Is it that time of year already? My Calla Lily leaves are starting to yellow, reminding me of the turn of the season :o(.
Callas and Cannas are both pretty easy to store over the winter. I lost my Calladium bulbs last year. They were laid out to dry on a plastic mesh tray, but rotted within a week. Not sure what happened. Did anybody keep Caladium bulbs successfully over winter?
Donner, the calla lilies I got from you last year overwintered in the ground just fine. Gardeners from much colder regions have reported that their calla lilies also survived in the ground, so they must be hardier than what most people believe.
My in-ground red cannas all died over the winter, but the pink cannas survived!
My purple oxalis survived in-ground, only to be eaten by squirrels! UGH! I only have a small one in very hard clay that the squirrels couldn't get to.
I've never been able to store caladium bulbs without having them dry out. Gita told me you have to dry them very well first, and then make sure they don't get too cold over winter. I don't think I'll be saving mine this winter.
So the only bulbs/tubers I'll be overwintering are colocacia, alocacia, and a brug. And of course my succulents and houseplants are coming inside, but probably not for another few weeks.
SSG, my dark Canna is probably big enough for division this year. Will keep some for you if you are interested. I also have Oxalis to share.
So Caladiums are not easy to store. Hmmm... now I am wondering if I should bother with mine.
Thanks, donner, but I prefer the pink cannas, anyway. :)
I don't think caladiums are necessarily hard to store, but I personally haven't had much luck with them. I'm pretty sure Ric and Holly store them successfully over winter, so it might be just me!
I either leave my caladiums in the pot and rarely water them in winter (basement conditions 55 - 70+) or take them out of the pot, rinse the soil off, and allow to dry before storing them in an aluminum pan or plastic pot - bare bulb. I usually put these on the top shelves so they are out of sight and mind. No water until about March - if they start sprouting then it is time to pot them up and water them. They do come back very well.
I keep my caladium bulbs from year to year. Many of the small pots I just stop watering and store the whole pot. I stop watering the big pots and window boxes so they dry out pretty well. Then the bulbs get pulled out and I put those in brown paper bags or cardboard shoe boxes. I really don't bother washing them just knock most of the dirt off them. I store mine in a really warm room. It is one of the upstairs rooms that I use for extra plant storage. I doubt that the temp in that room ever goes much below 70 because it is the room directly above the room with the wood stove. Not that I think you need to store the bulbs at 70* but I don't know how well they would store in a much cooler basement.
I've kept Caladiums dry in pot with fair success. Survival at least, New bulbs grow better for me generally though.
I'll mulch, or bury my old fashioned red Cannas, maybe bring in a couple as insurance.
I have couple huge colocasia to deal with. but they've been reliable.
Peruvian daffodil, sigh, guess I will do those. such unreliable bloom. donner did any Peruvian daffs bloom for you this year?
My Caladiums are still going strong in the garden, but the ones in pots are starting to fade a bit.
The Peruvian Daffodil didn't bloom this year :o(. I remember seeing comments somewhere saying that they need a lot of room. I will plant them in the garden next year to see what happens.
Sally, do you still have Gloriosa Lilies? My tubers looked good this spring but didn't grow.
Callas---
I have on big pot which grew beautifully this year, You saw it--almost black.
Last year, I just brought the pot into my cool (58*) Shop and left it there.
In spring--when i saw a tip growing out of it--I brought it outside and watered it.
Will do the same this winter. It went from ONE stalk to about 4 or 5 in one year.
Cannas---
I have had these forever....that is the red one and the dark-leafed one, which I almost
lost as the few roots I had shriveled up. I am hoping to have a new supply.
Here's what I learned fro Allan Summers....
1--Allow the 1st frost to kill the leaves. Cut hem back to about 8".
2--Allow the roots to stay in the ground another 2 weeks, then dig them up.
3--Knock off, carefully, the bigger clumps of soil and then lay out in an airy place
to completely dry off. If it is still warm and sunny--I put them on my picnic table outside.
If not--I spread them out in a cardboard box to finish drying.
4--I store them in an open box on the floor in my cool shop. I may throw some
sheets of newspaper loosely over the box.
Moisture would not be good at this point--as the roots may rot.
5--Come March or such--I start misting the roots a bit now and then.
This year I have the short, pink Cannas for the first time. They have grown into a
big clump and continue blooming. I I will do the same as I have done with the others,
Caladiums---
Last year was my first in growing Caladiums due to the group Buy.
Mine were all planted in beds and a couple in a BIG combo pot.
Not having much experience--I dug them all up and allowed them to dry.
Any bits of soil hanging on--I left there. Hung all the dried bulbs in mexh bags
from the seiling in my cool Shop.
