EXPERIMENTING with CALLA Lilly (Zantedeschia)

[mikhurram]

I have stopped purchasing Calla lilies and have failed miserably. Tried to grow them both in ground and pot.

Calla lilies tend to die back after flowering and sprout again.

Though they tend to emerge again from the ground but the main issue is inconsistent flowering.

Calla lilies tend to flower well if grown in peat moss in a pot. The cost of Calla lilies has increased drastically over the years. 6 years ago Calla lilies could be bought for Rs 50 and now are around Rs 300.

[Syed Adnan]

My friend told me these are RED Callas, my observations is that both plants have different leaves shapes,color and the height of the plant is also different, the problem is they are poisnous and keeping them indoors is not safe.

[UMARKHANMARDAN]

The foliage is so decorative!

[Kaleem]

Beautiful and healthy foliage, seems to be yellow one. What is the percentage of vinegar and water mixture? I have two varieties white (giant) and Green Goddess.

[Syed Adnan]

Yes Rafique Sahab and Kaleem are right , these are Yellow as first flower appear yesterday, i will post the pics soon.

@ Kaleem : iam mixing one table spoon vinegarr in 2 litres on first three watering, i water until the water comes out from drain, i checked the PH afterwards to confirm the range 6 to 6.5. i will resume the vinegar water once a month or so, still establishing the frequency of watering. This is my first try with Callas, did your Callas bloom, which month of year?, when they die back ? what is the season in your area, are you keeping them outdoor?

[KBW]

Nice effort Adnan sb, the plants look quite healthy. Calla lilies are beautiful. Mine flowered well but the weather was very different from Pakistan or Saudi Arabia. They do like early morning sun BTW. Now the leaves are almost gone and I am expecting them to be dormant in a week or two. But these were first year corms. A much bigger challenge would be to get flowers next year and in Pakistan, it will be very challenging.

[Syed Adnan]

@ KBW : i believe it is difficult to maintain CALLAS in your weather but you have a nice weather suited for TULIPS , we wait for the show from your side this spring ? i love tulips but never had a weather. Hycinths, Crocus, Narcissus, Tuberous Begonias, Snow Drops, Cyclamin.. there is a long list of my beloved winter loving plants which you can grow there.

[Kaleem]

Ad an sb
Today I have followed your procedure, mixed one table spoon in two liter water and pour this mixture in Greengodess calla lily container and waiting for the result now. Actually I have grown this call from seed and seeds were received from Chille . When I was in muzafarabad, there this plant bloomed without any problem but here in Islamabad did not get any bloom yet. Here these are in dormancy period and in muzafarabad they need dormant.
I have one white jaint specie and his behavior is the same .

[UMARKHANMARDAN]

Adnan we can not grow Tulips, Tuberous Begonia, Cyclamen here in plains.To some extent we can not even grow the Giant decorative Dahlias. The fellow gardeners in hilly areas can grow all these.Some people bring Cyclamen & Dahlia from Murree but there is lack of perfection.I am saying this because i have grown T.Begonia,Cyclamen & Dahlia for many years at Abbottabad.The way they bloom there i cant get it in plains.

[Hamad]

Umar Bhai can you share the source of Cyclamen in Pakistan, I have space in Abbottababd, I would like to grow them if easily available.

Hamad