I have a most odd Calla .. she has bloomed for 3 years in the same pot, and, I KNOW she has to be disturbed in order to move on.
When do I harvest the bulbs, and, do I just leave them go dormant in, or out, of dirt over the winter?
Previously I cut down the plant and put the whole caboodle in a cupboard over winter, watered it once in March and April, and, POOF :-)
Thanks for any advice
~M~
Actually, your calla is not odd - I have some that have bloomed for five years or more in the same pot.
I actually take them in their pots to the back yard or the garage and let them dry out. Then I cut back the leaves after they wither. Then I put them, pot and all into the basement in a room with a window. They go completely dormant. Over the winter I give them nothing - not even water. I get more every year.
In the spring they sense that it is time, and they send up little starters. Then I decide whether to leave them in the same pot (to which I add fresh compost, bulb food and water) or to take some of them out of the pots and move them to new pots with soil, compost, bulb food and water.
So the answer is that you do not have to harvest them at all if you don't want to. What you have been doing works. Wait until spring to divide them. If you want to divide them.
Do be careful about watering them during the dormant period. Rot is possible.
The ones below are the results of three bulbs. And I just throw these pots into the basement.
I love easy.
Donna
Thanks for the info Donna .. I do think I will do some dividing in Spring next year. Guess I was worried that they were pot bond, and therefore at risk of dying off ..
~M~
No need to worry. They look delicate, but these little guys are tough. I don't think they know what pot bound is - either that or they like it!
They are also very easy to divide. You just separate them. I do it in spring when they break dormancy and start sending up little green spikes. What a great bulb! It tells you when its ready.
Donna
