Calla

Family. Araceae.

Homeland of plants. In nature, they are often found on the banks of ponds or swamps in Africa and South America.

Description. Calla or zantedeschia is a herbaceous perennial plant. Depending on the specific variety, the root may be a tuber or rhizome.

The leaves are large - up to 40 cm long and about 25 cm wide, spear-shaped, dark green, glossy, located on long, strong petioles, sometimes have small white specks on the surface. Leaf blades with a pronounced central vein and lateral veins diverging from it, with slightly corrugated edges without denticles.

During the flowering period, erect peduncles appear, at the top of which there is a small inflorescence - a spadix. The flowers are very small, yellow or orange. It is noteworthy that male flowers are located at the top of the spadix, and female flowers are at the bottom.

What makes the plants truly attractive is the large covers in which the inflorescences are wrapped - they can be painted in white, orange, yellow, red, burgundy, lilac and even almost black shades.

The vast majority of species and varieties have a very pleasant aroma - sweetish with fruity or vanilla notes.

Size. If miniature varieties do not exceed 15 - 20 cm, then the tallest species can reach a height of more than 2 meters.

When bloom

The flowering period lasts about 4 weeks. Most often, flowering occurs in June - July, but when grown at home, flowering callas can be obtained by any date by forcing.

Planting and care in open ground

Callas are unpretentious and quite easy to grow both in open ground and at home. When caring for the flower, it is worth remembering that all its parts are poisonous and it is better to use protective gloves when in contact, and wash your hands thoroughly with soap after any work.

When buying, you should pay attention to the appearance of the planting material - the bulbs should be dense, with a yellow surface, a pronounced growth point. If there is mechanical damage or soft areas, it is better to refrain from buying. If such areas have already been found at home, then the rotten places are cut out with a sharp knife, leaving only healthy tissue. The wounds formed as a result of such pruning should be dried and disinfected.

You should not buy wrinkled tubers that have lost a lot of moisture - in such plants they will simply recover in the first year, and the first flower stalks will decorate the bush only the next year.

Planting in the garden is carried out in the spring - at the beginning of May, when the threat of night frosts becomes minimal. The flower prefers sunny areas or light partial shade during the day. The midday sun can burn the leaves.

Before planting, add leaf or turf humus and rotted manure to the soil as additional nutrition. Superphosphate granules can be added from mineral fertilizers. The area for planting callas should have loose soil without stagnant melt and rain moisture. River sand is usually mixed into too heavy clay soil - it maintains the loose structure of the soil and makes it permeable to moisture.

The pH level of the soil should be acidic. If the soil on the site is neutral or alkaline, it is watered with a weak solution of any household acid - citric, acetic, etc.

The planting depth will depend on the diameter of the tuber - the larger it is, the deeper it should be planted. In heavy soil, it is worth reducing the planting depth, and in sandy soil - slightly increasing it.

The area is dug up and weeds are pulled out along with the roots. For planting tubers, holes are prepared about 8-10 cm deep and a distance of about 30 cm is left between the holes. For dwarf varieties, this distance can be reduced to 15-20 cm.

A small drainage layer of river sand 1-2 cm high can be placed at the bottom of the holes. The tubers are pre-soaked for half an hour in a weak solution of potassium permanganate with the addition of growth stimulants, and then placed in the holes, covered with earth and lightly compacted.

The area is watered with warm water and mulched when the first shoots 5-7 cm high appear. Mown grass, sawdust, tree bark are used as mulch.

If the shoots do not appear for too long - within 4 - 5 weeks - there is nothing wrong with this. The fact is that the root system grows first and only then the leaves begin to form.

Special preparation carried out at home will help speed up the process and get buds earlier. The tubers are planted in pots at the end of March or the beginning of April and watered little by little. 7-10 days before planting in the garden, the pots are taken outside for several hours a day, constantly increasing this time.

After such hardening, the flower is watered abundantly and after a day is transferred to prepared planting holes together with a lump of earth. The transfer should be carried out extremely carefully, without damaging the emerging sprout and minimally disturbing the root system.

Watering and fertilizing

When planting, calla lilies are watered abundantly, but the second watering is carried out only when the first shoots appear or when the soil surface is completely dry. Watering is carried out in the morning and evening hours using warm water.

It is undesirable for drops to fall on flowers and bedspreads - it is better to water directly under the root. If wet leaves are exposed to sunlight during the day, this will lead to burns. After watering, the soil is carefully loosened and weeds are removed, and then the mulch layer is renewed.

When growing in the garden, 2-3 feedings per season are enough. The first is carried out with the appearance of the first leaves, the second - as soon as the flower stalk appears. The third feeding will be advisable only when growing on poor soil and is carried out immediately after flowering.

Calla responds positively to both mineral compositions for flowering plants and organic fertilizers in the form of well-rotted manure and humus.

