Fertilizing lilies

[CliffandJoann]

#z#Wow, your lillie’s are gorgeous Addy...

 

[addy1]

#z#Wow, your lillie’s are gorgeous Addy...

Thanks they are doing well this year! They smell so darn good also

 

[seandelevan]

Hmmm interesting...maybe that’s my problem...i do the osmocote thing but only gave them a sprinkle of the stuff out of fear of burning them....For the 4th summer in a row my lilies haven’t done jack. Last bloom I saw was in late May...after about 2 weeks of 3-4 blooms...and I have maybe a dozen or more lilies.

 

[Mmathis]

@lamby CONGRATULATIONS!

 

[Mmathis]

I pour my fertilizer in the center of a small, cut up piece of paper towel, then fold the edges in like wrapping a present. This “packet” gets pushed under the kitty litter.

 

[addy1]

.i do the osmocote thing but only gave them a sprinkle of the stuff

I do just pour it in on the bottom of the pan around 1/4 cup plus. It has never burned the lilies. And I never fertilize during the summer.
The folded paper towel would work if trying to get some in during the summer. I used to do that with the lotus and quit since they do so well without fertilizing. Besides no way I want to stick my fingers in that stinky litter the lotus are in. It smells!

 

[seandelevan]

I do just pour it in on the bottom of the pan around 1/4 cup plus. It has never burned the lilies. And I never fertilize during the summer.
The folded paper towel would work if trying to get some in during the summer. I used to do that with the lotus and quit since the do so well without fertilizing. Besides no way I want to stick my fingers in that stinky litter the lotus are in. It smells!

I hear ya...I’ll wait until the fall...do you do it after after thing is done growing?

 

[addy1]

I do it when I am winter grooming them, usually october or so.

 

[lamby]

Yesterday, I fertilized all my potted lilies ( 19 of them! ) and decided to use the paper towel-package method. I had noticed that the tabs were not dissolving, even after several weeks, so I crushed one tab at a time and poured the powder into a paper towel envelope. I'll be interested to see if it makes any difference.

One thing that I noticed when I brought the plants up for fertilizing and grooming, is that a few ( about 4 ) of the plants had buds that had never developed...had turned black and withered. What do you think that might be all about?

 

[addy1]

of the plants had buds that had never developed...had turned black and withered. What do you think that might be all about?

Are they planted deep? I have never seen that, my deepest lily is around 2.5-3 feet.

 

[Mmathis]

Yesterday, I fertilized all my potted lilies ( 19 of them! ) and decided to use the paper towel-package method. I had noticed that the tabs were not dissolving, even after several weeks, so I crushed one tab at a time and poured the powder into a paper towel envelope. I'll be interested to see if it makes any difference.

One thing that I noticed when I brought the plants up for fertilizing and grooming, is that a few ( about 4 ) of the plants had buds that had never developed...had turned black and withered. What do you think that might be all about?

Maybe you had the growth tips covered? I have made that mistake...putting them too deep.

 

[lamby]

The pots are set at depths ranging from 2-2.5 feet. I don't think the growth tips were covered but next month I'll pay attention to that when I haul them up for fertilizing. I must say, they are darn heavy and that's exhausting work. Not sure how many years I can continue this!

 

[lamby]

Re: black, withering buds...my husband made a brilliant suggestion. He thinks that they might be old buds that formed late in the year, never growing due to the winter. I think he's absolutely right! There were a few plants that I noticed had buds forming in late September/early October last year that never got to be more than a few inches long. Anyway, I feel better now as I had been worried that I had some weird sort of blight occurring.

 

[Lisak1]

@lamby - how big is your pond that you have SOOOO many potted lilies?

 

[lamby]

It's huge (IMO!). I estimate that it's about 60,000 gallons. I live in a townhouse complex in which there are several homes built around a large pond. The pond is about 100 feet long by about 50 feet wide, in an oval shape. Our back patios each face the pond. When we moved in 7 years ago, no-one was looking after the pond and it had become a swamp. So, I began volunteering my time (SO much time!) and within a year, the Strata granted me an annual budget to buy plants/fertilizer etc. It's become such a passion and I've learned a lot along the way.