I'm aware that dead debris can still be virused, however I wonder at what point it's safe to cut lily stems without risking virus transferral to the bulbs?
I'm assuming if the stem is completely dead as in browned, feeling dry and hollow it would be okay, but what if it's just completely brown but the stem feels as it still has some moisture in it?
Ideally I'd prefer to wait until the stems were very dry to cut them or simply tear them out if possible as I'm not concerned with a bit of untidiness at this time of year, but this causes the leaves to spread around and as they easily become Botrytis infected in my climate during late autumn this causes extra problems when they need to be collected and discarded. At this point I try to disinfect my pruners or clean them between cultivars, but perhaps that is unnecessary?