When to dig and how to store bulbs

The tubers are dug out of the ground and put into storage as soon as the first night frosts appear. The root system is carefully shaken off any remaining soil, and the tubers are immersed in warm water with fungicidal preparations for half an hour. Then they are laid out for 2-3 days in a warm and ventilated place to dry.

After drying, the tubers are placed in a dry, cool place at a temperature of about 5-7 degrees for another couple of weeks. During this period, the above-ground part will dry completely and can be cut with sharpened sterile pruning shears.

For permanent storage, they are placed in small boxes and covered with a layer of barely damp sand. The boxes are sent to a cool and dark place - for example, a cellar. The tubers are taken out weekly and inspected for rot or disease - bad ones are rejected.

If there is no cellar, then storage can be done in the refrigerator, wrapping the tubers in newspaper sheets and placing them on the lowest shelf.

Growing at home

To grow calla lilies at home, choose a pot with sufficiently large drainage holes. There should be about 20 cubic centimeters of soil for each planted tuber. When growing Ethiopian calla, it is better to plant only one tuber in each pot.

Expanded clay, broken brick, clay shards or pieces of foam are placed on the bottom of the pot. Fill the container with nutritious flower soil with the addition of a small amount of river sand up to a third or half the height of the pot, slightly compact the surface.

The soil should contain a sufficient amount of nutrients and easily pass moisture. Turf and leaf humus can be added to the standard substrate. To maintain a loose structure and increase water permeability, components such as river sand, perlite or vermiculite are added. Every 2-3 months, the top layer of soil 2-3 cm thick is removed, trying not to touch the roots, and replaced with fresh soil mixture. The soil should be permeable to air, allowing the root system to breathe.

Before planting, the tubers are soaked in a weak fungicide solution for about 30-60 minutes for disinfection. The best time for planting is considered to be the end of February - beginning of March.

The tubers are planted in the soil with the sprouts facing up so that there is about 4-6 cm between them and the walls of the pot. Approximately the same distance is left between the tubers when planting several plants in one pot.

Sprinkle the tubers with a 5-6 cm layer of soil on top and compact them again with your fingertips. Water the plants and place them in a warm place with good lighting. Cover the top of the pots with transparent polyethylene film to create a greenhouse effect.

Do not choose a container that is too large for keeping - a large amount of substrate will retain moisture after watering and lead to rotting. So, for one tuber of Ethiopian calla with a diameter of 5-6 cm, a pot with a diameter of about 25 cm will be enough.

You should water with water at room temperature, pre-settled for 24 hours. The first watering is carried out a week after planting in a pot. The frequency of watering will depend not on the season, but on the stage of development of the flower.

After planting the tubers and until the first leaves appear, watering should be limited. With the formation of green mass, the frequency of watering is increased, and during the period of budding and flowering, the substrate is kept uniformly moist, drying between waterings only the top layer of soil with a thickness of about 1-2 cm. Rhizome species do not tolerate drought well and for them, watering should be uniform.

After flowering, watering is gradually reduced again. Excess moisture that appears in the tray after watering is drained after a few minutes.

Since the flower in the pot has a limited feeding area, for abundant and long-lasting flowering it will need regular feeding. Callas are fed with fertilizers for flowering plants when the first signs of growth appear, before flowering, feeding is applied every 10-14 days. Fertilizers are applied to moist soil immediately after watering.

Under unfavorable conditions - for example, when there is a lack of light or the contents are too cool, the frequency of fertilizing is increased and fertilizers are applied every 7 days. 

To form the first leaves after planting, it is worth applying nitrogen fertilizers - it is this element that helps to quickly develop the green mass. A little later it is worth moving on to potassium and phosphorus compounds, which stimulate the formation of buds. Plants react positively to organic fertilizers in the form of slurry or infusion of nettle leaves.

Indoor calla lilies need good lighting - the pots are placed on the windowsill of a south-west or south-east window, where there is morning and evening sun, but there is protection from midday rays. To keep the plants symmetrical, the pots are rotated a quarter turn around their own axis every week.

If there is a lack of natural light, for example in the autumn-winter period, artificial supplementary lighting with LED or fluorescent lamps is successfully used. With the help of supplementary lighting, the duration of daylight increases to 12 - 14 hours per day. With insufficient lighting (less than 10 hours per day), calla lilies do not bloom.

The optimal temperature will be a range from 18 to 24 degrees Celsius. Ethiopian calla does not like sudden changes in temperature conditions. Do not expose the bushes to temperatures below 14 degrees. Daily temperature fluctuations will help speed up the onset of flowering and produce bright bedspreads of multi-colored callas - if you maintain the flower pot at a temperature of 22 - 25 degrees during the day, and lower the air temperature to 16 degrees at night.

