Planting bulbs and caring for calla lilies at home

Not all city dwellers can go to summer cottages, and in order not to get away from nature, they arrange a flower garden on the windowsill. Planting calla lilies at home will give the room a solemnity and style. That part of the plant, which is usually called a flower, is actually a veil, a large bracts that envelop an ear, on the stem of which there are many small flowers. Calla lilies can also be grown outdoors, in regions where the temperature does not drop below 0⁰, they can even bloom all year round if properly maintained. The flower is good at home in a pot, and in a flower bed, and in bouquets.

How calla lilies reproduce

Calla tuber quickly grows overgrown with children. If you do not transplant a flower every year at home, soon the entire area of ​​the pot will be covered with new young shoots, and caring for the plant will become impossible. When transplanting from one copy, you can get a lot of planting material. When you remove the onion from the ground, carefully separate each piece with a bud with your hands. It can be planted at home in a new container or in a flower bed. If you are a little late and the babies do not separate from the mother tuber, just break the rhizome into pieces. Sprinkle the wounds with crushed coal.

Planting flowers by seeds is possible. There are not always pollinating insects indoors, sometimes at home you will have to arm yourself with a brush and start transferring pollen from flower to flower. Do not store the grains: the fresher they are, the better they will germinate. Place them in a damp cloth immediately after collection and keep in a warm place at home. Usually after 2 days the seeds begin to hatch. Sow the swollen specimens into a pot of seedling soil... Until shoots appear, plantings are easily rotting. The best care is not to water them from above, but to fill the sump with water so that the soil is moistened through the drainage holes. Spray the dry surface of the ground with a spray bottle.

When sprouts appear, place the container in the light and keep at home at a temperature of about + 22⁰. After 2 months, cut the seedlings into separate pots, and after a year, plant them in a permanent place. Some flower growers prefer not to pick, but immediately plant 2 swollen grains in a glass. After the emergence of shoots, the strongest plant is left, and the second copy is removed or transferred to another container. All care for young plants comes down to watering as the soil dries out.

Usually, planting and growing from seeds at home allows you to get a new species that does not look like the parent plants. There are different colors of the bedspread:

• white;
• yellow;
• pink;
• red;
• blue;
• purple;
• black.

Perhaps the seeds you received in 2 years will give an unexpected result and at home there will be a flower of a completely unusual shade on the windowsill. Try moving the pollen from a black flower to a white or red flower and see what happens. On a warm day, you can take the pots outside and entrust the breeding work to insects. If you don't like surprises, buy seeds of the desired variety from the store.

Planting calla lilies in a pot

In order for calla lilies to develop well at home and give large inflorescences, you need to properly equip the place where cultivation will take place and provide the plant with good care. The roots should be roomy, so choose a pot of at least 0.5 m with a diameter of 0.4 m or more. Check drainage - although this plant lives in swamps in its homeland, stagnant water is harmful to it. Cover the bottom with expanded clay or pebbles for drainage.You can buy a special soil for calla lilies, or you can independently prepare a composition of equal parts of leafy soil, turf and compost.

You can take the bulbs from friends when they transplant their flower. When buying planting material, pay attention to its appearance.

A quality bulb has certain characteristics:

• large, even, firm;
• have a peel of uniform color without wounds and damaged areas;
• have a healthy kidney.

Calla planted in March takes root well at home. Before planting, soak the tubers in a pale pink solution of potassium permanganate, and then inspect each specimen. Remove all sore spots, growths and other defects, and treat the wounds with a disinfectant solution. It is a good idea to keep the bulbs in a growth stimulant solution, then planting and growing will give the best results.

Indoor calla lilies produce large leaves, a long stem, and a heavy inflorescence. In order for the rhizome to hold tightly to the soil, when planting at home, bury it to a depth of 6 to 12 cm. Until a sprout appears from the ground, keep the pot under the film so that it is warm and humid inside. At this time, maintenance is not required, just open the container every day for ventilation and make sure that the soil does not dry out. After the emergence of the shoot, the pot must be placed in a place with a temperature of + 15⁰ to + 18⁰, where the maximum lighting occurs in the afternoon. The southwestern window of the house is very suitable, only the cracks must first be repaired so that the plant does not suffer from drafts.

Advice

If you have purchased rare bulbs, read the instructions carefully. They may need shallow landing or special care.

Caring for calla lilies at home

These plants are accustomed to the conditions of African swamps, so caring for calla lilies at home should be special. When a plant is actively developing, it needs a constantly moist soil. In order not to go around every day with a watering can, install a watering system for indoor flowers. The flowering will end, and the great need for liquid will disappear, water only when the top layer of the earth is dry.

The aerial part of the flower also needs moisture when growing. If the air at home is dry, place a pallet of wet pebbles next to the pot. Spray the leaves with a spray bottle in warm weather.

Advice

Calla lilies will warn you about changing weather better than meteorologists with accurate instruments. When dewdrops appear on the leaves and bedspreads, wait for rain.

You need to feed the plant with a special fertilizer for calla lilies. During the period of growth and flowering, more careful care is required, the flower needs to be fertilized every 2 weeks. If using other formulations, choose a formulation with a low nitrogen content. An excess of nitrates can make the flower sick. If you notice dry areas on the edges of the leaves, completely eliminate nitrogen from the dressings.

From pests to calla lilies at home can attack aphids and spider mites. You can simply wash the leaves with soapy water, and if these measures do not help, treat them with insecticides.

In high humidity, fungal infections sometimes attack the flower.

• Gray rot. A grayish bloom appears on leaves and flowers. The bush must be treated with fungicides.
• Brown rot. Leaves and peduncles dry up. Stop watering, add hydrogel to the soil, and treat the plant with fungicides.
• Bacterial rot. Peduncles and base of leaves darken. Gradually, the entire aerial part turns yellow and withers. The disease is almost not amenable to treatment, the affected specimens must be destroyed.
• Anthracnose. Brown spots appear on the leaves, which gradually increase and turn into a reddish circle with a light center. Cut off the damaged parts, and treat the entire flower with fungicides.

Ripening of the seeds weakens the tuber of the plant.If you are not going to harvest seed at home, cut the flower stalk when the cover starts to take on a green tint. After that, in some varieties, the leaves wilt and fall off, and in some they remain green. Usually, the aerial part of the calla lily with a white veil is preserved, and the colored ones shed their greens and plunge into a dormant period. At this time, the plant needs to be transplanted, and the bulb must be freed from small children. When transplanting, remember that the tubers are poisonous. Keep children away from them, and wash your hands thoroughly after work.

Output

Capricious African calla lilies can bloom at home on a windowsill, even in the far north, if the plant is properly cared for. A large bush needs a lot of nutrients, do not forget to feed and water the flower in time. You need to be especially careful about moisture: a marsh plant does not tolerate dry air and soil, but it can get sick from excess water.

If the leaves do not wither on their own, some growers cut them off and let the bulb rest until the next growing season. Other indoor flower lovers have been growing calla lilies at home as evergreens for years. You can choose this option, just watch your pet carefully. If you notice that, despite good care, the plant has become depressed, the flowers are small, then do not torture it, cut off the leaves and let it rest.

It is difficult to grow calla lilies for bouquets at home: each plant produces one flower. To collect several compositions for a wedding or anniversary, you need to make all the window sills with pots. Planting and growing flowers in greenhouses or conservatories will help to plant flowers for cutting, and at home several beautiful flowerpots will decorate the interior, create a good mood for the inhabitants of the home and guests. Do not chase after quantity, 2-3 pots with colorful huge petals will create a cozy atmosphere even in the darkest room.