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Calla lilies (Zantedeschia): how to overwinter

17 years ago

Bought at Walmart as small rhizomes. DidnÂt bloom. Now they are healty plant, the leaves are nice of dark green color. I wish I knew what to do next. How do you deal with them during winter time?

I have no room to keep them inside the house. Thank you for your help.

Comments (6)

honeybunny442
17 years ago
Wait until the leaves start to die back.
Take the bulbs out of the dirt.
Cut off the leaves and pull off the roots.
Dry in a warmish area (esp if they are wet from the soil).
Throw on a shelf until spring.
Plant in spring.
levadia
Original Author
17 years ago
Honeybunny,
Seems everything's so simple.
Just one question: why pull off and not cut off the roots?
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mulberryknob
17 years ago
I left my roots on last year and they did ok. After they dried out I put them in a paper bag and overwintered them on a glassed in porch that doubles as a greenhouse kept just above freezing on winter nights. I treated elephant ears the same way.
janama
17 years ago
This is my first year with them... the bulbs with the roots look like little jellyfish or aliens, any other input on this I'd love to follow.

I dug up the bulbs, washed them, cut off the leaves, let them sit on a counter for three days to dry out, now have them in a corner about 62 degrees in an open plastic bag. Should I go back now and cut off roots?

Does this sound like a good spot to winter?

Also, how/when should I bring them out to start them for the spring?
karyn1
17 years ago
I lifted mine about 2 weeks ago and set them on newspaper. After a week they were pretty well dried out. I removed any leaves that were remaining but left the roots alone. I let the bulbs dry for another couple days so that the area where the last leaves were removed can dry. I put them in a bag of dry moss and leave them on a basement shelf. I've been doing this for a few years and they've always been fine for spring planting. The only new thing I'm doing this year is trying to start some callas from seed.
tcmers
17 years ago
levadia, thank you for posting this question. I started some Calla from seed this year, and now I'm trying to figure out how to over winter them. It sounds pretty simple. Does anyone over winter in dirt?
karyn1,
Growing them from seed was really simple and they transplanted easily from indoor pots to outdoor in the ground without any issues. I'm not certain how large the Ryzomes are before they flower but these are aproximately 1.5 by 2 inches. They did not flower this year. I am hoping they will next Summer.

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