4:52 PM

So should I retrieve them or just let them go? If there is ANY chance it is viral, I think I would rather just let them go. One more pic.

I'd save them, treat 'em for fungus and plant again ~ in an isolated area if that would make you feel better.

Spray the plants and the soil with some systemic fungicide. I have done this for peonies and it works great. Tho I started it right away. Am not sure if it will help at this far along stage.

Now you guys have me curious. I had one lily that was doing this but it was from the top down I think. Need to go out and look and see which one it was. I know it wasn't Pep Talk because that was planted elsewhere.
Carol

Something else that can happen if you're not careful is lily leaf burn. If you water too late in the day, the water droplets on the leaves won't have time to evaporate before the sun gets too hot. Essentially, your lily can end up with a sunburn and it will cause the leaves to brown and shrivel.

here is an easy to read and understand web page on lily diseases and viruses. personally when they get into too much scientific language i'm lost. this of course has the latin names, but a laypersons descriptions. :-) only thing missing is pictures.

http://www.mikesbackyardgarden.org/lilypest.html

i'm sure with more time i could find a site with both, but for now this should help you, did me.

can anyone recommend a product to use to soak lily bulbs in prior to planting, to make sure that any viruses, insects etc... are killed before planting.?

thanks,
debi and franklin

Thank you for the link debi_z ☺

I used Safer fungicide on Bulbmeister bulbs last year-they were soft and moldy, but I didn't use anything on the ones from BB. It was a futile effort, as none of the BM bulbs came up, perhaps eaten.

Unfortunately there is nothing that kills viruses ~ if there was we'd all go broke buying it.

A soak in 10% bleach will kill soil borne bugs that might come with the bulbs, but fungus is soil borne itself so that can only be treated as it occurs. Fungus is always among-us. :)

And the wet cold spring didn't help. I'm pleased to see that most of my foliage looks good so far. (Crossing fingers for Lily Society Show)