Calla lilies planted in pot ... bloom time ?

[jrmtl]

Hi all,

I've just planted some Hybrid Calla lily bulbs in a pot outside and would like to know when I can expect to see a bud come out of the earth ? It's been a week and a bit now.
I've been watering and fertilized.
Thanks !

PS Junior gardener here

[ViridianFields]

In my experience with Callas, you should see top growth in a few weeks (keep them moist and warm), and I grew mine in 6" pots. Planted March 22 and mine are just starting to bloom now (1 in bloom and 2 others just showing buds). I fertilized lightly and watered thoroughly, and they were in a south facing window. They now reside on my deck in a large planter, where the cool night time temperatures doesn't seem to have slowed them down. So, I guess you can expect them to bloom in 8 weeks or so from planting, with optimum conditions.

Oh yeah one more thing about Callas... they put on quite an extensive root system and I think the 6" plastic pots were cramped by about 5 weeks. If they aren't planted in a large planter (my 3 are now in a 24" pot) the individual pot size should be around 8" (plastic, the deeper clay pots would probably be okay at 6" but the 8" ones would still be better). Use a free draining but moisture retentive medium, something rich, to get the best growth, and don't let them dry out (they can take a lot of moisture when in active growth).

[jrmtl]

Thanks for the advice !
I put them in sun all day and watered daily. I hope I did it right with what they say "eye buds upwards ".

[ViridianFields]

They just mean plant with the little pointy parts pointing up (rounded side down). Mine were all lumpy and the points weren't apparent right away, you can plant them sideways if that's the case. I planted 'Black Eyed Beauty' this year, next year I'll be planting a bunch of others to see if they perform the same.

[jrmtl]

Thx! I get back in a couple of weeks to see if anything is showing .

[jrmtl]

Update.... still nothing out of the earth yet

[ViridianFields]

Give them time, mine took 3 weeks to show any sign of top growth. Once they do though, they'll grow fast, so don't forget to pot on as needed and use a rich medium. Mine were in bud within 8 weeks of growing their first leaf, so definitely fast growers. Warmth and moisture will help them along once they start growing leaves, and warm nights will definitely speed things up.

Just a warning here, if you're starting them inside and moving them outside, harden them off or their leaves will get burned. Part sun is probably best, mine were in full sun and between sun and wind they burned pretty bad... avoid light walls that reflect heat, that's probably what did mine in. Still blooming though, and I've moved them away from the wall so they may yet recover.

[jrmtl]

Oh it's been since early May now and nothing from soil in pot, maybe i've done something wrong
I've kept the soil moist and it's in direct sunshine the whole day...

Should I dig them up and see the issue ?

[ViridianFields]

Hmm... don't dig them up. Lift the pot and look for roots growing through the drainage holes. Are the pots outside? Cool night temperatures could slow them down significantly. If there are no other reasons that the haven't come up, gently and carefully unpot one of the bulbs to inspect it, being careful because you don't want to break any unseen growth off (if there is any). If the bulb is growing you can be sure the others are too. If it is rotted, you might as well unpot them all and see what's happening. However, if it's still firm and good but hasn't started growing, there's some other (odd) issue. I bet they're growing and just taking their time, but unpot one just to be sure.

[jrmtl]

Ok I dug them up carefully and one of them was rotted ( soft with no growth ) and had to throw away, the other two were fine with sprouts and I put back in pot carefully . Now the spouts are finally out of ground after a week

I guess they were just taking there time but maybe not the heahltiest of bulbs as one rotted.
Any advice , you think I watered too much ?