Hybrid lilies: Postharvest bud necrosis

July 2005 issue of the Cornell Flower Bulb Research Program Research Newsletter:

The American Floral Endowment has generously agreed to fund a proposal we wrote on a problem we are calling “postharvest bud necrosis” in oriental hybrid lilies (see photo below). Growers
in the southern US especially see this problem in summer crops. The plants look fine in the greenhouse, but if cold-stored after forcing, rapidly (within a few days) develop dark spots and blotches on the buds in the cooler. The cause of this problem is not known, but we do know that cultivars vary in their susceptibility.

Read the whole article – Starts on page 3.