LILIES - RHS Lily Group

We also use a combination of cow manure and trace elements to develop the soil
before planting. This is added to during the growing period with drip fed PK (soon
after bud development). All our planting is done by hand, as is the picking.
To reduce the problem of leaching, our watering is done in a number of short
bursts throughout the day. A great advantage of lilies is that they are surface
feeders; collecting most of their nutrients from their stem roots, their base roots
providing stability and water uptake. This ‘burst’ water technique is an effective,
efficient and environmentally responsible way of watering (reducing the chance
of fertilisers leaching into the ground water). We also use a soil/water conditioner
that allows the water from the dripper tapes to spread evenly over the whole
row, rather than going straight down.
Our bulbs for most of the year come from Holland. These are stored in
a freezer at -1.5° Celsius until required. However, with a shelf life of around
eight months after arriving in Australia, orientals need to be sourced from New
Zealand or Chile for the October to January period and we grow many of the
asiatic and LA hybrids for this period ourselves.
Another issue that faces us is that we have much higher summer light than
most other places in Australia. This means that, although our average temperature
is perfect for growing, stems are often short with very large flowers. As the
commercial market pays on stem length (60/70cm is the optimum), this poses a
problem. To overcome this we whitewash the roof of each tunnel and this year
will also reduce the light further by hanging shade cloth inside.
95