Frequent diseases of lilies and their treatment

Lovely lilies have dozens of varieties and are distributed all over the planet. This plant is cultivated not only as a decorative flower, but also as an edible and curative product (in some cases, and countries). Accordingly, lily diseases and their treatment are important issues for gardeners around the world. There are four large groups of these plants, belonging to different geographical areas - European, Asian, Caucasian and North American.

Regardless of the origin, a young bulb can be unhealthy, so it is not uncommon for flower growers to doubt that a lily (flower) will appear. Diseases can be characteristic of the season or inherent only in this plant. When buying planting stock, you need to carefully examine each proposed bulb - they must be elastic, without a hint of blue-green penicillin mold. Do not believe the sellers who say that such a raid is normal for the lily: in the future it will destroy all scales, and then the plant. The length of healthy roots should be 4-5 cm, but the first year may not yet have a pronounced root system.

Garden lilies: diseases and methods of struggle

The most frequent and most complex problem in bulbous plants is botrytis. The people also call it gray rot. Different molds are frequent lily diseases, and their treatment should begin as early as possible so that the infection does not spread to all plants. On beautiful green leaves and bright buds appear brown and red-brown spots. The defeat of lily with botrytis is always due to a violation of the technology of cultivation.

Even with complete fulfillment of all conditions, gray rot can appear in cold, wet weather, when the trunks and leaves do not have time to dry out by night and accumulate excess moisture. Usually the most dangerous time for lilies is August (this is the month when sharp temperature changes occur). Botritis does not kill the plant, but the vegetation practically stops, and the entire bush loses its ornamentality. To get rid of gray rot, it is enough to keep the lilies in comfortable conditions, for example, to install small canopies over the most valuable varieties, protecting from rain and excessive dew. The most resistant to botrytis species are various OT-hybrids.

Among other common problems of this flower is rust. Lily diseases and their treatment are always closely related to the care for planting material. Rust carriers are bulbs on which there are spores of harmful fungi. The infection spreads up the trunk and affects the foliage with small, rapidly turning yellow spots. If nothing is done, the stems will wither and the lily will die. To save the plant, all affected leaves must be removed, and the trunk treated with 1% Bordeaux fluid or traditional fungicides, which are available in almost every household. Removed diseased parts need to be burned in order not to infect surrounding soil and plants.

Also, many lily diseases and their treatment are closely related to the "neighbors" of the site. For example, hosts or tulips can infect variegatedness, which can not be practically eliminated. For the prevention of many types of diseases it is worth using the biofungicide "Fitosporin" - it protects from rot and is absolutely safe for bees.