How To Lift And Store Lily Bulbs, How To Store Lillies Over Winter, Get Gardening
Lily bulbs don't like sitting in cold, wet soils over the winter and so it is at this time of year, November/December, that I look to lift the plants from the ground. To a certain extent, the time at which I lift my bulbs is dependant upon how wet the ground is, and so I will lift the bulbs a little earlier if it looks like the wet, cold weather is in for a while.
Before lifting the bulbs you should wait until the stems have turned brown.
Tools required;
Border fork or hand fork if your bulbs are planted in the ground
Clean and sharp secateurs or a sharp clean knife
Hand brush
Newspaper and storage box
Plant labels
As Lillies will readily produce small offspring bulblets/cormlets, that are attached to the main stem , you don't want to try to pull the plants out of the ground. If you try to pull the plants from the ground you will find that the stems break to leave the bulbs still buried and with the possibility that you also damage the bulbs too.
If planted in the ground then use a border fork or hand fork to gently lift the whole root structure and bulbs from the ground. A fork is a much safer option than trying to use a spade.
Insert the fork a few inches away from the base of the plant, pushing the fork tines into the soil by about 6 inches (20cm). Gently lever the fork handle downwards to loosen the Lilies from the ground. Watch for any of the small bulblets falling off from the main bulbs.
Place all dug up Lily bulbs onto a clean surface or into a container where you will notice if any parts of the bulb, or bulblets, come free from the main bulbs.
If, like me, your bulbs have been growing in containers then you just need to use your hands to remove the soil that is surrounding the bulbs.
It is a good idea, whilst emptying the container, to check for signs of any pests that are in the compost or hiding under the rim of the pot. The main pest to look for is the Vine Weevil grub. It is a creamy coloured grub that has a brown head, and they love to chew plant roots and bulbs.
For the first stage of preparing to store the bulbs
Remove as much soil as possible from arround the bulbs and roots. Do not try to scrap the bulbs as that will damage them at this stage.
Using the secateurs or knife carefully cut away the roots, but without trying to remove all from the bulb.
Make sure to place a label in with each variety of bulb that says which the variety is, as once the bulbs are cleaned up its very difficult to tell them apart.
Lightly wrap the bulbs in newspaper and place thebulbs upside down into a container to allow any excess moisture to drain out of the stem and roots, whilst also allowing the bulbs to harden. Any remaining soil still on the roots will also dry out and fall off.
The container needs to be placed in a dry position, preferably somewhere that is warm but a shed or garage is normally fine.
Leave to dry for 2 or 3 weeks.
Once the bulbs and roots have dried out;
If you have not done so previously then you can start by removing any of the small bulblets that have formed around the base of the main bulb. These bulblets can be put to one side for growing on over the subsequent years, to produce extra plants.
Using secateurs or a knife all the remaining roots and stem sections can now be removed from the bulbs
Give the bulbs a gentle brush down to remove any remaining soil.
Use a suitably sized container that has a lid, and fill the inside base and around the edges with some fresh newspaper. The newspaper will aid in moisture absorption as well as providing some insulation.
Wrap the individual bulbs in fresh newspaper.
Place the clean bulbs upside down in the container to store for the winter period until you look to plant again in March/April.
Make sure to place the lid firmly on the container but add some ventilation holes.
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9 дек 2021
