over-wintering Calla

From: Lester Kallus lkallus at earthlink.net> on 2000.11.30 at 16:29:57(5733) I asked this question a couple days ago but apparently the email somehow never got through. Here goes again: A couple years ago, some giant Calla were offered through a member of this group. I purchased a few. Two years ago I kept them growing indoor over the winter. Last year I just couldn't get enough time in the fall and the hard winter hit them harder than I would have expected. I thought I had lost them but in July I found some tiny Calla shoots and by this fall I had small plants growing even though they were still small. Another winter like last and I'll lose them altogether. Consequently, I'd like to keep them inside this winter. Space is limited so ideally I'll store them as tubers (or corms, if that's what they are). +More So with that in mind: Can I store them as tubers over the winter? Some tubers are best washed of any soil and soaked in fungicide before storage. Others do better just being left with soil clinging to the roots. To which group do Calla fall? Some tubers do best stored at 45-50 degrees. Others like Caladiums need to be far warmer. What temperature would be best for Calla? Should they be stored dry or packed in perlite or could this be a good use for the endless supply of foam packing peanuts? Thanks, Les

From: Claude Sweet sweetent at home.com> on 2000.12.01 at 04:14:26(5736) Lester, I live in a very mild winter climate (zone 10) and grow my callas in containers. I generally move the containers to a location outdoors where they will not receive much moisture so any winter rain we receive will not soak the containers and encouragae them to rot. The tubers seem to lose too much moisture and shrivel when stored dry in onion mesh bags. The soil mix in the containers is occasionally moisten if it seems to be too dry. Tubers handled this way seem to sprout earlier and grow more vigorously. It seems that I neglected to water some containers of callas I held over from previous years and they experienced a dormancy from the lack of moisture and heat. I have some calla seeds and small tubers growing outdoors now that the same type of callas that I purchased and planted last May have gone dormant. These are normally summer growing types, but seem to think our fall weather is spring. It will be interesting to see if we experience a cool, wet winter and how these plants react. A commercial grower I know purchased callas tubers from New Zealand several years ago when the colored introductions were just hitting the market. The first tubers grow normally. As the grower wanted to stagger their production, the balance of the tubers were held in cool storage. Each succeeding planting produced plants that were smaller in size and produced fewer flowers. I make this comment to indicate that the temperature the dormant plant material is held at may delay sprouting and even limit plant growth. There might be a "chilling" injury below some temperature. I personally would pot up a few plants and attempt to keep them actively growing through the winter; as a backup plan potup some dormant tubers in containers, and hold the tuber in both a warm and cool location to spread the risk so a total crop failure doesn't occur. Claude Sweeet +More San Diego, CA zone 10 Lester Kallus wrote: > Can I store Callas as tubers over the winter? > > Some tubers are best washed of any soil and soaked in fungicide before > storage. Others do better just being left with soil clinging to the > roots. To which group do Calla fall? > > Some tubers do best stored at 45-50 degrees. Others like Caladiums need to > be far warmer. What temperature would be best for Calla? > > Should they be stored dry or packed in perlite or could this be a good use > for the endless supply of foam packing peanuts? > > Thanks, > Les

From: "Gabe Thomas" CDANIELLE at prodigy.net> on 2000.12.01 at 04:15:47(5739) I did the opposite, first winter out last winter in (zone 8), but my calla has yet to become "giant". I'm curious what other people's experiences with this plant have been. Has anyone gotten this plant to grow to larger than typical Z. aetheopica size? Gabe Thomas +More cdanielle@prodigy.net ----- Original Message ----- To: Multiple recipients of list AROID-L Sent: Thursday, November 30, 2000 8:30 AM Subject: over-wintering Calla > ........A couple years ago, some giant Calla were offered through a member of this > group. I purchased a few. Two years ago I kept them growing indoor over > the winter. Last year I just couldn't get enough time in the fall and the > hard winter hit them harder than I would have expected. > > I thought I had lost them but in July I found some tiny Calla shoots and by > this fall I had small plants growing even though they were still > small. Another winter like last and I'll lose them > altogether. Consequently, I'd like to keep them inside this winter. Space > is limited so ideally I'll store them as tubers (or corms, if that's what > they are)................ >

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