The Torch Lily ( Kniphofia ) , also sometimes called the Red Hot Poker works , is an ornamental repeated native to Africa but now uprise throughout the U.S. The industrial plant is esteemed for its magniloquent , brightly - gloss flower stalks that can reach a meridian of up to 4 feet . The Torch Lily grows well in USDA hardiness zona 5 through 8 and can make a colorful addition to your garden .
How to Plant a Torch Lily From Seeds
Step 1
Layer the Torch Lily seeds between two moist paper towels on a plate . Place the plate in your icebox for 40 day . Keep the paper towels moist during this prison term . This mime the born low temperature of the wintertime and help prepare the seeded player for germination .
Step 2
Prepare a garden pot or seedling tray . Fill with adequate parts of peat moss , vermiculite and homemade or computer storage - bought compost .
Step 3
Sow the Torch Lily seed when its 40 days of cooling is complete . Plant each germ 1/2 column inch into the peat moss mixture and cover with free mixture . Water day by day to keep the ground moist . The seeds will sprout within 20 to 90 twenty-four hours , look on the case of Torch Lily seed you own . The nursery from which you obtained the seed can inform you of the specific lily cultivar ’s sprouting timing .
Step 4
Transplant the lily seedlings directly into an outdoor garden plot of ground that receives a lower limit of six hours of sunshine per day . For well growing result , the lily should be engraft in free , well - drained soil . If your dirt is sandy or clayey , amend with compost or peat moss as needed .
How to Plant a Torch Lily From Rooted Cuttings
Prepare the garden plot . Select an field that receives six hours of sunlight or more . Breakup the priming with a nigger . The Torch Lily requires well - run out , easy soil . If your soil health is not optimum , better the domain with compost or peat moss .
Obtain rooted cutting . These may be cut off of an established Torch Lily plant , which produces rooted side shoots . Alternatively , prevail separate cuttings from another gardener or a plant nursery .
Plant the lily . Bury it to its original depth before the severed cutting was root out , typically at a point where the bottom of the cut ’s plant crown is resting on the dirt .
Water the Torch Lily day by day until it exhibits new development , a sign that the cutting has established itself in the expanse .
How to Care for a Torch Lily
Water the Torch Lily every two to three days when the soil around the lily has dry to a profoundness 1/2 inch below the control surface . Adjust your watering intervals until you have established a born lacrimation rhythm , as your climate may be drier or bedwetter and call for more frequent or less frequent lachrymation .
Fertilize the Torch Lily with a standard flower fertiliser every spring . The fertilizer may be liquid or juiceless . utilise according to the fertilizer ’s guideline , as product richness and potency varies widely by manufacturer .
organize the Torch Lily for winter . particular wintertime care is need to foreclose the peak plant life from dying . Right before your realm ’s first hoar , marry together the flora ’s leaves into one expectant bunch using garden twine . This keeps pee from get in the middle of the plant and freeze .
traverse the primer with an inch of mulch . Start two inch away from the base of the flora so that the mulch is n’t touch the works directly . Extend the mulch circle for one to two foot . This helps isolate the soil to keep it from freezing .
Step 5
Prune back the Torch Lily in the spring after the weather condition has warmed up . Cut back the entire plant to its base , absent all of the bushed foliage that kick the bucket during the winter . The flora will get back to its original succulent manakin .
