LILIES - RHS Lily Group
LILIES - RHS Lily Group
LILIES - RHS Lily Group
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We also use a combination of cow manure and trace elements to develop the soil<br />
before planting. This is added to during the growing period with drip fed PK (soon<br />
after bud development). All our planting is done by hand, as is the picking.<br />
To reduce the problem of leaching, our watering is done in a number of short<br />
bursts throughout the day. A great advantage of lilies is that they are surface<br />
feeders; collecting most of their nutrients from their stem roots, their base roots<br />
providing stability and water uptake. This ‘burst’ water technique is an effective,<br />
efficient and environmentally responsible way of watering (reducing the chance<br />
of fertilisers leaching into the ground water). We also use a soil/water conditioner<br />
that allows the water from the dripper tapes to spread evenly over the whole<br />
row, rather than going straight down.<br />
Our bulbs for most of the year come from Holland. These are stored in<br />
a freezer at -1.5° Celsius until required. However, with a shelf life of around<br />
eight months after arriving in Australia, orientals need to be sourced from New<br />
Zealand or Chile for the October to January period and we grow many of the<br />
asiatic and LA hybrids for this period ourselves.<br />
Another issue that faces us is that we have much higher summer light than<br />
most other places in Australia. This means that, although our average temperature<br />
is perfect for growing, stems are often short with very large flowers. As the<br />
commercial market pays on stem length (60/70cm is the optimum), this poses a<br />
problem. To overcome this we whitewash the roof of each tunnel and this year<br />
will also reduce the light further by hanging shade cloth inside.<br />
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