As green house farming is picking up in India, let us put the facts about lily flower farming in greenhouse.
Lily flower farming in Green house: – In lily flower farming, especially Asiatic and oriental types are most famous and fascinating.
Varieties in Lily flower farming: – In Asiatic types, Gran Paradise, Connecticut King, Elite, Prato, Pollyanna, and Salami are most promising where as in oriental types Star Gazer, Marco Polo and Casablanca are highly promising varieties. Easter lily and Osant (White) is also grown under poly-houses.
Forcing in Lily farming: – For forcing, night temperature of 15ᵒ C and day time temperature below 21ᵒ C is recommended for lily flower cultivation in greenhouse. Usually lily bulbs require cold treatment of 2ᵒ C to 40ᵒ C for one and half month period in case of Asiatic hybrids. For Oriental ones, the bulbs require 2ᵒ C to 40ᵒ C for two months period. In green house, it is possible to use “frozen-in” bulbs which are kept at 10ᵒ C after pre-cooling treatment for off-season flowering.
Planting in Lily flower farming: – The planting density depends on the variety of lilies, bulb size and time of year. In north India, the best time for planting lilies is from September mid to December mid. The lily planting density may be between 25 to 60 bulbs/square meter areas.
Light requirement in Lily flower farming: – As lighting is important in lily flower culture, depends o the season lighting intensity should be adjusted in green house. In summer season, high light intensity reduces the stem length. In this case shade nets are preferred to reduce temperature and for covering the crop. In winter season as low light intensity leads to flower abortion, sufficient lighting should be provided in greenhouse.
In green house farming of lilies, plants require use of controlled released fertilizers or liquid. In green house cultivation, nylon mesh is recommended for lily flower farming.
Harvesting and yield in Lily flower farming: – Oriental lily flowers will e ready for harvesting in 14 to 16 weeks after planting where as Asiatic hybrids will be ready in 8 to 10 weeks after planting but ‘frozen – in’ (Eskimo) will come to harvesting in less time. The blooms are cut when the lower most flowers are not open and bud is fully colored. Cut lily flowers could .efficiently be started both dry and wet at 10ᵒ C cold storage temperature up to 4 to 6. Weeks provided they are pulsed with 0.2 mm STS + 10% sucrose for a day.