Calla lilies are a beautiful addition to your garden and your home. They’ll surround you with gorgeous colors that would bring interest to any room. Most people know how to grow them by separating the bulbs, but not everyone knows how to plant calla lily seeds.
To grow calla lilies from seeds, you should prepare those seeds, give them time, and take good care of them. One thing you must know is that growing calla lilies can be tricky if you’re not familiar with the process.
In this article, I’m going to introduce to you the steps you need to follow to grow your calla lilies along with all the tips and tricks to keep them healthy and thriving. So, without further delay, let’s get started!
Growing Calla Lily Plant by Seeds
Growing calla lilies using seeds isn’t impossible. However, it requires more energy and focus on your part to grow healthy ones.
Calla lilies are lovely flowers with enormous green leaves that grow from a rhizome. The blossoms will gradually fade at some point, leaving a pod-like capsule loaded with calla lily flower seeds.
Step 1: Get the Seeds
The first step is to know where to get your seeds. If you don’t already have a calla lily plant, you can purchase the seed pods from your local nursery, gardening store, or other growers.
If you already have an existing plant, then you can collect a mature seed pod. However, you should keep in mind that seed pods take several months to mature.
So, make sure you don’t collect them unless you’re sure they’re not new and have been planted for at least two months.
The seeds themselves require a three-month dormancy period before you can plant them. If you’re growing calla lily seedlings indoors, you can plant them as soon as they’re ready. However, if you’re planting outside, you’ll have to wait until the following spring.
Therefore, to ensure the best germination rates, it’s advised to spread fall-collected seeds in the spring.
Step 2: Prepare the Seeds
To prepare your seeds, you’re going to get a bowl of warm tap water. Then, soak the calla lily seeds overnight or for around eight hours. This will help soften the outer seed coat, as well as speed up the germination process.
Afterward, take the calla lily seeds, spread them on a damp paper towel, and lightly cover them. Keep the paper towel somewhere cool and dry, away from direct sunlight, and keep checking on the seeds for growth. Look for the seeds that don’t show signs of life and get rid of them.
Step 3: Sow the Seeds
Now you should choose pots with good drainage and fill them with a standard potting mixture. You should plant one to two seeds maximum per pot for better results.
Sow the calla lily seeds on the soil surface and gently press them into the soil until the seed’s top is just visible. Make sure that the soil stays moist until the calla lily seeds sprout.
As moisture is crucial for the growth of seeds, it’s advised to cover the pot with a plastic bag to keep the moisture inside.
Step 4: Observe the Germination Process
During the germination process, the best option is to keep your plant in bright and indirect light. You can move your pot to a sunny location when the seeds sprout so that they can get six to eight hours of sunlight.
You should remove the plastic bag later, but make sure the soil stays moist for the growth of your plants. To reach this step, it may take you from a month to three months, so stay patient!
Step 5: Transplant the Seeds
Monitor the seeds for a couple of weeks to observe which of the seedlings is stronger than the others.
The strong seeds will show growth, while the weak ones will show no signs of life. You can remove the weaker ones or simply separate them to allow the stronger ones to grow.
After the seedling produces its second set of true leaves, move it to a bigger pot. Add to the new pot an acidic potting mix, and plant the seedling at the same depth it was growing at previously.
It’s crucial to remember that the first few pairs of leaves on your calla lily seedlings are seed leaves rather than real leaves. So, make sure you know the difference before you decide that it’s time to move your plant.
Before transplanting, it’s advised to wash the plant roots. This step will ensure that there’ll be no contamination and will remove the bacteria. You should also make sure you water the newly transplanted calla lily regularly until it establishes itself.
Taking Care of Your Growing Sprouts
Caring for growing sprouts requires a unique method than caring for growing seeds. However, the tips you need to follow are as simple as they can get.
- Watering
The first step is to fill the drip tray for the pots that have your growing sprouts with about an inch of water. Wait an hour, then drain the excess water from the tray after the soil feels moist.
After the initial watering, only water the sprouts when the soil surface is completely dry. You can use the tips of your fingers to tell whether the soil is moist or not.
- Light
Growing sprouts should be housed in a location that receives six to eight hours of direct sunlight per day. A sunny windowsill is a perfect indoor spot, for instance.
However, if such a spot doesn’t exist in your house, you can place your pots under proper growing lights.
If you’re going to grow the sprouts outside, you should take them out in the early summer. In addition, don’t forget that calla lilies that grow outside need an average of one to two inches of water per week.
- Pruning
When it comes to pruning, your calla lily plants don’t need to be pruned on a regular basis. However, if you notice wilted leaves or blossoms, you should remove them. That way, your plants can be more productive and would be more likely to provide you with the desired results.
In Colder Weather
At the end of the growing season and the start of the colder weather, the flowers in your calla lilies are going to wither and the leaves will turn yellow. Therefore, you should know how to take care of your plants during the cold season.
When the flowers die, you can cut them down to the soil level, and get rid of any debris that you see. In the colder season, you’re supposed to stop watering your plants to enter a state of dormancy.
This phase occurs only once a year, generally during the winter. This procedure will help the plant recharge its energy in preparation for the next growing season.
If you’re growing the multicolored cultivated varieties of callas, they shouldn’t require a dormancy period the first year.
What’s more, if the tubers have grown to around 0.4 to 0.6 inches in diameter, you can treat your calla lily plants as adults.
Conclusion on How to Plant Calla Lily Seeds
Knowing how to plant calla lily seeds can definitely be a skill for you to show off among your grower friends. That’s why you must keep in mind the tips and tricks that help you grow your plant efficiently.
Growing calla lilies from seeds can have a steep learning curve, and there’ll always be seeds that just aren’t viable. However, if you follow the steps of preparing the seeds and observing them, it’ll make your job way easier.
This is why, when you’re growing a calla lily from seeds, knowledge and patience will reward you with a fresh calla lily plant to show off your efforts.