LILY

[Barbara]

I was wondering, do you all cut the brown stem down, or do you all  leave it over winter.

[Rosefriend]

I have always cut mine back in the autumn Barbara, - up to now they have always done well and withstood the very low temperatures here as well..

[Ladygardener]

No, I leave them until I'm fed up looking at them Barbara. I read somewhere once that they should be left, I give them the odd tomato feed as well. I wonder what Tig does, me leaving the stem might have something to do with them not coming back so well these past couple of years but it could be coincidence.

[Tig]

I don't cut mine back. I wait until the stems are completely dry so that any energy from photosynthesis on the old leaves goes back to the bulbs. I tend to give them a gentle tug, (no pressure) as I pass by until they come away without any resistance. If they do come out I use a hand fork to make sure that the stem hasn't left a hole where water will get in and rot the bulb. Sometimes they don't want to detach themselves and I will leave them until the new shoots appear the following year. Because the stems are hollow I think cutting them allows water to run down and rot the bulbs.

[Ladygardener]

That's a good tip about covereing the hole the stem has made with compost, perhaps that's why some of mine in the ground did'nt come back.

[maggy]

If the stem looks healthy i leave the, to dry naturally when brown i cut down, this year as they were covered for the first time with LB muck i cut the lot down, funnily enough the tall thick stemmed (just one ) wasnt attacked and is still standing green and tall. I never pull the stems out until spring when the new growth shows then they just pull cleanly out.