Hi,
I am a beginner at growing lilies (2nd year in), and until today, they seemed to grow without any problems. However, I've just noticed that one of my (I think) Oriental lilies has developed a dusty kind of white growth towards the top of the stem, and on the buds. There are also black globular like growths just at the leaf nodes. Can anyone tell me what's happening, and is it serious/infectious/curable ? See the 2 photos below.
[img]https://i647.photobucket.com/albums/uu194/mariono/growthonlily1.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i647.photobucket.com/albums/uu194/mariono/growthonlily2.jpg[/img]
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vintagejuls
- Green Thumb
- Posts: 429
- Joined: Sat Apr 11, 2009 4:12 am
- Location: Southern California / USDA Zone 10
I don't think those are scale insects. They're too large for that, IMO. I believe they are bulbils (baby bulbs) that some lilies produce. See this page from Purdue University:
[url=https://www.ppdl.org/dd/id/lily_bulbils.html]Plant & Pest Digital Library[/url]
I'm not sure about the white, although I would suspect powdery mildew. For that, you can spray with a solution of 1 part milk to 10 parts water. If that doesn't do the trick, you can use a stronger solution, even as much as 1:1 milk and water.
[url=https://www.ppdl.org/dd/id/lily_bulbils.html]Plant & Pest Digital Library[/url]
I'm not sure about the white, although I would suspect powdery mildew. For that, you can spray with a solution of 1 part milk to 10 parts water. If that doesn't do the trick, you can use a stronger solution, even as much as 1:1 milk and water.
Thanks, Kisal. I think you're right. I'm glad the bulbils aren't a disease - I presume it's just a coincidence that the mildew appeared at the same time. Unfortunately I cut off the offending part with the bulbils, and removed some on another stem, otherwise I could have tried propagating them ! Still, I'll know what to do next time.