In spring--I sorted them all out by variety and soon planted them in deep 4" pots
hoping for earlier germination. Nope! I almost gave up, bur eventually they started
sprouting. Out of 25 pots--I lost 4. The rest were planted in beds and some containers.
All grew out.
Purple Oxalis? It is impossible to kill it.
You cam keep it as a houseplant. You can let it go totally dormant.
Or--you can let it grow in some bright spot and dribble a bit of water on them
now and then. I keep mine on the small windowsill in my laundry room.
Most of the time--they are bone dry. They grow pretty well sitting there...
The plants that surprised me the most were the Bgonias we all grow from the corms.
Last summer--I bought 2 at Md. F& F here. They did great! Amazing is more like it.
Winter came--and I simply put the dry clay pots on the floor in my shop and
there they sat. Spring came--and there was no sign of life.
Summer started--and still no sign...put them outside in shade--and, lo and behold,
they stared sprouting and grew and are blooming eight now.
There is one pot which I thought had nothing in it--but right now--it is starting to grow!!!!
Amaryllis and Brugs I/We have discussed to no end--so i won't talk about them here.
Gita
These are the Begonias i am talking about...
Holly, I did not dig my Gloriosa, but have a couple that survived winter in the south bed. They bloomed too. I'm not blown away by them, they were fun to try.
I really liked them but they were not prolific bloomers for me. Maybe our season is just too short for them. I was lucky to get 2 or 3 blooms
I'm not only leaving glads in the ground this year... I'm even planting a few leftover ones when I dig new holes this fall (glads 6-8 inches down, then daffodils). I've never heard of anybody doing that, but maybe nobody has tried. LOL
Dahlias are coming in, and I'm hoping I can keep them happy... thinking they might need a slight bit of misting from time to time to keep the tuber from drying out?
Caladiums... I don't have trouble keeping them over winter, but the tubers get smaller each year for me, so I order new ones every couple of years.
I've got dahlias planted in-ground inside dollar store baskets for easier "lifting." I think I need to start them sprouting inside next year for earlier bloom in the garden.
Dahlias are interesting critters to over winter and everyone has a different technique. I did it for the first time last year so it was a learning experience for me and I'll use the same methods this year. I will remove from the soil a week or two after the foliage dies. Rinse off soil and let, dip in a bleach bath, insert tubers into a peat filled ziploc bag and then monitor every couple weeks sprinkling with some water and removing bad tubers as necessary. They get stored in our garage, which is unheated, but attached to our house so it doesn't get colder than 40 degrees but usually stays around 50.
Sounds do-able but a lot of fuss... possible to just leave them in potting mix like caladiums, I wonder?
Does anyone know this dahlia grower from Damascus, MD?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/home/the-autumnal-annual-named-dahlia/2014/09/30/575172e8-434b-11e4-9a15-137aa0153527_story.html
I'd love to visit in person!
This grower uses cinnamon as a fungicide.
Damascus is pretty nearby... Do you do Facebook? I don't, yet, but I googled his name & found he has a FB page: https://www.facebook.com/john.spangenberg.94 I'm thinking you could probably contact him & arrange a tour of his dahlias... maybe he'd even let several of us descend on hi at once (I'd bring brie & cider!). :-)
I don't know Jill. I'm just going to stick to the plan of what I did last year.
Your method is definitely the tried & true one... I'd just like to find a way that needs less monitoring. But maybe I can stick them on a shelf near my light bench, making it easier to remember to check them regularly. I could try both ways, I guess, although if I'm bagging some of them might as well do them all. Hmm
Ages ago--when I was growing some Dahlias--the then advice I was given
from my amazing Gardener cousin in Oregon was something like this.
Dig up the tubers, but do not remove all the soil--just the bigger clumps.
Allow to dry and then store in a cool place (my Shop) for the winter in a box.
As spring approaches, mist the clumps now and then to plump up the tubers.
As planting time approaches--examine the tubers and discard any that are not
attached to the old stem. Only those will have "eyes" on them for new growth.
Carefully remove the viable tubers-making sure you cut some of the stem they
are attached to with it. Then plant as usual putting in the stake at the time of planting..
The above may be outdated info by now. Or--is that still considered "THE WAY"?
From what i have read here and there-it seems some people save ALL the tubers,
attached to stems or not. I was always under the impression that those would never
grow and tossed them.
Your opinions please! Gita
Oh I'd love to visit in person! I bet the flowers are gorgeous right now. I don't do facebook, though. I end up missing out on certain events, but I'm just not a fan of their business practices.
Interesting that the dahlia grower uses vermiculite and cinnamon in a sealed plastic bag. I never would have thought of using plastic.
