Calla Lily and Dahlia questions

I'm in Michigan where the temps are starting to drop at night and this is my first year growing either of these plants. The Calla Lilies have finished blooming and I am waiting for seed pods to ripen. After that, I am unsure of how to take care of them for the winter.

Can these be stored in their pots without worrying about them rotting? If so, would they need to be watered from time to time or just ignored til spring?

If I remove the bulb is it ok to just store them in a paper bag? Do they need to be stored in a cool or warm place?

Any help you can offer would be appreciated.

Diane

This message was edited Aug 24, 2011 9:45 AM

You may find them more easily under zantedeschia. I've never taken them out before, but I will this year if I can do it in a timely (not freezing) fashion. I know that you need to take them out of the soil and dry them completely and store in a paper bag or straw or maybe dry peat moss I think around 45 degrees. You'll find more info if you look at others' posts.

Since I've never dug them before, every year a few come up from previous years depending on how harsh the winter was, So it would not surprise me if there is more than one way to handle dormancy.

marcia

Diane

I would think your temps would be comparible to mine.

I wait to bring my callas in....continue to water them as long as you have the foliage.- you still have time and it is better for the callas to allow the weather changes to put them into dormancy.

I don't usually start thinking about bringing in my callas until the night time lows start flirting with temps in the lower 40's. When I bring them in, I let the bulbs dry in the pots they are in and when dry, put them into a brown paper lunch bag, minus the soil, that has been labeled with what type of calla is in the bag.

The brown paper bags then go into a box and are overwintered in my attic at the top of the stairs in the attic. This way, they are cold enough to remain dormant, but not cold enough to freeze.

You also mention dahlias - they are better off left until after a hard freeze before bringing them in for the winter. After the hard freeze, wait until all the green is out of the stem. I usually bring in my dahlias into the house around November. These too should be allowed to dry before putting them into labelled bags.

I store my dahlias in sandwich bags, with some holes punched into them so the tubers can breath. Put vermiculite into the bags, covering your tubers. About once a month or so, you will need to pull the dahlias out of their bags and take a look at them - you do not want them to dry out. Use a plant mister with water as you don't want to put too much moisture in with the tuber. The trick is to keep the tubers from shrivelling, but also not to allow them to mold.

My dahlia tubers are stored in the same location as my callas.

Late April/early May you will want to start getting both the callas and the dahlias around for spring planting. A good rule of thumb for the dahilas is they should be planted when then leaves start coming out on the trees. The ground should be workable and when it warms up, the dahlias should start to sprout.

Planting out the callas - they will flower much sooner if you keep them in pots as opposed to the ground. The soil in the pots will warm much faster than the ground.

I hope this helps.

Carolyn

Thank you so much Carolyn!

All the the Calla's and Dahlia's were planted in pots so I would be able to move them around if I found they were getting too much or too little light so storage should be much easier than if I had to dig them up.

Since I picked up clearance tubers, I got a late start on the Dahlia's so have plants that are full of buds. Its nice to find out they can be left out a bit longer as a couple of the buds are just now starting to open on a couple of the larger/taller growers.

The Calla's have all finished blooming but the foliage still looks beautiful so I've moved the pots between other plants that are still flowering and will leave them to do things in their own time.

Thank you so much for taking the time to explain how you take care of these. It is greatly appreciated!!!

Diane

Diane, what I love about dahlias is that they bloom right up until the first freeze. Some of mine have not bloomed at all yet, while others just continue to produce after cutting.

Carolyn, so good to hear from a pro! It's true that the pots warm more quickly than ground soil, but I think the callas that come up from previous years were probably planted the deepest and were th best protected.

Right now we are gathering up our containers in contemplation of Hurricane Irene.

Cathy

don't know that I am a pro of any type. All I know is that is what has worked for me over the years.

Carolyn, doing is so much better than anything else. I always read up on winterizing, and then, somehow, I get busy (or lazy) and it becomes uncomfortable to be outside in November. I have promised myself that the callas in pots and all the caladiums will be winterized because I can do that in the house. I have one huge pot with white hymenocalis and black callas that has been a beautiful display, so that one is first.

We are "lucky" enough to be in the pat of hurricane irene, so I'm getting paid back by mother nature for all my container gardening, so you know what I've been doing yesterday and today.

Cathy

I 'hear' you on that one. I still have caladiums that never got planted. I was wondering if I could at least save the bulbs if I planted them into containers. I did get one planted and that is starting to die back.

Good luck with Irene. We are supposed to get hit with high winds and rain this weekend as well,....

I have had good luck with containers. I would do it if I were you. I read on one of the vendors sites, (but I've been looking and cannot find it) that the longer the dormancy, the longer it takes to grow. I've got to confirm that.

See if this helps at all: http://www.caladiumblog.com/caladium-planting-tips_7-tips-to-store-caladium-bulbs-in-the-fall_11.html

Going back outside to continue the great pickup and bring in.

I've been thinking about purchasing a couple of the real small kiddie pools (3-4' in diameter) or a similar type of container next year and using them for planting an assortment of Calla's/Peruvian Lilies/Caladium as well as some others I've picked up and whatever else I can find that requires over-wintering inside. I could plant each pot into the pool (so I don't have to worry about labeling problems) and then plant annuals/begonia's/gesneriad's between the pots to fill it in. It would be easy to put holes in the pool for drainage and watering would be much easier with more plants in one space.

Diane

Diane, I admire your creativity, but do keep in mind how heavy that can be when filled. I would suggest keeping the bulb plants in separate containers and placing them in the shallow pool where you like them. Then fill in with soil and annuals as you like. That way you can lift the container plants and that would lighten your load.

The hymenocallis (peruvian daffodil) and zantedeschia in the photo are in a container that is 12-14 in diameter. The ones with the dark stems are the black callas. I know how heavy it was because I moved it there. When I tried to move it a half hour ago, it would barely budge, until I moved it enough to reveal a sturdy white root from the pot into the soil.

I prepared a longer response regarding containers that we have tried out, but it died during preview, so that will have to wait for later.

Diane

Neat idea - I just wonder though if a larger mass of dirt - even with the pots sunken in, will take longer for the soil to warm up and thus longer for flowers to appear. It is worth a try to see how it works....