In recent years, garden calla lilies have become increasingly common in gardens. They are receiving attention from more and more gardeners due to the fact that they have not only an attractive appearance, but also a rather long flowering. However, for this they should create favorable conditions. In principle, this plant is quite unpretentious, however, nevertheless, in the process of growing and caring for it, there are some peculiarities that every florist should be aware of if he wants calla lilies to delight him every season with their bright buds.
Content
Garden calla lilies
It is a mistake to consider calla lilies as an exclusively indoor plant. This opinion is refuted by garden species, which can grow well in the open field, if they are provided with optimal conditions.
And it is quite possible to implement this idea, even though the homeland of this representatives of the aroid family are the tropics of South Africa... An interesting fact is that in natural conditions calla lilies bloom exclusively in warm winters. In our climate, these plants will feel good in gardens at any time of the year, fully demonstrating their decorative properties in spring and summer.
If you are familiar with the rules for growing dahlias, then surely you will not have big problems with calla lilies. Although dahlias for domestic florists seem to be one of the traditional plants, but callas, which are also known as calla lilies, are a rarity in the plots. How to properly prepare for planting these flowers?
The choice of material for planting
First of all, you need to understand what kind of calla lilies you would like to get on your site. It will not be so difficult to resolve this issue, given that today in stores these flowers are presented in a wide variety, and therefore you will probably find among them the variety you like the most. If we turn to the practice of growing calla lilies in our country, then most often gardeners choose the following types:
- Calla rehmannii;
- Calla Ethiopian (Calla aethiopica).
Among the garden varieties, the most popular are varieties derived from Ethiopian calla lilies. However, it should be borne in mind that this plant is exotic, so it will not be so easy to grow it in our latitudes... But with proper care, you can get from the seeds fairly large plants up to 1 meter high, decorated with large flowers.
Selection rules
In order to save yourself from unnecessary difficulties in the process of growing and caring for calla lilies, you need to competently approach the choice of a suitable planting material. You can determine the quality tubers of calla lilies by their size: they should not only be large enough, but also not have signs of wrinkling or lethargy.
To be sure that these flowers do not die in the first year, it is recommended to use tubers grown in our climate... Therefore, it is advisable to find “local” calla lilies as planting material.If you try to grow these flowers from the imported plants, then even if they take root, it is unlikely that their flowering will meet your expectations. And, most likely, the first flowers in such plants will appear much later than usual.
How and where to plant flowers?
Most preferred for growing garden calla lilies are warm, sunny areas where favorable conditions will be created for flowers. It is undesirable to place plants in conditions of partial shade, these plants are best suited to places where they receive the maximum amount of sunlight... But if scorching rays fall on the flowers at the chosen place throughout the day, it is advisable to create a shadow for them in order to avoid burning the leaves. You also need to take care of protection from the winds, since drafts can also harm calla lilies.
It is necessary to pay attention to the composition of the soil: it should be highly fertile and have a slightly acidic reaction. But when applying organic fertilizers, it is necessary to observe the measure, since their excess will lead to a completely opposite effect. First of all, this concerns nitrogen, an excessive amount of which can greatly affect flowering. In the absence of other suitable places, calla lilies can be grown on clay soil: before planting, peat and sand, taken in equal amounts, must be added to it.
Usually, garden calla lilies are planted in the spring.... Already in the first days of May, a fairly comfortable weather sets in, in which the bulbs can quickly take root and begin to grow.
However, you need to be careful with the timing, since the last frost can harm young plants. For planting, pits are prepared with a depth of 5-10 cm. From this moment they begin to take care of flowers. And the first operation that will have to be done will be watering.
Landing features
When planting the tubers of garden calla lilies, it is important to maintain the optimum depth, which should be about 10 cm. Plants are recommended to be placed no closer than 30-40 cm from each other... When planting flowers, do not manipulate the soil, compacting it or pressing the bulbs themselves into the soil. You just need to place them in the prepared holes, and cover them with a layer of soil on top.
