Perhaps you have ever been given a bouquet of exquisitely beautiful plants with unusual inflorescences. Calla is a flower with an elegant appearance and a strong character. He can hold out for a long time in the cut, delighting with his unusualness. Of course, it's nice to receive such an original gift, but it's much more tempting to try to grow this miracle at home.
Despite the African origin of this plant, it is quite possible to cultivate it either in your room or in a garden plot in a greenhouse.
Greenhouse creation
If you decide to start growing cut flowers in order to pamper yourself with fresh inflorescences at any time of the year, then you need to allocate a corner in your greenhouse for plants. Calla is a very thermophilic flower, but it feels quite comfortable in a heated indoor area with artificial lighting and ventilation. At the same time, he is even able to tolerate temperature fluctuations from plus 8 degrees Celsius to plus 50.
Thickness can be noted from special conditionsfertile soil. It must be at least 50 centimeters. Plants are planted compactly. It is permissible to place up to 5 bushes on one square meter.
The plant has quite pronounced periods of activity and rest. The care that calla lilies need is also attached to these cycles. A flower during the period of growth, as well as flowering, requires intensive watering and feeding (best of all with organic matter). And at rest, watering must be stopped.
There is also a little trick to increase the yield of cutting. In order for new buds to form sooner, you just need not to cut the stems with inflorescences, but carefully pull them out of the sinuses. Then you make room for the formation of the next shoot. He, of course, will be slightly inferior in size to the first. But you wanted to get as many flowers as possible?
Flower in a pot - calla
If not everyone has a greenhouse, then anyone can try to grow an African beauty in an apartment.
For a pot with a plant, you need to find the best place. The flower will feel comfortable on the windowsill, where a lot of sunlight gets. It is good if these are not direct rays, but diffused light. If you have less than 12 hours of daylight, then take care to install an additional fluorescent lamp. Otherwise, your plant will refuse to bloom.
The period of activity in callas is replaced by a cycle of rest. This usually happens in winter. The plant stops growing, the leaves dry up, sleep sets in. During this period it is necessaryachieve a temperature drop to plus 18 degrees Celsius.
When it's time to wake up the plant, the temperature rises to plus 24 degrees. This is enough to wake up your calla. The flower begins to develop actively.
Rules of care
Don't ignore the potting soil composition. Specialized stores sell ready-made substrates for aroid. Our exotic plants belong to this class. As part of these mixtures are present in equal proportions: leafy earth, humus and sod. In addition, clay, river sand (washed) are added in small quantities.
Calla is an indoor flower with a very strict watering regime. The soil in the pot must be constantly kept moist. But do not flood the plant. It is better to put the pot in a special tray filled with expanded clay, pebbles or sphagnum. Regularly add water to the filler, which will slowly flow into the substrate. Don't forget to spray the leaves with water every day.
It has been observed that shoots gaining strength after hibernation are very responsive to watering with acidified water. A little citric acid is added to the water (but only a little), and then the resulting solution is carefully poured into the pot.
As soon as the cycle of activity begins, with its rapid growth and development, the plant needs a good feeding. Both organic and mineral fertilizers are suitable. But by the time the buds are formed, exclude nitrogenous top dressings from the "diet" of flowers.
Prevention of negativity
Like all plants, your exotic beauty is prone to disease. Yes, and pests are not averse to start on it.
Especially carefully you need to monitor the appearance of rot. It is easily recognized by the discoloration and deformation of the leaves. If even the slightest signs of damage are found, it is necessary to treat the plant with a soapy solution.
Thrips often attack the flower. To ensure that these pests bypass your plants, always remove the slightest accumulation of dust and dirt from the leaves and axils of callas on time. Also keep the humidity in the air. If prevention fails, then again resort to water procedures using soap. Also spray with insecticides.
Breeding
You can try propagating your home flower. Calla cannot boast of good seed germination, but it is responsive to rhizome division. It is the latter method that is used in the conditions of "apartment" cultivation.
The procedure is not too complicated. In the fall, when the cycle of activity decline begins, we separate part of the roots from the mother bush. This piece is placed in a separate pot with pre-prepared fertile soil.
After which we leave the pot alone until the onset of spring. Try to keep containers with dormant bushes in a room with a temperature regime of plus 12 or plus 15 degrees Celsius. The humidity in the room should be high.
If the wintering was successful, then in the spring youyou will see young shoots.
They do the same with tubers.
Roots or tubers?
So what are the roots of your flower? Red calla has tubers, but white calla has rhizomes. Why such variety?
The thing is that this culture includes varieties that were bred from Ethiopian calla, as well as plants that appeared from Remann's calla (red) and Elliot's calla (pink-lilac). The former are characterized by a white color of inflorescences and the presence of a rhizome. The latter are tuberous plants.
It is believed that red and pink callas are much easier to grow.
But no matter what kind of calla lilies - white or red - you start growing, you will need all your patience to get the result. Only attention, love and daily work will allow you to admire such exquisite and delightful inflorescences.
