Calla Lily Care Methods and Precautions
Caring for a potted plant requires our love and patience, and even more so, our attentiveness. So in our daily lives, how should we cultivate calla lilies?
1. Its requirements for soil and fertilization. When potting, choose well-drained sandy loam soil and apply sufficient base fertilizer. The base fertilizer is best made of fully decomposed cake fertilizer or pig manure. After planting, water thoroughly, place in a shaded area, and keep the potting soil moist. After sprouting, move to a shade shed with scattered light for care, being careful not to expose it to direct sunlight, nor to shade it completely. In addition to applying base fertilizer before planting, apply liquid fertilizer once every 20 days or so during the growing period. Decomposed cake fertilizer water can be used; during the peak growing season, apply a diluted liquid fertilizer of mixed nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium once every 10 days or so. When fertilizing, never pour the fertilizer water into the leaf sheaths, as this may cause rot.
2. Its watering requirements. Calla lilies like ample water during the growing period; frequently sprinkle water on the leaves and the ground, and keep the leaves clean. Before frost, move into a greenhouse and maintain a room temperature above 10°C. During the care period, to avoid excessive leaves affecting light exposure, outer leaves can be removed, which also helps the flower stalks extend. February to April is the peak blooming period; after flowering, gradually stop watering; after May the plant begins to yellow and wither, and attention should be paid to ventilation and keeping it dry to prevent tuber rot. When the plant is completely dormant, the tubers can be taken out, dried, and stored, then replanted in autumn.
3. Its propagation. For home potting with a small number of plants, division of bulbs is the main method. Every September, remove the plant from the pot, break off the offset bulbs around the mother plant, coat the wounds with plant ash to prevent infection and rot, replace with sterilized culture soil, then place the mother bulb and offset bulbs into a 4000-fold potassium permanganate solution and soak for 15 minutes to 20 minutes. After drying, pot them separately according to bulb size, so that the plants will be uniform in size the following year. Offset bulbs need 3 years of cultivation before they can bloom. Division propagation must be done in autumn; otherwise it will be difficult to bloom that year, and even if it blooms, the flowering period will be late.
As long as you care for it attentively, the calla lily will surely grow healthily and beautifully.
Potted Calla Lily Care and Management Techniques
Calla lily, (scientific name: Zantedeschia aethiopica), is a perennial robust herbaceous plant of the Araceae family, genus Zantedeschia. It has tubers and readily tillers to form clumping plants. Leaves are basal, with sheaths at the lower part; leaf blades are relatively thick, green, heart-shaped arrow-shaped or arrow-shaped, with acute, acuminate, or tail-like pointed tips, and heart-shaped or hastate bases. It prefers loose, fertile, humus-rich clay loam. Calla lily is a relatively emerging flower in recent years, with large market demand as a cut flower and broad market prospects. Because the calla lily has emerald green leaves and large, pure white spathes shaped like a horse's hoof with a peculiar form, it is an important cut flower both domestically and abroad, with a very wide range of uses. The cultivation and care techniques for calla lilies are introduced below.Colored calla lilies, like ordinary white calla lilies, prefer a warm, humid environment and are not tolerant of drought. The potting soil should be kept moist and must not dry out. If the environment is dry, spray water on the ground to maintain a humid micro-environment. Colored calla lilies like sunlight but are afraid of blazing summer sun. After direct sunlight, the leaves and spathes will be scorched. So in summer, shading is needed, with a shading rate of 50%. However, if grown long-term in a dark environment with insufficient sunlight, flowering will be affected, or they may not bloom at all; even if they bloom, the colors will be pale, detracting from their ornamental value. In spring and autumn, no shading is needed.
Colored calla lilies are not cold-tolerant and prefer warmth. When planting in the southern Liaoning region, division and potting are generally done in September in autumn, with three flowering bulbs of the same diameter planted per pot in a triangular arrangement. They can take root in autumn and go dormant in winter; store indoors, keeping at 5°C, and the flower pots can be stacked. When spring comes and the temperature reaches 10°C to 15°C, watering should begin. If the indoor temperature is high and sprouting is early, they generally bloom in June or July; with some having high temperatures and good management, flowers can be seen as early as the beginning of June.
For home potting with a small number of plants, division of bulbs is the main method. Every September, remove the plant from the pot, break off the offset bulbs around the mother plant, coat the wounds with plant ash to prevent infection and rot, replace with sterilized culture soil, then place the mother bulb and offset bulbs into a 4000-fold potassium permanganate solution and soak for 15 minutes to 20 minutes. After drying, pot them separately according to bulb size, so that the plants will be uniform in size the following year. Offset bulbs need 3 years of cultivation before they can bloom. Division propagation must be done in autumn; otherwise it will be difficult to bloom that year, and even if it blooms, the flowering period will be late.
How to Choose Colored Calla Lilies: Precautions for Home Care of Colored Calla Lilies
Watering: Cultivating colored calla lilies requires a sunny, warm, and humid environment; they are not tolerant of cold or drought. Generally, they should be kept moist in the early growing stage. After the calla lily plant finishes blooming, the amount of watering should be gradually reduced, and when the leaves turn yellow and wither, watering should be stopped completely.
Fertilizing: During the growing season of colored calla lilies, apply diluted liquid fertilizer once every half month. After the flower scape emerges, increase to once a week until the end of the colored calla lily's flowering period.
Care Methods for Colored Calla Lilies
After the colored calla lily plant finishes flowering, gradually reduce the amount of watering. By late April, move it outdoors and place it in a slightly shaded area for care, watering once a day and sprinkling water on the ground near the flower pot to increase air humidity.
After June, the leaves of colored calla lilies gradually yellow and wither as they enter the dormant period. At this time, prune off the withered leaves, control watering, stop fertilizing, and move the flower pot to a ventilated, cool place to encourage the colored calla lily to enter dormancy.
In autumn, after the weather turns cool, take the colored calla lily tubers out of the flower pot, select the large tubers, and replant the colored calla lilies with fresh, fertile culture soil. When the tubers sprout leaves, gradually increase watering and resume fertilizing, so the calla lilies can continue to bloom.
Colored calla lilies are ideal cut flower material and can also be potted for home decoration. Friends who like colored calla lilies can try growing them to fill their homes with vitality and energy.