In the great outdoors of South Africa, African lily plants can live almost indefinitely due to their proliferating roots. As a pot plant in Central Europe, the African lily needs some care in order to bloom repeatedly and magnificently.
Why isn't my African lily blooming?
If an African lily does not bloom, the wrong winter quarters, lack of nutrients, rooted pot or recent division may be the cause. In order to promote flowering, the plants should be optimally overwintered, fertilized and cultivated in appropriate planters.
Low flowering due to incorrect winter quarters
The African lily is cultivated in this country in evergreen and leaf-feeding species. All different types of African lilies are best overwintered at a temperature between 0 and 7 degrees Celsius. While lower temperatures can spell doom for African lilies, overly warm winter quarters can result in a bloomless season next summer. So choose the right room for wintering by carefully checking the uniform temperature there with a thermometer.
African lilies only bloom with enough nutrients
With African lilies, there can be different reasons for a nutrient deficiency and the resulting lack of flowers:
- lack of fertilization
- a rooted pot and the resulting little substrate
- the strenuous formation of seeds
Between April and August you can fertilize your African lily with special foliar fertilizer (€9.00 on Amazon) or ordinary complete fertilizer via the soil. Since the roots of African lilies spread significantly over the years, the planter can become completely rooted. In such a case, you should carry out propagation division when repotting in the spring. Wilted inflorescences should always be cut off straight away, otherwise the ripening seeds will use up a lot of growth energy.
Give ornamental lilies enough time after division
Immediately after division, it can happen that African lilies do not bloom again in the first and second year. This is completely normal and should not unsettle you or motivate you to over-fertilize your plants. Therefore, always choose the plant pots large enough so that you don't have to divide and repot the plants as often.
Tips & Tricks
The plant pots should be chosen sufficiently large for the African lily, but a certain narrowness also stimulates the flowering capacity. Therefore, try to find a balance between a long, undivided period of time in a pot and the plants' need for closely spaced roots.