General rules for growing
To make the varieties of pink lilies comfortable on your site, you should take care of its proper cultivation and planting. It is necessary to take into account the following nuances for the successful adaptation of this flower.
- These representatives of the fauna should be located in an open area, but at the same time it should not be strongly blown by the wind and slightly shaded. However, placing a flower bush near a tree is not the best option.
- As the most favorable soil for such a plant, it is worth choosing light type loams, as well as loose sandy loam, fertilized with nutrients.
- The preparation of the soil for the plant is carried out in advance. Elements such as peat, sand, organic fertilizers, and humus are added to heavy soil. The amount of fertilizer should not be more than necessary, otherwise the bush will actively grow. Remember that you cannot transplant a flower earlier than after the first 3 years of its life.
- The best time to plant a plant is autumn. However, a pink lily is also planted in the spring, after making sure that the soil has completely thawed out.
- You can calculate the planting depth of a flower by multiplying the parameter of its bulb by 3, and also taking into account the lightness of the soil. The lighter it is, the deeper the bulb is placed. Indicators for pink lilies are a depth of 10 cm in the case of undersized varieties, for medium-sized plants, the optimal depth is 15 cm, and for tall bushes, the bulb is placed 20 cm in the soil. Also remember about the distance between plants, which for large varieties should be 25 cm, and for short ones - 15 cm.
- The main procedures for the successful growth of a lily are weeding and loosening of the soil.
- Plant feeding should be done only if fertilizers were applied during soil preparation.
- It is necessary to maintain a moderate soil moisture, carrying out timely watering. However, you should not allow waterlogging, since lilies do not like it. The most favorable time for watering is in the evening, and you need to pour water at the root, avoiding it getting on the leaves of the plants.
- To better retain moisture around the flowers, a procedure such as mulching the soil should be carried out.
- Lily should be propagated in a timely manner. This is best done by dividing the bulbs that form after the first 3 years. If you do not remove the new part of the bulb, then the buds of the plant will be smaller, so reproduction is rather a necessary process.
Diseases and pests
Like any garden plant, pink lilies are susceptible to a number of diseases that can affect different parts of the bush. The most common diseases of lilies include the following.
- Botrytis, also called gray mold, is a fungus that starts in the leaves. At first, the disease manifests itself in the form of brown spots on the foliage, and later it turns into mucous formations with a gray bloom and spreads to all parts of the flower. Treatment is carried out with a fungicidal solution.
- Lily leaves are also susceptible to cercosporosis, which manifests itself in the form of spots. A feature of the disease is its rapid spread. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out the treatment of the bush in a timely manner with Bordeaux liquid 1%.
- Penicellosis is a dangerous disease that leads to decay of lily bushes. A diseased plant can be distinguished by its slow growth rate, as well as weak peduncles. Later, a greenish bloom begins to form on the stems, buds and foliage.To prevent disease, lily bulbs need to be treated with a manganese solution.
- A blow to the bulb of a plant is inflicted by fusarium. The complexity of this disease is that it cannot be recognized by the appearance of the plant, however, if the disease is not treated, the lily is unlikely to be able to survive the winter. You can prevent the process of infection by treating the soil with a solution of copper sulfate, which has disinfecting properties.
- Lily rhizomes can suffer from phytium, which is also a fungal formation. The defeat occurs slowly and manifests itself in the form of a weakening of flowering processes and a deterioration in decorative qualities. The end result is yellowing and drying of the flowers. To get rid of the disease, the affected parts must be cut off, and the flower itself must be transplanted into the soil, which has been pre-treated with 4% colloidal sulfur.
Do not forget about insect pests, among which the most dangerous for pink lilies are the lily fly and the lily beetle. These parasites eat the flowers and leaves of lilies, thereby depriving them of their beauty and damaging the state of plants. You can get rid of pests by collecting their larvae by hand, or you can use special insecticides such as Thunder, Flycatcher and Grizzly. However, these substances can leave dark spots on the buds.
