What to do next – especially with the contaminated cultures - has always been a problem. In previous seasons I’ve tried washing off the fuzz and goo, potting the tiny seedlings directly into containers of soil, but they very promptly died after being removed from the high-humidity environment they were used to. This year I have all my zipped bags of test-tubes (the caps are perforated for “gas-exchange,” and plenty of air gets through the plastic bags as well), hanging under Gro-Lights, arranged on each open wire shelf so they have light above and a bit of heat from below. It seemed to me that since the affected seedlings had a couple of leaves they could grow on their own, so perhaps if I could change their conditions as little as possible, they wouldn’t even notice they’d been taken off of “life-support.”

I washed the moldy, sugary medium off under tepid running water, set each little bulblet with its attached bit of greenery on slightly moist peatmoss (with some #1-sized poultry-grit mixed in, and another thin layer as a top-dressing), gently watered the roots in with a weak solution of fertilizer, and put them in their closed “zipper” baggies, right back under the lights where they came from. After a day or two I opened the bags a bit, each day leaving them open a little longer. (The heat from below dries the peatmoss and grit out quickly, so every few days, when the pinkish grit on the surface looks whitish and the bags feel lighter, they get more water/fertilizer solution - “Miracle-Gro” Liquid Houseplant Food - dribbled in with a turkey-baster). Since the next step will be planting the thriving seedlings out, a better adaptation of this method from the start would be to cut off the bottom of the zip-bag and invert it (using a paperclip to hold it closed at the top), so that when the time comes, it can be opened from the bottom and the entire contents set into a pot, removing the plastic “nursery-tent” after the little plant is acclimated.

In her workshops and talks, Judith has explained how commercial operations handle this step, sometime in January. The lilies that have been fattening in test-tubes since the summer are decanted and washed, and the leaves – which are “watery and useless” coming directly out of the tubes, and would die anyway - are removed. The cleaned bulblets are planted in trays, covered with newspapers, and left to “vernalize” until spring, putting up new leaves in March.

 This necessary “cold-rest” period may also be accomplished by taking the bulblets out, washing and packing them loosely in bags of barely-moist peatmoss in the refrigerator for a couple of months, or by putting the tubes themselves in, bags and all – a method I favor because it disturbs the growing plants the least, but it does take up more room in the fridge! (Firmly “embedded” roots can be shaken loose of the medium a bit, or if necessary, the tube can be opened and the roots spread so that air can reach them – apparently of prime importance for lilies in all situations, especially when the bulb is dormant.) Date the bags for when you put them in and when they’re due to come out, and mark it on your calendar as well. Experts say to time it so that you can pull the plants – young lilies can retain their green leaves and still vernalize - out of the tubes, rinse and acclimate them under lights for a bit, and then plant out in a protected place, so they can keep growing for at least some part of the summer.