Callas Are A Delicate Veil. Care, Cultivation, Reproduction. Photo

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Callas Are A Delicate Veil. Care, Cultivation, Reproduction. Photo
Callas Are A Delicate Veil. Care, Cultivation, Reproduction. Photo

Video: Callas Are A Delicate Veil. Care, Cultivation, Reproduction. Photo

Video: Callas Are A Delicate Veil. Care, Cultivation, Reproduction. Photo
Video: Calla Lilies - Their History and Background 2024, March
Anonim

Calla is the name of a highly decorative plant of the Araceae family with beautiful leaves and flower covers. The homeland of callas is South Africa, from where the ancestors of modern varieties of gladioli came to us. Numerous hybrid forms and varieties are usually cultivated. The most common cultivar is 'Perle von Stuttgart' with large inflorescences.

Calla lilies - a delicate blanket
Calla lilies - a delicate blanket

Content:

  • Calla lilies description
  • Planting calla lilies in a pot
  • Calla in the open field
  • Calla lilies rest period
  • Calla lilies care
  • Useful tips for digging and storing calla lilies
  • Reproduction of callas
  • Calla lilies

Calla lilies description

Calla (lat. Cálla) is a genus of perennial shade-tolerant wetland or coastal herbaceous plants of the Aroid family, or Aronnikovye (Araceae). The genus is the only member of the subfamily Calloideae and includes only one species - the marsh calla (Calla palustris L.).

Habitat - from temperate to tropical regions of the entire northern hemisphere. It is found in many regions of Russia, from Europe to Siberia and the Far East.

A swamp plant that lives along the swampy banks of water bodies and rivers, in swampy and humid places. Grown as an ornamental plant, used in landscape design.

For abundant flowering, plants need a dormant period (from mid-May to late July), so watering during this period is greatly reduced; in July-August, they are transplanted into large pots or greenhouse soil into a nutrient mixture of clay turf soil with humus, after which the watering is increased and the plants are regularly fertilized alternately with mineral and organic fertilizers. The air temperature in greenhouses in autumn should be +8.. +10 ° C, with the beginning of flowering it is recommended to increase it to +12.. +15 ° C.

Calla
Calla

Planting calla lilies in a pot

Shake the purchased tubers from the substrate (shavings) in which they were stored during transportation, and put them in a solution of special fertilizer for rooting bulbs for 1-2 hours.

While the tubers are "taking a bath", prepare the pot and fill it with the substrate.

Calla lilies require a significant amount of soil for normal development and flowering, so even the smallest tuber needs a separate pot of at least 2-2.5 liters.

Lay coarse drainage on the bottom of the pot with a layer of 4-5 cm, then add nutritious soil.

The height of the soil should be selected so that at least 10 cm remains to the top edge of the pot.

Tamp the soil and spill with a solution of a special fertilizer for rooting bulbs. It is not recommended to use this fertilizer for subsequent dressings, since its composition is selected in such a way as to stimulate the root formation and development of corm flower buds precisely at the germination stage. For top dressing during growth and before flowering, you should use special fertilizers for corms, for example, from the series "Planet of Flowers" or "Garden of Miracles".

After the pot of soil is prepared, the tuber can be laid. But first, study it and determine where it is up and where it is down. Calla tuber is smooth (relatively) below and with a distinct "rosette" above. The “cams” surrounding the “rosette” are the beginnings of future roots. It is good if, at the time of purchasing the bulb, these "cams" have already swollen and turned white - this suggests that the tuber is alive and will start growing immediately after entering the ground. It is necessary to lay the tuber in the ground with the "rosette" upwards.

After the tuber is laid on moist soil, sprinkle it on top with the same nutrient soil. There is one peculiarity of growing calla lilies - they require shallow planting, that is, the rhizomes should be only slightly covered with earth, since deep planting causes them to rot. Therefore, the soil layer above the tuber should be 1-2 cm.

The newly planted tuber is not watered, but the pot is transferred to a warm, draft-free place. Since calla lilies are moisture-loving plants, care must be taken to ensure that the soil does not dry out. In the practice of some flower growers, they water their callas only from the pallet and only with settled warm water.

Once a week, corm fertilizer can be added to the water for irrigation. At first, the sprouts seem very pale, but after a couple of days they will turn green and begin to actively grow. The sprouts appear approximately two weeks after planting.

Calla lilies in a pot
Calla lilies in a pot

Calla in the open field

As soon as the threat of frost passes, the calla is ready to move into the open ground. Before transplanting, pour abundantly so as not to destroy the earthen lump during transshipment, because during this period, the roots of the plant, despite their massiveness, are very fragile.

Calla prefers light acidic soil, so a mixture of peat, humus, leafy earth and sand (1: 1: 1: 0.5) is suitable for them. When feeding (at all stages of growth), remember that fertilizers containing nitrogen only increase the green mass and negatively affect flowering. The size of the bush and the number of peduncles on it will directly depend on the size of the planted bulb.

An average bulb (5-7 cm in diameter) forms a bush of 30-40 cm, in height from 30 to 70 cm. The baby releases several leaves and 1-2 flowers.

Calla blossoms from June to early October. Each flower remains decorative for about one and a half months. The number of peduncles on it (with proper care) should be from 7 to 12 pieces.

Calla lilies rest period

How do you know when calla lilies go to rest?

