- Digging up onions in the fall
- This is how the calla bulbs are overwintered properly
- Plant non-hardy calla bulbs in spring
- Don't forget gloves
- tips and tricks
The tubers of the calla are often advertised as winter-proof. According to the breeder's instructions, they can be planted as early as autumn. Don't count on it. Onions rarely survive a winter outside. Better to winter them indoors.
The Calla is rarely hardy
Digging up onions in the fall
You should dig up non-hardy calla lily before the first frost. Use a digging fork for this. With a spade you cut off too many roots or damage the tuber.
Poke the fork into the soil a few inches from the bulb and gently lift the bulb.
Cut off any remaining foliage. After that, remove the clinging soil and leave the calla to dry for some time. Only when the bulbs are well dry are they allowed to go into the winter quarters.
This is how the calla bulbs are overwintered properly
- Cool room up to ten degrees
- Dry and dark
- Don't put them too close together
It is best to overwinter the dry, clean bulbs in a dry, dark room for two to three months. It shouldn't get warmer than a maximum of 15 degrees there. Cellars, garages or garden houses are well suited. The humidity should not be too high.
Store the onions in such a way that there is still some space between the individual bulbs. Air circulation prevents the tubers from becoming moldy or rotting. It helps if you put some wood shavings or dry peat around the bulbs.
Plant non-hardy calla bulbs in spring
When the temperatures have risen to over ten degrees in spring and there is no longer any fear of night frosts, the Calla can go outside again.
If you grow the tubers in pots from March onwards, you will considerably shorten the time until the first flowering in the flower bed.
Don't forget gloves
The calla is slightly poisonous. When caring for the calla lily, always work with gloves.
tips and tricks
Calla bulbs that are not hardy are easier to dig up in the fall if you plant them in a pot in the spring and plant them in the flower bed with the pot. All you then have to do is pull the pot out of the ground to move the tubers to winter quarters.