What is a Calla Lily?
This article provides an introduction to what calla lilies are and offers some experience in green plant maintenance regarding their characteristics. The following is a detailed introduction.
Calla lilies are also known as water arum. They have unique flower shapes with pure white flower buds that resemble horse hooves, and their leaves are emerald green with long, slender petioles, graceful and lush, and can be described as both flowers and leaves being excellent. Used to decorate living rooms and studies, they provide a pleasing-to-the-eye experience, making calla lilies popular among flower enthusiasts.
Calla lilies, with names like arrowhead flower and guanyin lily in different regions, belong to the genus Calla in the Araceae family and are perennial bulbous flowering plants. They are native to southern Africa and are now cultivated worldwide. In China, they are mainly grown as potted plants for ornamental purposes, with white flowers being the most common variety, although there are also yellow and red varieties, among which the yellow calla lily is the most beautiful. In addition to being used for potted ornamental purposes, calla lilies are also excellent for cut flower arrangements. The fresh green arrow-shaped leaves and the horse hoof-shaped flowers are the main parts that people admire. Next, an agricultural doctoral expert will share some daily maintenance tips for calla lilies.
Introduction to Calla Lilies
Colorful calla lilies are xerophytic flowers, with their main nutritional bodies being corms and bulbs, while white calla lilies have rhizomes as their nutritional bodies, which is the most important difference between the two varieties. Colorful calla lilies have basal leaves with long petioles. The leaf shapes are arrowhead or halberd-shaped, with pointed tips and entire margins, and some varieties have transparent spots on the leaf surface. The spathe varies by variety and color, ranging from golden yellow to orange yellow, purple red, and pink. Calla lilies prefer warm growing climates and are not cold-tolerant. In most parts of China, they need to be kept indoors during the winter. Calla lilies thrive in moist growing environments and do not tolerate dry weather. In winter, calla lily plants require ample sunlight; if light is insufficient, flowering is reduced. They are slightly shade-tolerant, but during flowering, they must have adequate light, otherwise the white flowers will turn green, losing their ornamental value. Since calla lilies have a long blooming period, a mature plant can bloom from the Spring Festival to the following May, with the most flourishing period being March to April every year.
Calla Lily Home Maintenance Tips
1. Potting Soil
Calla lilies prefer loose, fertile, humus-rich, and well-draining sandy loam. For potted calla lilies, we generally use a mixture of decomposed leaf soil, garden soil, fine yellow sand, and decomposed manure in a ratio of 3:2:4:1 to make the potting soil. Additionally, we can apply a small amount of chemical fertilizers, ensuring a balanced mix of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.
2. Light and Temperature Control
The optimal growing temperature for calla lilies is around 20 degrees Celsius, with the minimum room temperature required in winter being above 10 degrees. In the initial growth stage, calla lilies are relatively shade-tolerant, but in the vigorous growth stage, they require ample sunlight, especially during the flowering period. Insufficient light during this period will cause the spathe to appear yellow-green. In northern China, we must move potted calla lilies into a sunny indoor area before the Cold Dew, maintaining a daytime temperature of over 15 degrees and a nighttime temperature not below 10 degrees. In spring, summer, and autumn, calla lilies should be placed in a shaded outdoor area to avoid direct sunlight, but from mid-November, they need to be moved indoors to a well-lit area for maintenance. During winter with good sunlight, more flowers will bloom, otherwise, fewer flowers will bloom.
3. Water and Fertilizer Management
Calla lilies do not tolerate drought and should not be short of water from the moment they sprout, watering once a day to keep the potting soil moist. However, the soil should not be too wet, as this can cause the bulbs to rot, especially during the dormant period. When the indoor air is dry in winter, we can use a small spray bottle to frequently spray water on the leaves and potting soil of calla lilies to keep the soil moist and increase humidity. Calla lilies are sensitive to water in the leaf heart, so we should be careful to avoid water dripping into the leaf heart when watering, as this can cause soft rot. During the entire growth period, apply a dilute cake fertilizer water every 7 days or so. When fertilizing, we should apply it from the edge of the pot and avoid letting the fertilizer solution run into the leaf stalk or heart, as this can cause yellowing or rot. During the flowering stage, we should apply more phosphorus fertilizer to make the flower color more pure. Generally, calla lilies need to be fertilized 2-3 times before being moved indoors. After moving indoors, indoor fertilization can be done once a month or every half-month. If the indoor temperature is too high, the frequency of fertilization can be increased accordingly.