As a rule, the longer the callas are in the open field, the more they will grow the bulb. However, check the weather. Before frosting, you need to dig out the plant, rinse the tubers and put them in a dry dark closet. Do not cut the leaves, let the tubers take away the last nutrients from them. After a week and a half, the leaves will be easy to separate. Then cut off the roots completely. Do not separate the baby nodules from the mother's tuber, let the babies grow a little.

Sprinkle the callas tubers with chopped charcoal before transporting them to the apartment. He will dry and disinfect them at the same time. You need to store the tubers in the refrigerator, in the vegetable compartment. Calla lilies will have a good rest in the cellar or closed balcony.

Storage temperature should be +2.. +7 ° С. At higher temperatures, the tubers will sprout. The rest period should last 1.5-2 months (calla lilies do not bloom without a rest period).

As soon as the threat of frost passes, the calla is ready to move to open ground
As soon as the threat of frost passes, the calla is ready to move to open ground

Calla lilies care

Calla is usually written about: “blooms from October to April”. It just can't be! December, January and February in the homeland of calla lilies - in South Africa - this summer is hot and dry in places. It is during this period that the calla falls into a state of rest. She awakens to life in autumn, when the air temperature does not exceed +20.. +22 ° C, and it rains. Therefore, the peak flowering of calla lilies falls on our summer (June-July-August) - respectively, in the mild South African winter.

Why torture a living creature, imitating "our" winter "their" winter, knocking down the natural life schedule of a flower for six months? Moreover, the return to the usual cycle for calla lilies opens up a completely new opportunity for us - to decorate the garden with these wonderful plants. Not winter, but real. Feel free to release calla lilies!

The "flower" of calla lilies is called the cover sheet, in which the yellow "candle" of the cob is wrapped. Real calla flowers are small and inconspicuous, but extremely fragrant. Their scent is reminiscent of vanilla.

Do not pour the tubers, do not overdry the rhizomes!

The underground part of the calla lily is either not described at all in the literature, or it is somehow indistinct about it. Whether calla lilies have tubers, or rhizomes, or "tuberous rhizomes." Everything turned out to be very simple. In some plants, those that descended from Ethiopian calla lilies, the underground part is a rhizome. Others, whose ancestors are Calla Eliott and Calla Remann, have tubers. Both those and others feel great in the garden.

Useful tips for digging and storing calla lilies

1. When digging and cleaning the zantedeschia tubers from the ground, do not use force - this can break large tubers or unripe sessile nodules. These nodules will ripen over the winter, fenced off from the mother plant with a skin-partition, and then they can be easily separated. Do not cut calla lilies with a knife. Grease all damage to tubers with brilliant green.

2. If you cut the calla leaves, but did not cut the roots, the plant will start growing very quickly (especially in a warm room). Therefore, having removed the foliage of the zantedeschia, it is necessary to cut the roots! In freshly dug plants, it is not recommended to break off the roots or leaves by hand, as this leads to deep dents in the tuber or breaking off pieces from it.

3. If you have enough space in a cool (from +5 to +15 degrees) room (for example, in a country house), we recommend that you do not cut the foliage and roots of calla lilies immediately after excavation, but put the plants in boxes or pots. Leave them in this form for 1-2 weeks for a smoother transition of plant tubers to a dormant state. In this case, nutrients from the leaves and roots will be transferred to the tuber. The leaves and roots will twist, and then you can easily separate them from the tuber - even with your hands.

4. Buy calla lilies, already adapted to Russian conditions - then you will not have problems with drying out, rotting and spring attacks of planting material. And also you will avoid chagrin due to the lack of peduncles in the first years of growing Zantedesky, which often happens with imported plants.

The "flower" of calla lilies is called a cover sheet, in which a yellow "candle" of the cob is wrapped
The "flower" of calla lilies is called a cover sheet, in which a yellow "candle" of the cob is wrapped

Reproduction of callas

Calla lilies are propagated by nodule children, which are separated from the rhizome of the mother plant. The mother plant should be young, completely healthy, well developed and relatively dormant. Children can be from 10 to 30 pieces. Their size is from 0.5-1.5 cm. Such nodules must be grown. To do this, prepare loose nutritive soil, pour it into boxes or greenhouse racks. The tubers are planted in grooves 6-7 cm deep, sprinkling them 3-4 cm with loose earth.

Up to 500 of the smallest children are planted on an area of 1 square meter. With the appearance of the first leaf, young plants are planted more spaciously: 6 × 7 cm, (about 300 pcs. Per 1 sq. M.).

For good growth and normal development, young plants need: an ambient temperature of 16-18 ° C, regular loosening and watering. After the appearance of the second leaf, the plants should be fed monthly with nitrogen and potassium liquid mineral fertilizers. Phosphorus fertilizers in the form of granules are introduced into the earthen mixture during its preparation.

The first summer, young plants are grown without a dormant period, that is, they continue to loosen the soil, water and feed. For the second summer (in August-September), the plants are planted in a permanent place.

Calla lilies

Calla lilies suffer from mosaics caused by the potato X-virus. White spots of various sizes appear on the leaves of diseased calla lilies, which eventually merge into stripes running along the veins, the leaf blade curls. A diseased plant grows and blooms worse. The pathogen is not significantly transmitted by juice. It mainly spreads when grafting tubers, in which it does not lose activity for a long time.

Dear Readers! Callas are the perfect decoration for your garden! Their tenderness, subtle sensuality will undoubtedly decorate any corner of the garden! We are waiting for your comments!

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