SSG, I live in Damascus, but I must admit that I don't know much about the town apart from the Safeway :o). Never heard of this Dahlia grower.
That said, you are welcome to stop by for coffee and plants from my garden if you ever come this way :o)
Now I have a really easy way to do my dahlias.
Dig and throw in a crate and put in the basement .
Do nothing till I drag them out in the spring to plant... might loose a few small ones but not enough to really go to alot of extra bother... and I have bushels of them..
ha, sounds good bluepoppy.
Thats about how I do Cannas.
I'm really surprised you don't have any issues with desiccation using your method BP. You must have a perfectly humid environment in your basement that keeps them happy.
Jeff--
I think leaving the soil on(that clings on the tubers) makes the difference.
It protects the tubers from dessication that you were concerned about.
And--misting early in the spring moistens the soil and plumps up the tubers.
Kind of the same thing as I wrote above.
Not sure about the "hosing them off" approach. Naked bulbs........???
I think the naked bulb method works well with cannas. I don't know if it's possible to kill them!
But I've heard that dahlias are a bit fussier.
I might just try digging up my little baskets (potting soil inside the baskets, garden soil around & beneath) and toting them into the basement, treating the dahlias much as I would treat potted caladiums. I don't think I have the follow-through for Sequoia's method! Worst case, none will make it, and I'll try them again in a couple of years. Best case, we'll have an easier method to use! cross fingers
easy pezy..lol
don't treat them for anyt hing and have no problems...
To each their own method that works :) Best of luck Jill.
bluepoppy, thanks for approving my lazy method! If it doesn't work, I may hit you up for an extra tuber or two LOL Actually, if it doesn't work I do't tiknk I'll have the patience to stick with dahlias... although they are pretty dang gorgeous
So I've been reading the dahlia forums both here and at ATP, and I came across the Saran wrap method at ATP.
Here are the pictures from flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/50697352@N00/sets/72157607894388824/
Hover over each picture to read the description.
Isn't this interesting? No soil, no water, no sulfur, no cinnamon. Just Saran wrap! My favorite part is how they wrote the cultivar name directly on each tuber. :)
I've never done dahlias, and now wouldn't even want to start another thing to overwinter inside! Maybe when I'm retired.
Very interesting video, SSG. I too think it is very clever to write the cultivar name directly on each tuber. Wish I were so organized. My method is "I will recognize it when it blooms" :o).
Dug up Calla Lily 'Picasso' rhizomes today.
I am sure there are many good ways to store bulbs but I just never get around to it. Those roundtoits are so hard to come by. I'm more like BluePoppy knock off some dirt, not too much and toss in an open crate, brown paper bag or a cardboard shoebox. I do have some that I loose to dessication but not much. Come spring when I open up the box and find some sprouting I put them in the ground.
I must admit that I do have quite a pile of dry dirt to clean up come spring.
I've written names on Iris leaves, and then by the time I divide them, that leaf has turned brown haha
I will write on top of the rhizome!!
Pretty Calla- how deep do they grow? I think I read they want to be shallow but I plant them deep, thinking to protect from frost.
I'm a knock some dirt gal too
Guess I'll be letting my Caladiums dry out next few days, then pulling them in. Four days of showers or rain predicted over the weekend.
I am wondering if Caladium bulbs need a week or so to "mature" after
the foliage is cut off? Like we do with Cannas...Then dig them up.
Four days of rain? Well--we need it...somewhat...Will make it easier
to dig things up. I don't think I can even get to my caladiums! They are all buried
in piles of other plants.
Now--for real--I need to continue with the yanking out of all kinds of annuals.
It is much easier to do it when temps are still bearable--NOT when you get up
one morning and there is frost on the ground.
Just trying to avoid the panic stage. I sure have enough time..just working
a couple days a week. No excuse.....except sitting too much here at the computer.
G.
My Caladiums were beautifully healthy when dug up last year, but rotted within a week when I was not home watching. I will hose them this time so that they will dry faster. I will dig them up maybe next weekend, depending on the weather forecast. At the moment, they are still looking beautiful.
Sally, the Callas are planted about 4" deep. They probably survive the winter in the ground in your area, but I just do not want to risk it in my garden. So I dig them up every year. They are very easy to store. I keep them in a box or a pot filled with peat moss. They stay in the garage over the winter.
Mine really multiplied last year--especially the Aaron (white) one.
"Buck Rogers" (red w/green leaves) did the worst.
The BIG, beautifuk bulb I got from the freebies box Holly had--is the
one that had the biggest and the most bulbs--but 4 pots if these were
the ones, among the 25pots, that never came up. One did OK.
Will see what is what when i dig them up later. G.
