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I have a raised (one foot) bed where I grow most of my alpines and dryland type plants. The soil is extremely well drained, usually not mulched and in full sun. While this is not exactly ideal for my alpines and dryland plants because it still has rich soil, they do fine. I do have a few lilies there also. Unlike my lilies elsewhere, they never seem to attain the height or flower count that they should, even though their mother bulbs divide and multiply quickly, and the vigor is certainly present.
My answer to the problem was that the bulbs climbed up in the soil, and were now planted too shallowly, thus causing premature bulb division. But digging up a clump last spring and one just last week dispelled that theory. I even considered the possibility of a virus causing such anomalous behavior, since two of the cultivars that grow in this bed also grow in another bed where they perform admirably. Yet there were none of the typical viral symptoms present.
While reading a bulb log written by a world famous bulb expert (not just on lilies) I experienced an "ahah!" moment: the reason for this strange behavior of my lilies in this relatively dry bed.
This anomalous behavior is not anomalous at all! It's normal!
Although some are affected more than others, this seems to be a trait in most bulbs (not just Lilium) that is manifested by inadequate water and and low nutrients. Because nutrients are only taken in by plants in their water soluble form, even though the bed's soil is rich enough, without adequate water to take in the nutrients, it was in effect, relatively infertile. So this is why my bulbs were breaking into smaller bulbs, without attaining their normal size.
And since alpine plants alway like lean (not rich) soil, I always wondered why they did so well in this fertile bed. Now I know that, too.
So, getting back to the title of this thread, if you want to increase your bulb count, and can't (or don't want to) via smaller stem bulblets, this is your answer. Grow them dry, and the mother bulb will naturally divide, just as they do when they get "too" big. This method has been known for years, and is apparently general practice it increase new crocus stock.
BTW, my recent giveaway of eleven 1.25 inch diameter bulbs of Lilium 'Fata Morgana' was the result of this phenomena. I kept the largest bulbs, and that is what was left.
Rick
This message was edited Nov 6, 2009 9:56 AM
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