Evaluation of Clones, Container Types and Tissue Culture Media for Production of Calla Lilies as a Nursery Crop

Abstract Studies were designed to determine if colored callas (Zantedeschia sp.) can be successfully grown as a spring color crop under field conditions in the Southeastern United States without substantial modification of greenhouse culture protocols and if yield of clean stock from tissue culture can be improved. Results indicate colored calla lily production in containers in hardiness Zone 8B can be successful, without making significant modifications to either existing greenhouse production guidelines or the environment used for woody plant container culture. Neither fiber nor deeper containers improved overall calla performance over traditional plastic pots. ‘Garnet Glow’ and ‘Pink Persuasion’ produced the most blooms over 6 weeks of evaluation and would be better adapted for the spring color market than ‘Florex Gold’ or ‘Mango’ which bloomed heavily for only two weeks. The disease index developed for this study indicated ‘Mango’, ‘Florex Gold’, ‘Rubylite Pink Ice’ and ‘Majestic Red’ suffered the mos...