I am supplying some oriental and calla lilies for my nephew's rehearsal dinner. Of course I want them to look as beautiful as possible.
I have a little over 3 weeks to do whatever I can to insure/improve their appearance. Should I fertilize with something akin to Superbloom? Or is it too late to fertilize?
My oriental lilies have already budded but are not showing color yet. (Unfortunately, I just discovered I have a problem with slugs. Some of the buds are deformed. I will be setting out shallow plates of beer tomorrow.)
My calla lilies show no sign of blooms yet so I'm crossing my fingers. Same question - should I fertilize now or is it too late?
Thanks for any advice.
Sherry
Lilies for rehearsal dinner
The saucer is full of beer, Can't wait to see the results in the morning.
Anyone willing to advise on fertilizer?
Sherry
Gosh, I'd really feel bad if I gave you bad advice for such an event, and I can't help you at all with the callas. Maybe try the Bulbs forum for that?
You mentioned that the lily buds are not showing color, but are they getting close to blooming size? If they're not quite to that point then you might be right on time with them. Some fertilizer probably wouldn't hurt as long as you don't over-do it.
However, I'd keep a florist's phone number on hand. Good luck!
This message was edited May 28, 2008 12:10 PM
Luckily the lilies will just be icing on the cake - the main flowers will be my hydrangeas.
I did some googling and altho there is conflicting advice, some do say that a moderate balanced fertilizer is ok even if they've already budded. One site even said to do it every 2 weeks! That sounds very excessive to me.
Most of the buds are only halfway to blooming size, if that. Maybe I'll do a little fertilizing at half strength.
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Forgot to say there was nary a slug in the beer saucer this morning. I know they're somewhere! Maybe they don't like Dos Equis? ;-)
Maybe they'd prefer a European import? Make sure your saucers are at or just below ground level.
A bloom booster feeding should be fine ~ something lower on the nitrogen (N) side.
It would be just my luck to have such "high falutin' " slugs!!
I'm going to put down a 2nd saucer tonight (yes, I dug a little indention so the lip is even with the soil line) and put it near some other lilies that appear to have the problem. I'll try the Dos Equis again and then switch if it fails again.
BTW, I forgot to mention that all the beer was gone. You don't suppose a cat or a dog drank it, do you?
Or a racoon?
I would just do mild fertilizing. I think the only things that will quicken the bloom time is heat, more sun and ample water. When you water, it would be advatageous to water with luke warm water, rather than cold water from the hose. Heavy mulches will keep the ground cool and slow blooming. It's what they like, but if you want earlier bloom, remove at least some of it.
Good luck!
I know there's a possum in the woods behind my house, so I guess there could be racoons as well. If the beer is gone again tomorrow morning, I will have to investigate other alternatives.
I still have 3 weeks until the dinner so I don't think I need to rush the blooms along (at least not the orientals). I'm thinking more abt the "quality" of the bloom. Maybe it's too late to affect that.
Still no slugs in saucer!! I know they are there bcs one of my potted lilies that was sitting in that area was absolutely infested with them! (Found them when I went to repot.) Also some leaves are eaten and some buds deformed.
What abt the ammonia drench that I read abt over on the hosta forum? Anybody ever done that to their lilies?
Seems if they are in a pot, you could submerge the pot in water. The slugs should come up for air.
Forgot to mention that only 2 of the lilies were in pots - the rest are in the ground,
Still no slugs after 3 nights of beer! After doing some reading over on the garden pests forum, I'm not going to bother with the beer anymore - seems lots of people have no luck with it.
Am going to try the board trick tomorrow.
Anyone done the ammonia drench to their lilies?