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| | Easter Lily Forcing
Schedule
For Easter April 23, 2000
Easter, this season is April 23 rd , 2000 which is considered a late
Easter date. This Schedule is a general guide for pot cooled Easter Lilies; for
case cooled see paragraph below. This schedule should be used with your past
experience and your style of growing.
Case cooled bulbs go into cooler one week earlier (October 28 th 1999)
than pot cooled, as they have their rooting time after cooling. They need to be
checked for moisture, and wet down if needed. Also, sprouting needs to be
monitored and if it becomes too heavy, drop temperature to 35F. Temperature
should be brought up to 60F on December 9 th . Bulbs should be
allowed to warm in the case two days. Cooling starts from the outside of case,
and it will warm from the outside also, giving the same cooling time for bulbs
in the center of the case as on the outside. Follow October 21 st instructions
for potting, move to greenhouse and continue 60F temperature until December 16 th
. Grow the same as pot cooled from then on.
As this is a late Easter date, this schedule has a two week temperature dip
treatment to enhance bud count starting January 24 th. This is a good
time to catch up if you are behind. If you are behind do not do the temperature
dip until you have caught up. For example, if you are one week behind only give
one week of temperature dip, if two weeks behind do not do temperature dip
treatment. Warm temperature up three days before you want to start forcing again
as it takes some time for the lilies to start responding after this cool
treatment.
There are notes on potting, drenching and other concerns at the bottom of
this page. And as always, if you need further assistance please contact us or
your supplier as early as possible. Most problems can be corrected with enough
time.
Date:
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Days to Easter:
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Comments:
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| October 21, 1999 |
185 |
Bulbs arrive. Plant deep in pot and
drench bulbs immediately. Never let temperature
rise above 70F. If rooting period is done in cooler set temperature at
63F, to stimulate root growth. This gives you two weeks of rooting. |
| November 4, 1999 |
171 |
Start cooling process (vernalization) at 40F- 45F. Keep
moist as bulbs that become too dry will not cool properly. If bulbs
start to sprout heavily bring temperature down to 35F. Cool for six
weeks (42 days). |
| December 16, 1999 |
129 |
Move pots to greenhouse, cooling is finished. If a crew
is not available turn cooler up to 65F. Bulbs can stay in the cooler if
not sprouted; however if they have sprouted they need to be moved
immediately to avoid stretching.
Start temperature in greenhouse at a constant 65F or if preferred 63F
night 68F day which gives an average 65F. DO NOT GO OVER 70F AT THIS
TIME, AS THIS WILL DELAY FLOWERING.
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| December 20,1999 |
125 |
Check roots for root problems, drench if necessary. Start
feeding program. |
| December 27, 1999 |
118 |
First plants start to emerge. |
| January 3,2000 |
111 |
50% of crop emerged. Check roots for problems. Drench as
necessary. |
| January 10, 2000 |
104 |
Most of crop should be up. Start insurance
lighting if you know you did not have enough cooling. Start tracking
for height control. |
| January 17,2000 |
97 |
Check roots for problems. Shoots should be 2 inches tall. |
| January 24,2000 |
90 |
Buds should now be forming. Shoots 3 - 5 inches tall. If
you feel you have time, you can start temperature dip treatment to
enhance bud count. This year we have allowed a two week temperature dip
because of the late Easter. Some people may prefer to force regularly to
finish out earlier and put plants in cooler at the end to free up their
greenhouse for bedding plants. However if you are on time and want to
finish normally start temperature dip now by lowering temperature to 50F
night 60F days or an even 55F day and night. |
| January 31,2000 |
83 |
Plants should be growing very slowly and not be under
very much stress, so now would be a good time to apply a fungicide for
root rots as next week the temperature is going back up and plants will
need a good root system. |
| February 4,2000 |
79 |
This date is three days before our 2 weeks is up, but it
takes some time for lilies to respond to the warmer temperatures we are
going to give them. Set temperature to a constant 65F or if preferred 63F
night and 68F day. |
| February 14,2000 |
69 |
Shoots 5 - 6 inches tall. Start leaf counting and adjust
temperature accordingly, space lilies and check roots. |
| February 21,2000 |
62 |
Shoots 6 inches tall. Adjust temperatures for timing and
height control. |
| February 28,2000 |
55 |
Check roots and continue monitoring temperatures. Shoots
8 inches tall. |
| March 6, 2000 |
48 |
Some plants may start showing buds. Shoots 9 inches tall. |
| March 13,2000 |
41 |
Half of crop has visible bud. Watch roots closely from
now to the end, as the plants are growing very fast now and any root
problems will cause lower leaf yellowing. Also insects will become more
prevalent on the tender buds now coming out. |
| March 20,2000 |
34 |
Bud 1 inch long now. Use bud stick. Watch height and
pests. Shoots 11 inches tall. |
| March 27,2000 |
27 |
Buds 2 inches long. Shoots 12 - 13 inches tall. |
| April 3,2000 |
20 |
Buds 4 inches long. Shoots 13 - 15 inches tall. Some buds
may be in white puffy stage. These may be moved to cooler at 40F. |
| April 10,2000 |
13 |
Shoots 16 inches tall. Watch roots and pests. Monitor
temperature, as there is not much time left. |
| April 17,2000 |
6 |
All lilies should be shipped. |
| April 23,2000 |
0 |
Easter Sunday. Happy Easter! |
Potting should be done as early as possible to allow root growth. The bulb
should be placed deep in the pot as Easter lilies grow mostly from their stem
roots. The pot should also be as deep as possible, not a 3/4 or azalea pot. The
soil should offer good drainage, as root problems are one of your main concerns.
Drenching for fungus (Pythium, Rhizoctonia, and Fusarium) and bulb
mites at planting is highly recommended. Oregon State law prohibits us from
making any chemical use recommendations. You can contact your extension agent or
state university for such recommendations.
Insurance lighting is to be used if bulbs did not receive enough cooling in
the vernalization process. To start insurance lighting give plants 15-foot
candles incandescent light from 10 pm to 3 am, maintaining temperature about
65F. One night will substitute for one lost day of cooling.
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