Hello Last November I was writing about growing lilies from seed – a highly reliable method but you can only do it with the species. Now it’s time to discuss an alternative technique that can be used on all lilies – scaling. I mention this now, because lily bulbs will shortly be appearing in the garden centres and other outlets. My recommendation is that you buy these as quickly as possible, because lilies benefit from a long growing season (in fact, unlike most other bulbs, they have only a short dormant period – the bulbs you buy may well already be shooting). When I started gardening, you could buy lily bulbs in autumn, really the best time for planting as it allows them to build up a good root system over winter, but no longer. Unless you have very welldrained soil, my recommendation remains to grow them in pots – 5 or 7 to a 30cm (12in) pot. (This is no time for skimping.) The bulbs are expensive, hence the value of scaling them, an easy way to increase numbers. A lily bulb is composed of thick, scalelike modified leaves, attached to a flattened stem at the base – the basal plate. All you need do is simply detach some of the outer scales, each of which is capable of producing a new bulb. If you snap off just a few, the bulb will still flower normally. Alternatively, you can go for broke and scale the whole bulb. You’ll find the scales come away very easily. Prepare a mixture of roughly equal parts peat (or an alternative) and perlite or vermiculite and moisten this with a few drops of water – it doesn’t want to be wet, just damp. Fill freezer bags about one third full with the mix. Dust the lily scales with a fungicidal powder – I use yellow sulphur, as recommended for garden use (though I guess you could use athlete’s foot powder, if you have any – lilies can’t tell the difference). Put about half a dozen in each bag, then give this a good shake to distribute the scales evenly in the compost. Seal the bags, aiming to trap some air in them so they’re slightly inflated, then put them in a warm, dark place – normal room temperature should suffice, though you could also try some in the airing cupboard. (I’ll post a picture on my blog.) Check the bags in about four weeks time. If nothing’s happening, leave them for another two to four weeks. Certainly you should soon start to see new little bulbs appearing at the base of each scale (the scales themselves will start to wither). Once they’re the size of a pea, you can excavate them from the bag. If you can easily detach the scale from new bulb, do so – otherwise leave it attached. Pot the bulblets up in potting compost mixed with a little sharp sand. They can go outdoors, but in a sheltered spot. They’ll soon sprouting, and you can then water and feed them with tomato fertiliser. In late summer, they’ll die back, just like big bulbs. Let the compost dry out, then repot them in fresh compost. They’ll shoot again the following spring, when you can start watering and feeding again. In about three years (sometimes two), they’ll be flowering.
If you buy your bulbs in the packs so beloved of garden centres (as opposed to loose) you may find that some of the outer scales have already parted company with the parent bulb – so what have you got to lose? Have a good month Andrew andrewmikolajski.com BLOG: andrewmikolajski.wordpress.com