Journal of Ornamental Horticulture

Lilium is one of the most important cut flower grown world wide. It is commercially grown in temperate regions of India. Present investigation was carried out with the objective to find suitable hybrid lily cultivar(s) for commercial cultivation under mid-hills of Himachal Pradesh. It was observed that the minimum days for emergence of sprouts (38.17 days), days for bud formation (98.77 days), days taken for cut stem harvesting (124.37 days) and days to first flower (125.37 days) and maximum stem thickness (0.74 cm) was recorded in cv. ‘Best Seller’. Maximum leaf length (14.80 cm) and leaf width (3.45 cm) was recorded in cv. ‘Prato’ and ‘Sapporo’ respectively, maximum plant height (99.23 cm), number of leaves/plant (86.97), stem length (79.23 cm). The maximum bud length (12.65 cm), tepal length (12.25 cm), tepal width (3.56 cm) and size of the flower (20.47 cm) was recorded in cv. ‘Yelloween’. The maximum tepal width (3.79 cm) and maximum duration of flowering (20.22 days) was recorded in cv. ‘Best Seller’ and cv. ‘Sapporo’. In case of bulb parameters, the maximum diameter (5.61 cm) and weight of bulb (32.27 g) was recorded in cv. ‘Ceb Dazzle’; maximum number of bulblets per stem (1.13) and weight of bulblet (2.67 g) was recorded in cv. ‘Salmon Classic’, while maximum vase life was observed in cv. ‘Sapporo’ (9.56 days).