Callas are beautifully flowering perennials, they can be grown as a potted plant, or planted in the garden. With the arrival of the first frosts, the question arises: how to store callas in winter? For productive wintering, they need a temperature of at least -2ºС. Not all climate zones are characterized by such mild winter weather, so these perennials need to be dug up for the winter to create optimal conditions for them.
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| Callas are perennial plants that require a dormant period in winter. |
HOW TO DIG UP CALLAS CORRECTLY?
The time for this technological operation is after the first frosts, approximately:
- early October in the middle zone,
- early November - in more southern regions.
There is no need to worry that the first small frosts will damage the plant. On the contrary, this will be a signal for it about the end of the vegetative period. The plant will stop spending nutrients on the formation of leaves when it begins to prepare for the dormant period.
Before digging up calla lilies, you need to prepare the plant. To do this, stop watering it if the weather is dry, about 2-3 weeks before the expected harvesting for the winter. This advice is relevant for southern regions, where dry climate in autumn is far from uncommon. Before digging up, you need to cut off the leaves of the calla lilies above the soil level by about 7-8 cm. After the first frosts, the foliage has already dried out, and this operation can be easily carried out with ordinary scissors.
Advice. It is best to dig up the root tubers of calla lilies with a garden pitchfork. This way, there is less chance of damaging the delicate parts of the plant.
When digging up calla lilies, it is advisable to leave a fairly large distance around their roots. It is better to play it safe and dig a hole of a larger diameter than to treat a plant injured by a shovel or pitchfork.
After digging up, you need to carefully remove the soil from its roots, trying not to damage them. You can wash off the remaining soil with running water under the tap or with a garden hose. Try not to let the stream be too strong. A strong stream of water can damage the “babies” of calla lilies that have not yet separated from the adult plant.
DRYING CALLA LILES
Having dug up the calla tubers that you have grown yourself, you will most likely be surprised by their striking difference from the planting material that you purchased before planting them in your own garden. Now they are strong, large and beautiful specimens. Before setting the root tubers aside to dry, you need to carefully inspect them.
It is advisable to throw away tubers with signs of rot. If this is a particularly valuable variety and the damage is minor, you need to clean the damaged tissue to a healthy base. It is best to do this with a teaspoon or a sharp garden tool.
Advice. The damaged and cleaned tissue of the tuber should be disinfected with a solution of ordinary brilliant green or sprinkled with crushed charcoal. Activated carbon can be used for this purpose.
The rejected material should be disposed of, but under no circumstances should it be put into the compost heap. Such actions can contribute to the spread of the disease to other plants. Low cardboard or wooden boxes are best suited for drying root tubers at home. You can use plastic fruit boxes lined with cardboard or old newspapers.
Conditions for high-quality drying of callas:
- a dark and cool place;
- good air circulation;
- no sunlight;
- the temperature is not higher than 15-20⁰С.
The best premises can be a garage, a ventilated dry cellar or basement, a barn. It is better to place boxes with calla rhizomes in one row. After a few days, you need to completely remove the dry leaves, and after another week, the roots, which by this time will be very easy to remove. If the roots are not removed, the plant may start growing at the wrong time, without fully going through the dormant period.
It is not worth separating the "babies" from the mother plant during this period. They have not yet fenced themselves off from it with a special film - there is a great risk of injuring the plant. It is rational to separate the "babies" in winter. Then they ripen and can serve as full-fledged planting material. If this happens, the damaged area is dried and again disinfected with brilliant green or charcoal. The drying period can take from two to three weeks - depending on the humidity of the surrounding air.
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