- Watering lilies: How much water do lilies need?
- Fertilize lilies: When, how often & with what to fertilize lilies?
- Caring for lilies in pots
- Caring for lilies: pruning faded flowers
- Wintering and caring for lilies in winter
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Lilies are a real treat both in pots and in the summer border. But without the right care, you can't enjoy her wonderful flowers.
Lilies (Lilium) are frugal and at the same time beautiful summer bloomers in the bed, which apart from a little skill in watering do not have many demands on care. Even overwintering in the bed is not a problem for many species. If you don't have a bed for the flowers, you can cultivate small species in pots. However, this involves a bit more maintenance. Because lilies in pots are a bit more demanding, especially when it comes to the supply of nutrients. Finally, the supreme discipline is the care of a houseplant. But with our helpful tips you can also master this challenge. Of course, a few things should also be considered when choosing the location or the variety. That's why you'll find everything you need to know about growing the queen of flowering plants here.
So that your lilies can show their full bloom, you will find out everything you need to know about watering, fertilizing and overwintering lilies, both in beds and in pots. We also clarify whether you should remove faded flowers.
Watering lilies: How much water do lilies need?
Lilies need some attention when it comes to watering. The magnificent flowers like it nice and moist, but are very sensitive to waterlogging. The soil should therefore be well drained. It is best to lay out a drainage layer of gravel or broken clay at the bottom of the planting hole when planting. Otherwise the plants quickly tend to develop stem rot and die. Because lily bulbs lack a firm scale, they tend to dry out faster than other bulb flowers. On the one hand, this plays a role in storing the onions, but it must not be ignored when watering. Because you should never let the substrate around the onion dry out completely. In summer, this means reaching for the watering can every day. How often you have to water depends on many factors, such as the weather or the substrate. In general, however, it can be said: Lilies are watered as soon asthe soil around the plant is superficially dry.
Fertilize lilies: When, how often & with what to fertilize lilies?
To grow big, strong and beautiful, lilies need proper nutrition. When, with what and how much fertilizer is used ultimately decides to a considerable extent how many lily flowers will later decorate your garden and how many years your lily can maintain this splendor. When it comes to fertilization, especially with bulbs such as lilies, too much of a good thing is not always beneficial. It is also advisable to mix compost into the soil when planting.
Fertilize lilies: when and how often?
Lilies are really easy to care for when it comes to fertilization, but they are considered heavy consumers among bulb flowers. Therefore, it is fertilized twice a year. Fertilization is done in spring. The first fertilization takes place before the onions sprout. It is best to choose a sunny day without ground frost. The second time is fertilized during budding.
Note: A third fertilization in summer, in August at the latest, should prolong flowering.
Fertilize lilies: The right fertilizer
When fertilizing, you have the choice between a mineral or an organic fertilizer. Although both have their advantages, the fast and concentrated availability of nutrients with mineral fertilizers is more harmful, especially for undemanding bulbous plants. The organic variant, on the other hand, scores with a slow release of nutrients over time and a long-term promotion of soil life.
If you rely on an organic-mineral flower fertilizer with organic certification, take advantage of both fertilizer variants. Through the combination, an optimal fertilizing effect can be achieved: A quick effect with simultaneous soil care, the prevention of leaching and over-fertilization, a natural long-term effect and protection of resources. The special thing about organo-mineral organic fertilizers is that they only use mineral components that are also permitted in organic farming and can even contain living microorganisms. Our Plantura organic flower fertilizer with long-term effect is also such an organic fertilizer. In this way you can optimally supply your lilies with nutrients while at the same time protecting the environment and promoting soil life.
You can alternatively to an organic-mineral organic fertilizeralso fertilize with mature manure, horn shavings and compost. However, never use fresh manure as lilies are sensitive to it.
Summary of fertilizing lilies:
- When? In Spring
- How often? 1x before budding, 1x at budding
- With what? Mineral-organic organic fertilizer, mature manure, horn shavings or compost
Caring for lilies in pots
Care in the pot is not much different from care in the bed. After all, they are still plants of the same species with the same requirements. However, an environment that meets the requirements of the lily can be created differently in a pot than in a bed. Watering is the same as for lilies that have been planted out. The watering can is therefore used as soon as the upper layer of soil has dried out. It should also be noted that the pot you choose has a drainage hole. The risk of waterlogging is otherwise even greater than in the bed. You can also use an organic fertilizer such as our Plantura organic flower fertilizer for lilies in pots. In general, pot cultures are fertilized more often than lilies in the bed, as they only have a limited storage volume and are therefore depleted more quickly.
Caring for lilies as houseplants
Lilies in a pot can also thrive indoors in a beautifully sunny spot without direct sunlight and enchant the room with their lovely fragrance. As a houseplant, however, lilies cost the human need for care a little more than in the garden. To ensure that your lily is still an impressive houseplant, there are a few things to keep in mind when caring for it:
- Temperatures: 15 - 20°C
- Watering: Always keep the substrate moist, no waterlogging
- Fertilization: vegetation phase: every 2 - 3 weeks with low-nitrogen complete fertilizer in the irrigation water; for bud formation once with flowering fertilizer in the irrigation water
- Pruning: cleaning out faded inflorescences, pruning in autumn
- Hibernation: Cool, dark place at approx. 10 °C
Temperatures that are too warm and the soil dried out quickly lead to the shedding of flowers. Which is why it is considered difficult to care for lilies as a houseplant in the long term. Cut back in autumn when the above-ground parts of the plant have withered. It is cut back with a clean and sharp knife to a hand's breadth above the ground. It is particularly important that the rest period in winter is observed. How overwintering in the pot takes place is explained in more detail in the section "Overwintering and caring for lilies in winter".explained.
Note: Lilies are known for incredible amounts of pollen, which load in yellow waves on furniture and in the noses of allergy sufferers. Double varieties such as 'Miss Lucy', 'Blushing Girl' or 'Annemarie's Dream' offer a wonderful alternative. More lily varieties can be found here.
Caring for lilies: pruning faded flowers
If you don't want to propagate your lilies from seed, faded flowers are cut off. Cleaning prevents seed formation. Otherwise, this costs the plant a lot of energy, which you could store for next year. In the case of potted and bedding plants, the remaining parts of the plant lying above ground are only cut off after they have wilted. So that the nutrients it contains can migrate into the onion during wilting. That means even more energy for the coming flowering season.
Wintering and caring for lilies in winter
How lilies are overwintered in the garden depends on whether your lily is hardy or not. With hardy varieties, the bulbs can remain in the bed over the winter. After the first frost, you only have to cut off the withered leaves a hand's breadth above the ground. Then a protective layer of brushwood, straw or twigs is spread over the bed. The bulbs of non-hardy varieties need to be dug up before the first frost and stored indoors over the winter. Potted lilies, whether houseplants or balcony greenery, should also be kept in a cool, dark and frost-free place over the winter.
For more on preparing and caring for hardy and non-hardy lilies for winter, see our article on wintering lilies.