Viewing post #1319749 by Mutisia

Lorn, I wished you had posted this thread a week ago.

I have something like 'raised beds' from liliums I propagated (from their own bulbils/bulblets and from scales). I used these styrofoam(?) boxes used for fish transport, with a lot of drainag holes and most even have 3 three slim styrofoam 'rails' glued on the bottom from the time I thought I could place them on the floor, so thad excess water could drain out freely.

Neglect occurs, specially when it is too cold for my osteoarhritic bones to work outdoors, so the tall asiatic hybrids have been in the boxes for 3 years now and a tiny asiatic for two. Much to my surprise, they thrived great on neglect: 3 large boxes with the tall lilies and a large box with the tiny ones, plus a small box with tiny asiatic babies. Two of the large asiatic lilies have produced 20 flower buds on each stem!

Since I have learned a bit from the previous years, and do not want that the rodents eat my beloved flowers, I stapled several boxes and placed the trays with my lily-treasures on top. Sure, the invading cows could have eaten them, but they did not - not these ones.

Three days ago I went to take a look and enjoy the development of these babies, and this is what I found in the large box with adult tiny lilies:

After watering them in the afternoon, slugs and snails had eaten them and left what you see. They come back every night, but there am I with a torch light (last round tonight at 3am) and kill them mercilessly

This small box has babies of the previous picture's lilies and has not had so much damage since I am taking revenge:



This planter contains asiatic lilies (yelllow and orange). The two stems in the middle of the picture are the ones with 20 flower buds each; I wonder why they attacked these two much more than the others in the same planter. The new lilies form bulbils are devastated:



The last picture shows how high I placed the planters:



Any suggestion? I would like to sleep a little more