How to Grow Rain Lily Bulbs: Depth, Pots and the Dry Trick (Video)

Transcript

Rain lilies bloom after rain, but did you know you can trick them?

Rain lilies bloom after rain, but did you know you can trick them?

Rain Lily Bulbs

Stay for the dry spell trick, it's the secret to blooms on demand.

What and when to plant

Rain lilies are small bulbs that throw up pink, white, or yellow flowers a few days after a heavy shower. Plant them between March and July in a sunny, free-draining spot. Keep them lightly moist while leaves grow, and let them get crowded. And here's the thing: crowded clumps flower best, so this is the rare plant that rewards you for neglecting to divide it.

Depth and which way up

The bulb looks like a tiny onion with a papery skin. Pointed end goes up, flat base goes down. If you can't tell, lay it on its side and it'll right itself. Dig six to eight centimeters in the ground, set bulbs five to eight apart, and cover tips with three to five centimeters of soil. Mix two parts garden soil, one part coarse sand, one part compost. Heavy clay that stays wet rots bulbs.

Growing in pots

Rain lilies do brilliantly in pots. A twenty to twenty-five centimeter pot, about four to six liters, takes ten to twelve bulbs. Go wide rather than deep, and make sure there's a good drainage hole. Clay pots dry out faster in summer, but these bulbs tolerate that better than most plants. A long trough along a railing looks lovely in bloom.

Why no flowers?

If your rain lily is all leaves and no flowers, check the light first: long floppy leaves mean too much shade, so move it to four to six hours of sun. Newly planted or divided bulbs often skip a season while they settle. Constant watering means no dry spell, so there's no trigger. And too much nitrogen gives lush leaves and nothing else, so feed compost, not urea. Think about it: most flowering problems come down to sun, water, or food.

After flowering care

Each flower lasts only a day or two. Pinch off spent flowers if you don't want seed, but leave the leaves alone; they feed the bulb for next year. Give a little compost after the main monsoon flush. In colder places the leaves yellow and die back, which is normal. From November to February, water pots sparingly, only when soil is completely dry. Soggy, cold soil is the real danger.

Lifting and storing

In the plains, you never need to lift rain lily bulbs. They stay in the ground or pot year-round. Lifting is only for the hills, where frost reaches the bulbs, or if you're moving house. If you lift them, wait for leaves to yellow in autumn, dry the bulbs in shade for a week, then store in a paper bag of dry sand or sawdust in a cool, dry place. Check monthly for soft or mouldy ones.

How they multiply

Every year, each bulb forms small offsets alongside itself. After three or four years, your pot is completely packed. And what surprised me is that crowding actually helps flowering, so divide only when the clump looks starved or stops flowering. To divide, lift in spring, pull bulbs apart gently, and replant in groups. Fresh seed sown on damp soil germinates readily and flowers in one to two years.

Until a pot is packed

Here's a number worth remembering: three to four years is how long it takes for a rain lily pot to get completely packed with bulbs. And that crowding is the secret; it's what makes them flower best. So resist the urge to divide. Only split them when the clump looks starved or stops flowering. It's the rare plant where neglect pays off.

A word of caution

Important heads-up: all parts of the rain lily contain alkaloids, and the bulbs most of all. Eating them can cause vomiting and diarrhoea. And the bulbs genuinely look like tiny onions, so store them away from the kitchen, out of children's reach, and stop dogs digging them up. Wash hands after handling. If a child or pet eats one and becomes sick, call a doctor or vet and bring a bulb or photo along.

The one trick that unlocks blooms

Here it is: the dry spell trick. In the warm months, stop watering the pot for about two weeks, until the soil is dry and leaves just begin to look tired. Then drench it until water runs from the hole. Buds often appear within days. Now, the part most people miss: this only works on established clumps in full sun, not on shade or freshly planted bulbs. Skip it in forty-five degree June heat; do it in March, August, or September.

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Read the full guide

Read the complete guide on thecareonline.com. This is general information, not medical advice.