Updated at: 12-05-2022 - By: Sienna Lewis

Asian lilies are able to grow roots from leaf cuttings in the correct conditions. There are certain lilies that produce bulbils from their leaves. In order to encourage root growth from the end of the leaves, utilize this method below.

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When it comes to perennials, Oriental lilies (Lilium orientalis) are among the most eye-catching. They may grow up to six feet tall and have a beautiful speckled flower with a strong scent that lasts well into the fall. USDA plant hardiness zones 5 through 9 allow them to thrive outside. They don’t come true from seed in Oriental lilies, but if they’re propagated from bulb scales, they should be identical to their mother.

Oriental Lily Care

Place your Oriental lilies in a location with morning sun and afternoon shade. ” Bulb spacing should be 6-12 inches apart and 8 inches deep on soil that has at least half organic matter, such as compost. Bulbs should be planted in the fall. In alkaline soils, use peat as a portion of the organic matter, as Oriental lilies demand a pH of less than 6.

Use the amount of bulb fertilizer on the bag and cover it with some dirt before placing the bulbs in the planting hole. In order to keep the bulbs’ soil shaded in the summer, fill in the hole and surround them with other low-growing perennials of a similar height.

To help keep the soil moist, be sure to water the bulbs weekly at a rate of 1 inch and add 5 or 6 inches of mulch. Divide your lilies every three years or so once the stalks have withered down in autumn.

Propagation by Scales

In autumn, when the foliage has faded, dig out a few of your lily bulbs and peel off the outermost scales. On each scale, leave a small portion of the bulb’s flat base exposed. Replant the bulbs that are still alive.

A terra cotta bulb pot should be filled with a mixture of peat and sand. Use scales with their pointy upper halves protruding from the bottom of the mix. Place the pot in an unheated greenhouse or cold frame.

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During fall and winter, keep the soil moist so that the scales can produce bulblets (small bulbs) and produce leaves. Spring is the time to transplant the seedlings into individual 3-inch seedling pots. Water and fertilize your seedlings every two weeks with a water-soluble plant food when they are outside in a slightly shaded setting during the summer months.

During the fall, plant the bulblets three times their diameter in the ground. Two years from now, they should begin to flower.

Seed Propagating Asiatic Lilies

Asiatic lilies are among the easiest to germinate of all the lilies. Allow the dried pods to be stored in a cool, dry place for up to a year. Crack open the dried pods and separate the seeds from the chaff before discarding.

Sow seeds 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart in moistened potting soil with a light dusting of 12 inch (1 cm) of soil on top. Gently tamp down the earth around the seed. Seeds should germinate in four to six weeks.

Young plants should have 14 hours of light every day and just need a light mist. Feed every 14 days with a half-dilution of liquid fertilizer. Seedlings should be re-potted into larger containers while they are dormant.

Asiatic Lily Propagation from Division

Asiatic lilies can be propagated most quickly and easily by division. Dig up the clump of lilies while they’re dormant, then store them in a cool place. Dig around the base of the plant several inches (8 cm) deep. Pull apart the little bulbs and get rid of the dirt that’s accumulated around them.

An adequate amount of root should be present on each one. You can either plant the divisions right away or store them in plastic bags with moistened peat moss in the fridge until the spring. Plant new bulbs at a distance of 31 cm (12 inches) and at a depth half that of the old bulb’s diameter.

The bulb scales can be used if there are no offsets or smaller bulbs to remove from the main bulb. Remove a couple of the bulb’s scales and store them at room temperature in a bag with wet peat. Bulblets will emerge from the scales in a few weeks, and they can be planted as soon as their roots form.

How to Propagate Asiatic Lilies from Leaves

Gently removing each leaf away from the Asiatic lily stem, I purposefully preserved some stem tissue at the base of each leaf. The stem tissue from the leaf node is essential for this to work. The mother plants were unaffected by this.

After that, I poured rooting hormone on the leaves and placed them in cups filled with sand that was about two inches deep. Sand is a suitable rooting medium because it doesn’t contain illnesses that soil does.

Note: The inherent ability of the plant to create bulbils is used to propagate Asiatic lilies from leaves. It is common for some lilies to create naturally occurring genetic clones known as bulbils. You can trigger the bulbil formation with this method.

Once the bulb has formed, it is ready to be transplanted into 4′′ pots where it can continue to grow and develop into its own unique lily species. Despite the fact that it will take at least a year and a half before the lilies begin to bloom, this method of propagation is well worth the wait!

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Propagation of Asiatic Lilies from Leaves

  • Maintaining some stem tissue, gently remove the leaves from an Asiatic Lily (and leaf node).
  • Rooting hormone can be applied.
  • Place the leaf cuttings vertically in sand or another rooting medium.
  • Maintain humidity by moistening sand (but not soaking it) and tenting the cutting (a plastic bag works well).
  • A bulblet will begin to form once you wait.
  • The bulblet can be planted in a pot of soil and watched for growth once it has formed.

In addition to division and scaling of bulbs, Asiatic lilies can also be propagated from seed or grafted onto an existing plant.