Also, many growers practice the method of growing calla lilies through germination. This will require a temporary pot in which the tubers are planted, after which they are looked after until the moment when they can be transplanted to a permanent place. In some years, with this method of growing the bulbs, calla lilies often begin to bloom even before the onset of a favorable moment for transplanting into the garden.
Transplanting tubers into pots is carried out at the end of Marchhowever, it is important to select a suitable container size. As a soil mixture, use ready-made seedling soil, which can be found in flower shops. Caring for potted bulbs does not differ from the traditional method of growing flowers:
- for this you need to keep the soil moist by watering it 2-3 times a week;
- even before there is a favorable moment for transplanting flowers into open ground, it is necessary to harden the tubers in 7-8 days;
- directly on the day itself, on which the transplant of calla bulbs is scheduled, you need to very carefully remove the plants from the pot, trying to keep the root system intact.
How to care for planted flowers?
It is important to remember that calla lilies are a tropical plant and therefore need special care. If you take good care of garden calla lilies, they usually begin to bloom within 1.5-2 months from the moment of their transplant. Moreover, this phase lasts until the onset of autumn.
Proper care of garden calla lilies is directly related to their physiological feature: at the first time of life, calla lilies spend energy on the formation of the root system, and only then they begin to germinate. therefore it is very important to prevent incorrect root formation... For this, freshly planted tubers must be kept dry for the first two weeks. A hint that it is time to start watering will be the formation of the first shoots. This usually only happens after 2–3.5 weeks. Watering callas should be very careful, trying to avoid getting moisture on the tubers. The easiest way to meet this condition is to water the soil around the edges.
Frequent watering is possible only at the stage when leaves will form in the tubers. But here, as before, watering should be moderate. It is usually enough to water the calla lilies 1-2 times a week, however, depending on the current weather, the number of applications may vary.
The main activities that include the care of calla lilies:
- watering;
- top dressing;
- weeding;
- loosening the soil.
For the first time, fertilizers are applied to the soil at the stage of planting flowers. At this point, you can use complex mineral fertilizers that are applied to the soil in accordance with the scheme - 30-40 gr. for 1 sq. m... This amount of fertilizer will be enough for the plants so that they do not lack nutrients during the summer season. It should be borne in mind that for calla lilies the most suitable type is a slightly acidic soil, therefore, at least two to three times per season, it is necessary to irrigate with citric or acetic acid, which is added in the amount of one tablespoon per bucket of water.
Calla lilies belong to the group of those plants that do not cause trouble even during measures to protect against diseases and pests. The fact is that they are resistant to any external manifestation of this kind. Sometimes calla lilies can be of interest to whiteflies, however, they do not seriously harm the flowers.
How to store dug out calla lilies tubers?
Planting and caring for flowers involves a variety of activities throughout the season. In the fall, it is necessary to prepare the bulbs for wintering. Usually they start doing this in September. Tubers need to be dug out before the onset of the first cold weather... When digging out the tubers, you need to be very careful not to damage the root system. Further, they need to be cleaned of the earth and washed. All these operations must be carried out with special care, since the delicate roots are very easy to damage. There are usually leaves on the tubers at this time of year, which can be left on.
After that, the tubers of garden feces are placed in storage in a special room, where they are kept for two weeks. They must be stored at temperatures from + 5 to + 15 degrees.... This time is enough for the leaves to transfer the accumulated nutrients to the tubers.
Conclusion
Although many growers have heard about garden calla lilies, not everyone has a desire to grow them on their own plot. The lack of determination can be explained by the capricious nature of these flowers, which are native to the tropics of Africa. Therefore, not every gardener can be sure of a positive outcome of this event. But this is not a big problem, because local calla lilies can be used to grow these flowers in our latitudes. In addition, this process can be accelerated if you start germinating them in pots in early spring.
When the last wave of frost passes in May, you can plant them in a permanent place without fear that their root system can be damaged by the cold. It is also easy to care for these flowers, because in relation to them standard measures are required. But even here they will not cause much trouble to the grower, because he does not even have to fight pests and diseases to which garden callas are very resistant.
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