In the summer months, it is worth placing the container outdoors - in the garden under the shade of trees or on a loggia or balcony.

In the house, it is necessary to provide a well-ventilated room without exposure to cold drafts. Air humidity should be increased using a special humidifier or simply by placing the pot on a tray with wet pebbles. Green glossy leaves are wiped with a damp sponge from time to time to remove dust.

After flowering, a cool and fairly dry rest period is required. The duration of the rest period varies greatly among different varieties and species - for this reason, several tubers of different species should not be planted in one pot.

After the buds fade, they are cut off along with the flower stalk so that the bushes retain an attractive appearance and do not waste energy on seed production.

The leaves should remain on the plants until the very last moment. Cut off the foliage only after it has completely turned yellow. Green leaf blades continue the process of photosynthesis and feed the underground tubers.

In tuberous callas, dead leaves are cut off with sharp sterile pruning shears, and the pots with tubers are sent to a cool place with a temperature of 15 - 18 degrees Celsius for a period of rest. Watering is reduced to a minimum, simply protecting the soil from drying out. If all the leaves have died, it is better to put the pots in a dark place.

As soon as the first shoots appear, the tubers are carefully planted in fresh soil, trying not to damage the young shoots.

In rhizomatous species, dormancy often occurs in the summer - the leaves do not die off completely, but simply change color to yellow. The plant stops developing. Pots with such specimens are taken outside and placed in partial shade, protecting them from strong winds and heavy rainfall. Watering is reduced. In the second half of summer, the flower is planted in a fresh nutrient mixture and regular care is resumed.

Reproduction

Species plants can be propagated by sowing seeds, but this requires patience - bushes obtained from seeds bloom for the first time 3-5 years after sowing. Varietal calla lilies may lose their attractive appearance when propagated by seeds. Vegetative methods or dividing adult specimens have become more widespread.

Growing from seeds

The seeds can be collected independently, choosing the largest and brightly colored coverlet. After flowering, the peduncle and coverlet are left on the plant until the seeds are fully ripe. Fully ripened planting material is dried in a warm place for 2-3 days.

Germination is quite low and to increase it, it is worth pre-soaking the seeds in warm water with the addition of growth hormones for several hours.

Sowing is carried out in late February - early March, using seedling boxes with a lid and drainage holes. Fill the boxes with soil and distribute the seeds over its surface.

From above, the seedlings are covered with a 7-10 mm layer of substrate and the soil surface is generously watered from a spray bottle. The boxes are covered with a lid, which is lifted daily and condensation is removed from it.

When the first shoots appear, the cover is removed. When 2 leaves are formed on each seedling, the seedlings are planted in separate cups. 7-10 days after picking, the first feeding with nitrogen fertilizers in a very weak concentration is carried out.

You can pre-germinate the seeds under a damp paper napkin and plant them in the ground only when the first sprouts appear. Germination usually occurs within a week, and during this time it is worth maintaining uniform humidity by spraying the napkin with water from a spray bottle.

Division

The division is carried out both with the help of daughter tubers, which will appear from time to time near the mother plant, and by cutting a large tuber with several growth points. In this case, the cut sites must be treated with disinfectants before planting and dried in the open air for several hours.

After planting, such divisions are watered very carefully - the slightest flooding will provoke the appearance of rot on unhealed wounds.

Rhizome Ethiopian calla lilies reproduce somewhat differently.

In early autumn, the plants are removed from the soil and shaken off the remains of the earth. The root collar and rhizome are separated by hand. The rhizome is planted back in the pot and stored in a dark and cool place at a temperature of about 12 - 15 degrees with high humidity. After a couple of months, the first shoots may appear in the pot.

Interesting facts

In cloudy weather or before rain, calla lilies "cry" - small droplets of water appear on the tips of the leaves. This interesting feature is inherent in many representatives of the Araceae family. White calla lilies are considered a symbol of innocence and are often used in floristry, added to wedding bouquets. In many countries, the flower is considered a symbol of death - in Europe, it was often planted in cemeteries.

Diseases and pests

Lack of light causes plants to stretch upward and become loose and weak, and there is no flowering. Calla does not bloom if there is insufficient soil in the pot, a sudden change in living conditions, insufficient nutrition, or lack of a dormant period.

Diseases may include gray rot, anthracnose, bacterial and root rot. With an excess amount of nitrogen and a large amount of any nutrients in the soil, the whitewing “gets fat” - it forms a large amount of greenery to the detriment of the formation of buds. The leaf blades easily break at the slightest touch if the flower lacks nutrition. 

Among the harmful insects, thrips, aphids, and spider mites can attack the flower.

Varieties of calla lilies:

Calla aethiopica, Calla Lily

 Rhizomatous calla lily is a herbaceous flowering perennial up to 50 - 90 cm high. Large bushes of this variety have dark, green, glossy leaves and orange flowers, which contrast perfectly with the snow-white large bedspreads. It does not lose its attractiveness for a very long time when cut or in water. The flowering period occurs in June - July.

