EASTER LILIES 1^^ 



Summary 



Between 18,000,000 and 21,000,000 lily bulbs are imported annually into 

 the United States from Japan alone for greenhouse forcing purposes. Liliwn 

 longinonim gigantcum is the most popular commercial type of lily forced for 

 Easter. 



Most failures with an Easter lily crop are, to a considerable degree, 

 attributable to improper cultural conditions rather than to the quality of 

 the bulbs. 



Experimental tests at Waltham showed that the removal of 20 to 25 

 scales from 7-9 inch bulbs reduced the vitality of the plants. 



Lilies grew equally well in soils with and without the addition of such 

 materials as manure, peat, or sand, and they are not particularly sensitive 

 to soil acidity conditions. Soils properly prepared for bulbs need relatively 

 few applications of fertilizer during the forcing period. 



The height of lily plants can be regulated by careful use of fertilizers 

 and attention to forcing temperatures. 



Liliuin longiAorum giganteum bulbs rooted better at temperatures above 

 60° F. than at temperatures below 60° F., and the rooting temperature 

 influenced the subsequent rate of stem growth. Lilies rooted at a tem- 

 perature of 80°-82° F. required approximately 100 days to bloom, com- 

 pared to 140-150 days for lilies rooted at 52°-55° F. Bulbs rooted at 

 60°-70° F. produced slightly more blooms per plant than those rooted at 

 temperatures below 60° F. 



The 8-10 inch bulbs bloomed approximately 20 days earlier than the 

 7-9 inch bulbs. 



Erabu lilies bloomed 16 days earlier and produced a greater number of 

 blooms per plant when rooted and grown at 62°-65° F. than when rooted 

 at 52°-55° F. 



Electric lamps may be used satisfactorily to hasten the date of blooming 

 of Easter lilies. 



Cut lily blooms were held successfully for a period of eight weeks in a 

 storage temperature of 38° to 40° F. 



Tip-burn of lily foliage may be caused by fumigation, spray materials, 

 or improper cultural conditions; and blasted or split buds may result from 

 sudden changes in temperature, poor root development, and low humidity. 

 Heavy infestation of mites on the bulbs is frequently a contributing 

 factor in losses of Easter lily plants during forcing. Mosaic disease of 

 lilies is carried in the lily bulbs and may be destructive to the plants. 

 The average loss from all these causes, however, is relatively low. 



Literature Cited 



1. Greene, Laurenz; Withrow, Robert B.; and Richman, Wilfred W. The 

 response of greenhouse crops to electric light supplementing day- 

 light. Ind. Agr. Expt. Sta. Bui. 366:3-20. 1932. 



2. Griffiths, David. The production of lilv bulbs. U. S. Dept. Agr. 

 Circ. 102, 56 pp. 1930. 



