About This Plant
Lily 'Sorbonne' is a tall Oriental hybrid grown from a precooled bulb for fragrant pink cut flowers and garden display. Commercial crops usually reach colored-bud harvest in about 105 days and produce one 90-110 cm stem with 3-6 buds per bulb. It performs best in cool, bright conditions with dry foliage, free drainage, and a supported stem. Drip-fed coco coir or another aerated substrate has the strongest production evidence. The bulb supplies substantial early reserves, but roots still acquire nutrients after planting and demand rises during bud development. Garden bulbs are perennial when foliage remains after bloom to recharge the bulb.
How to Grow Lily
Learn how to grow Lily from seed to harvest in 105 days. Beginner difficulty. Complete nutrient guide, pH/EC requirements, and growing conditions for soil & container.
Sources cited: 36.
Nutrient Requirements by Growth Stage
Feed from bulb establishment with a moderate, complete solution. Direct Sorbonne work found external N and K uptake during the first 15 days, followed by sharp N, P, and especially K accumulation during bud development and flowering…
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Growing Environments
Sorbonne can be grown outdoors, in high tunnels, greenhouses, indoor controlled environments, crates, and containers when light, drainage, temperature, and vertical clearance are adequate. Greenhouse and container systems give the closest control over the 105-day cut-flower schedule, while garden bulbs can remain…
Temperature
Force Sorbonne as a cool greenhouse crop. Use nights near 15-17 C and days near 18-22 C, with 20 C as a practical setpoint. Oriental-hybrid work found highest dry-matter gain at a 20 C day and photosynthesis strongest at 20-25 C; sustained 28 C conditions impaired root performance and flower quality. Commercial Sorbonne is grown from a precooled bulb, so no seed-germination temperature is published.
Humidity
Keep relative humidity near 60% and generally within 50-70%. Prevent condensation, prolonged leaf wetness, and stagnant humid pockets because calcium movement into young leaves depends on transpiration and wet foliage favors Botrytis…
Light
Use medium-to-high light and protect the crop from winter light shortage. A controlled-forcing setpoint of 350 micromol/m2/s for 16 hours gives a DLI of 20.16 mol/m2/day, and extension guidance also lengthens winter days to 16 hours…
Airflow
Use continuous horizontal air circulation and ventilation to keep leaves dry and break up humid canopy pockets. Air movement supports transpiration-dependent calcium delivery to young leaves and reduces conditions favorable to Botrytis…
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Hydroponic System Compatibility
Prefer drip or trickle-fed pots, boxes, or crates filled with a freely draining substrate. Sorbonne and related Oriental hybrids perform well in coco-based media under media-fed irrigation…
Growing Media
Use an aerated, moisture-retentive, freely draining medium. Coco coir is the best-supported preferred option: Sorbonne performed well in cocopeat, vermicompost, and sand, while related Oriental hybrids formed larger root systems and good flowers in coco coir or coco-coir-perlite…
Container Specs
Plant one large bulb in a deep 20-23 cm container with open drainage holes. Cover the bulb with at least 5 cm of medium so stem roots can form, and allow about 5 cm between bulbs in group pots…
Training & Support
Stake container-grown or wind-exposed Sorbonne before the stem carries heavy buds, then secure it with loose ties. The cultivar commonly reaches about 100 cm…
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Propagation
Start Sorbonne from a firm healthy bulb planted with its basal plate and roots intact. Divide offsets during dormancy or raise bulblets from healthy outer scale cuttings…
Harvesting
Harvest cut stems in the cool part of the day when the oldest lower bud shows full cultivar color but remains closed. Use clean tools and place stems immediately in clean water…
Planting Calendar
In temperate Northern Hemisphere gardens, plant bulbs in early autumn or as soon as soil is workable in spring. Oriental lilies flower naturally from mid to late summer…
Common Issues
Scout for Botrytis lesions during cool wet conditions even though Sorbonne has relative resistance, because resistance is not immunity. Prevent Pythium, Rhizoctonia, Fusarium, and storage rots with clean bulbs, clean media, and free drainage rather than unverified peroxide or dissolved-oxygen recipes…
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