Forcing oriental and Asiatic lilies in soilless culture

Soilless culture, for lily cut flower production, is a possible solution in order to fulfill plant requirements and overcome problems related with soil born diseases. In this view the assessment of suitable both growing methods and cultivars choice are necessary. In this experiment timing and production of lily cut flower, in open soilless cultivation, were evaluated in relation to four planting dates and five cultivars. Planting dates ranged from September until February; the cultivars were the Asiatic hybrids 'Elite' and 'Pollyanna' and the Oriental hybrids 'Casablanca', 'Acapulco' and 'Star Gazer'. Plants were grown in indoor beds; the medium was a mixture of peat, crushed rocks (circle divide 3-4 mm) and grained polystyrene (v/v 50, 30 and 20% respectively). Overall the percentage of flowering plants exceeded 95%. Mean flowering time progressively increased from September (92.5 days in average) until December (117.2 days in average) and decreased in February (108 days). As concern cultivars, earliest flowering was recorded for 'Elite' while the latest one was 'Casablanca'. Highest stem length in average was recorded in December, while the highest number of flowers per flowered stem occurred in February. Tallest, heaviest, thickest flower stems and the highest number of flowers were recorded for Elite; among the Oriental hybrids 'Casablanca' showed best cut flower characteristics.