My callas (3 clumps) appear to have some sort of seed pods growing. I've seen them before but never gave it a second thought. Are these seed pods & if so how would I collect & try to grow them?
A question about seed pods on callas
I have collected them and planted them before they completely dried out. I had a high germination rate. I don't know if the degree of drying makes any difference.
I had some that dried still attached to the bulbs in the pots over winter. When I added some fresh compost to the top of the pots this spring, I laid a few in some of the pots under the compost and have several babies coming from them. I also found that some I'd left in the ground to overwinter have seeded and produced babies on their own! I was shocked that the seed would overwinter and germinate in this zone. I'm curious what these hybrids offspring will look like.
so what you're saying is the callas that produced seed pods, are indeed seeds. I can harvest them and they can produce more callas for me. Funny, I thought those seed pods were sterile for some reason. Would you let them dry more on the stem or harvest them now & let them dry inside? It sounds like if they bloom, you don't know what they'll look like because their renegade hybrids?
Thanks for the help, I never did well in plantology.
Yep, they sure do seem to be fertile. I typically don't let my summer bulbs go to seed, but these callas stayed so pretty even after they turned green and were heavy with seeds. I'm just assuming since they're hybrids that any genes in their makeup could show up in various ways, but since I've never seen any calla I didn't like, it should be a fun experiment. I'm not sure how they're pollinated, but if insects do the job there may be cross pollination with neighboring varieties too. I've read several posts about folks removing the seeds and sowing fresh, some let them dry, and I let nature take its course; on all accounts the seed have germinated, so they must not be too particular. I've noticed some varieties set seed and some don't, so maybe some are sterile.
I don't know whether this is helpful, but I'll post it. For my existing callas, I water them until the temperatures reach just above freezing, put them in the house in my basement (putting the pot lids on top to force them into dormancy) and leave them unwatered all winter.
In spring, as the days get longer, they tend to break dormancy in response to light (which is why the pot covers) so you can uncover them and let them do their thing, but on your timetable. I put mine outside in May.
As they bloom I cut off the spent flowers but continue to water and fertilize them with aweak solution. I notice that they send up new babies on the sides of the pots, even as they continue to bloom.
Every spring I tip the callas out of their pots to find new bulbs have started. I separate the new bulbs into fresh pots.
With this method I started with 3 callas and now have 8 pots with multiple callas in them. And NO WORK! It is also economical. I love Crystal blush and they are expensive (commonly $9.00, and up, per bulb).
I hope that this was helpful.
Donna
I feel like I know enough to get started, the "fear" I sometimes get is gone. It sounds as if propagating is successful in a number of ways. GOOD. I'll probably experiment this year and try a bit of everything I've heard from ya'll. Nothing too radical. I love the idea of more plants, crazy about getting some unique plants & of course the satisfaction of growing.
What a great attitude! Way to go.
Donna