4. Repotting
It is best to repot calla lilies every 1-2 years. Repotting is usually done after the beginning of autumn. When repotting, remove the plant from the original pot, shake off the soil, cut off some old stems and leaves, remove the rotting skin from the bulbs, and then replant them in a new pot with the prepared growing soil. When planting calla lilies, the bulbs should be completely buried in the soil. After repotting, water immediately and place them in a sunny area, keeping the soil moist.
5. Pest and Disease Control
Common pests and diseases of calla lilies include viral diseases, gray mold, root rot, and pests such as aphids, red spiders, and scale insects, which need to be controlled in a timely manner. Bacterial soft rot is quite serious, with the pathogen mainly infecting the petiole, leaves, and bulbs of the plant. The disease usually starts at the base of the petiole, then spreads to the leaves and invades the bulbs. The bulbs turn brown and rot. The leaves first turn dark green, then become water-soaked black, and then the whole leaf turns yellow and falls off. Before planting, we can disinfect the soil with a 2000-fold formaldehyde solution and spray Bordeaux mixture to prevent the spread of the disease.
What is a Calla Lily?
Calla Lily Propagation Methods
Propagation of calla lilies in home pot culture is mainly done through bulb division when the number of plants is small. In September each year, remove the plant from the pot, take off the bulbs around the mother plant, and immediately apply wood ash to the wound to prevent infection and rot. Replace with disinfected growing soil and then soak the mother and daughter bulbs in a 3000-4000 times solution of potassium permanganate for 15-20 minutes. After drying, plant them in pots according to the size of the bulbs, so that the plants will be of uniform size the following year. It takes about 3 years of cultivation for the daughter bulbs to start flowering. Bulb division must be done every autumn, otherwise, it is difficult to flower that year, or if it does flower, the flowering period is late.
Main Varieties of Calla Lilies
1. Green Stem Variety
This variety of calla lily has large bulbs, vigorous growth, tall plants, and green bases of the petioles. The flower stalks are thick, the spathes are longer than wide, with obvious wrinkles at the base, the flowers are small and yellowish-white, and the blooming time is late.
2. White Stem Variety
This variety of calla lily has smaller bulbs, slow growth, smaller plants, white bases of the petioles, broad and round spathe tips, flat, pure white flowers, early flowering, and many flowers, with smaller bulbs already able to flower.
3. Red Stem Variety
The red stem variety of calla lily has robust plants, red blush at the base of the petioles, large spathes, round shapes, slightly wrinkled bases, pure white color, medium-sized flowers.
4. Silver Star Calla Lily
This calla lily is also known as spotted leaf calla lily, a large-flowered variety, with a height of 60 cm, short petioles, silver-white spots on the leaves, yellow or creamy white spathes, and the main flowering period is July to August each year.
5. Yellow Calla Lily
The yellow calla lily is 60-100 cm tall, with long petioles, semi-transparent white spots on the leaves, deep yellow spathes, and the main flowering period is May to June each year.
6. Red Calla Lily
This is a small-flowered variety, 20-30 cm tall, with narrow halberd-shaped leaves, pink to red spathes, and also white types, with the main flowering period in April to May.
In conclusion, the common cultivated varieties of calla lilies include white stem, rainbow stem, and edge stem varieties, with green leaves and unique shapes. The flower bracts are pure white and large, resembling horse hooves, making them a precious cut flower loved by many. To ensure that calla lilies can be admired all year round, we must take appropriate maintenance measures to keep the plants green and lush, with thick and sturdy petioles and flowers blooming on schedule.
The above content about what calla lilies are and the specific descriptions of their characteristics is provided by the Green Plant Enthusiast website for everyone's reference and operation.