Commercial Floriculture

Storage of bulbs

• To ensure satisfactory long term storage of lily bulbs they should be packed in plastic film containing slightly moist potting compost.
  
• Then they are frozen and stored at the following store temperatures:

  • Asiatic - 2^o C
    
  • Oriental - 1.5^o C
    
  • Longiflorum - 1.5^o C
    
  • Other hybrids - 2^o C
• Bulbs of Asiatic hybrids can be stored up to a year without showing any deterioration in quality (Bulbs stored for a longer period will develop more rapidly, but plants will be smaller with fewer buds).
  
• Bulbs of Oriental and Longiflorum cannot be stored for more than 8 months. They start deteriorating. Bulbs of lilies that have not been frozen cannot be stored for long periods (storage duration depends on the storage temperature). On average unfrozen bulbs can be stored at a temperature of approximately 1^oC for a maximum of 2 weeks and at 5^oC for a maximum of 1 week only.

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