Calla elliottiana

 A flowering perennial 40 - 60 cm high with light green leaves covered with white specks and bright, yellow, large spathes. Plants have late flowering - buds form in the second half of summer.

Calla palustris

 A rare species in floriculture that requires very high air humidity and abundant watering. Plants reach only 20 - 30 cm in height and in nature often settle in swampy areas and on flooded banks of reservoirs. The leaves are thick, green, with a glossy surface, quite wide, reaching a length of 5-10 cm. The inflorescences consist of greenish-yellow buds, surrounded by a white blanket. Flowering occurs in the first half of summer.

Calla rehmanii

 Profusely flowering plants 40 - 60 cm high with emerald green, glossy, plain or with small white speckled leaves and bright pink spathes. The inflorescences are yellow or orange. Buds form in the second half of summer or even early autumn. Often grown indoors and used for cutting. The species has been used to develop many cultivars and hybrids.

Calla Albomaculata

 Compact perennials up to 40 cm high with bright green leaves abundantly covered with white streaks. Bedspreads can be painted white or cream. The inflorescences are painted bright orange. A distinctive feature of the species are white spots on the leaves. In nature, it lives in swampy areas, does not bring in cold and loves high air humidity and abundant watering.

Varieties:

Calla Picasso

 Plants of this variety reach a height of 60 cm and have characteristic bright purple or burgundy blankets with a white edge. The leaf blades are dark green, with characteristic white thin strokes on the surface. Flowering occurs in the second half of summer or even early autumn.

Calla Black Star

 A beauty with a rather exotic appearance - tall, dark, almost black bedspreads tightly rolled into a funnel contrast perfectly with the bright green leaves. The surface of the leaf blades has small white specks or dots, and the edges of the leaves are painted a rich burgundy shade. The height of the plants reaches 40 - 50 cm.

Calla Cantor

The variety is distinguished by burgundy, very dark spathes and inflorescences with burgundy flowers. The leaf blades are light green, covered with white specks and streaks. Plants can reach 60–70 cm in height.

Captain Safari

 Medium-sized bushes reach a height of 50-60 cm and during the flowering period display bright orange covers with reddish edges. The flowering period begins in the second half of summer and lasts for 1 month.

Calla Paco

 A distinctive feature of plants of this variety is the presence of large, funnel-shaped bedspreads, colored purple or burgundy with a glossy surface. During the flowering period, which occurs in the summer months, the plants emit a pleasant aroma. The height of the bushes is about 70 cm.

Ametist

 The variety has brightly purple-colored bedspreads, while the inflorescences remain orange and contrast perfectly with the bedspreads. The plants are compact in size and do not exceed 35 cm in height. Flowering occurs in the second half of summer.

Zantedeschia Cameleon

 Low perennials, reaching 50 - 60 cm, have glossy, green leaves and brightly colored spathes. It is interesting that, when blooming, the bedspreads are colored orange in the center, and have a reddish color at the edges. As the flowers fade, the bedspreads become a single color - peach. Flowering occurs in the summer months.

Calla Schwarzwalder

 Another famous variety with darkly colored, almost black, glossy covers. The height of the plant is 45 - 60 cm, buds form in July.

Calla Aethiopica Flamingo

 Delicate plants with glossy, light green leaves and pink spathes. The beauty of the bedspreads is emphasized by orange inflorescences. 

Zantedeschia Vermeer

 The bushes reach a height of 50 - 60 cm, have dark green leaves with rich white speckles. During the flowering period, which occurs in the second half of summer, the plants decorate themselves with yellow, fragrant inflorescences and purple blankets with a white edge.

Avalanche

 Tall plants can reach a height of 80 - 90 cm. The variety is often grown on an industrial scale, as it has become widespread among florists. Plants do not lose their attractiveness for a long time when cut. The bushes are distinguished by dark, green, glossy, monochromatic leaves. The inflorescences are bright, orange, wrapped in a white blanket.

Calla treasure

 This variety is often grown indoors, as it has a relatively modest size and bright appearance. The height of the bushes does not exceed 30 - 35 cm; at the beginning of summer they form orange inflorescences, wrapped in blankets of a delicate peach shade.

Sunshine

 The dark green leaf blades of this variety are covered with white strokes and contrast perfectly with the bright yellow bedspreads. The plants reach a height of 40 - 60 cm and bloom in mid-summer.

Samur

 The main distinguishing feature of these plants is the large, soft pink spathes surrounding the yellow inflorescences - the cobs. The height of the bushes reaches 40 - 50 cm.

Zantedeschia Solfatare

 Varietal plants reach 45 - 60 cm in height and during the flowering period they form bright golden-yellow blankets.