Forcing Lily of the Valley
Hey! I’m really excited about this and we have the first flowers, blooming, so I’m hear to share it with you. Yes! You can grow lily of the valley as a scheduled plant.
So very cool. We ordered our lily of the valley pips from ADR this spring and planted one third of them when we received them. Size matters for growing lily of the valley and it’s important that you use only size 1 (top size) pips.
We used a rich, organic medium (Vermont Compost Fort Vee— the same stuff we use for seed starting) and planted them in bulb crates with about 4 inches of soil. The pH of the soil should be about 5 to 6. And you’ll want to keep the pips moist all the time.
Plant the pip crown slightly below the surface and plant them in close proximity to one another— basically right next to each other.
We’re growing them in the recommended range between 63-74F. They are a perfect “basement” crop for us. If you grow them warmer, the flowers will grow more than the foliage. If you grow it this range, they should grow closer to the same pace.
The best part: the turn around is only 3-4 weeks! So cool.
We’re storing our remaining lily of the valley pips in their original packaging, in our flower cooler. We plant a new round about every 2 weeks. The remaining pips are being cooled a bit longer in our cooler around 35F.
We can’t wait to grow even more in the future and work on our next plan for this crop— a verrrrry long season of flowering over months of time.
Lily of the valley prefer about 1000 foot candles for light intensity— that’s not super bright. After evaluating our grow lights, we found they are close to the optimal range for lily of the valley . See the next video to learn more about how to measure the light available to your plants.
If you don’t get flowers, the pips may not have been cooled enough prior to growing them. Lily of the Valley requires at least eight weeks of cooling at 35F.
No fertilization is required.
When you are done forcing your lily of the valley plants, they can be planted out into a cool shady location to bloom naturally next year. Or- if you are concerned about them taking over (they can be invasive), you can leave them in the crates in a cool shady place, allow them to go dormant, and then provide a “winter” for them, as described above, in you flower cooler or outside (if you climate is right for it). Move the crates indoors in successions to grow flowers. Refresh the growing medium each season by topping off with fresh, rich soil.