Question
Hi,  I live in Southern Spain (malaga).  My mother in law has this huge Cala Lilly bush that is absolutely gorgeous.  I recently stole  quite a bit of cala lilly (younger growth), no flowers yet. I have a container garden because i live in the city in a flat.  I have an out door patio that i have all my plants.  I receive partial shade back there.

My question is this:

I have placed the plants in pots now, which they were in my mother in laws out door garden.  They don't seem to be doing too well, the leaves are green, but long and droopy. Will they become stronger as they adapt to the pots? Or do they need extreamly deep pots for their long stems?

thanks!

Answer
It is raining today in Malaga, Spain, with a high of 60 degrees F and a low around 45 degrees F, says the Weather Underground.  Puts you in USDA Zone as Honolulu, Hawaii: Zone ELEVEN (11).  You can grow anything you want in Malaga or Honolulu.  All you have to do is figure it out.

I would like, if you don't mind, a little more detail about the 'growth' you hijacked off this growing bush.  There were roots and rhizomes, yes?  Please confirm.

Another serious point you may not be considering (and probably even more important than the details about your actual specimen(s)) is that this plant is a TRANSPLANT.  Plenty of 'shock' the plant endures before it picks up where it left off.  Imagine yourself being thrown out of an airplane and surviving the tumble to earth; that's what it felt like to be this plant, lifted out of a perfectly happy pot and plunged into freefall by a novice.  Roots need time to regroup and regrow.

Now, let's assume you were able to help yourself to a nice big chunk of roots, rhizomes and leaves.  And let's imagine it's a month from now, and the roots and rhizomes have now put this transplant trauma behind them and are ready to move on.  Now it's time to Name That Plant!

Because frankly it sounds like you have not narrowed down which Callas you are trying to cultivate out there in Sunny Spain.

Fickle Pink and Yellow Callas tend to be a bit more difficult than the plain vanilla White ones.

There are 2 kinds of Calla Lilies ('Zantedeschia' to botanists).  If you're going to grow this plant, you have to know which one you've got.

One is deciduous -- the kind that loses its leaves when it rests.  The other is evergreen -- it stops flowering when it's spent, and goes semi-dormant, but it holds onto its leaves.

The first one is usually big and White, but occasionally Yellow.  The second one is a little smaller and brightly colored.

'Bulbs' (technically called 'Rhizomes') of deciduous (leaf-losing) Calla Lilies look completely different from the large, evergreen White-and-Green florist Calla Lilies.

Rhizomes of the deciduous, colored Calla Lilies are flat, round wafers, typically with bulls-eyes or dark circles.  They grow best in bright Sun and can dry out between waterings.  If the flower on your Calla Lily is Pink or Red or Plum, and it has finished blooming, and when is at the end of the growing season, the leaves will begin to turn Yellow.  That would tell you that you have a deciduous Calla Lily -- the kind that loses its leaves when it is resting.

Just water it once in a while.  Don't let it get completely dry.  The leaves will drop and the plant will look like you have killed it.

THIS IS NORMAL.  Don't give up.

Perhaps, however, you are trying to grow the other Calla Lily.  This one is the large, White florist's Calla Lily.  It is 2 or 3 feet tall and has solid Green leaves.  Its leaves never drop; it looks so beautiful, most people will touch it to see if it is real, even when it is not blooming.  The rhizomes are long and oval, with a larger end that is placed up when it is planted.  These are strong and said to be hardy to Zone 7 (my neighborhood).  They need LOTS of water.

I think you ought to try watering and fertilizing it through the
Summer.  If you live in the Northeast, or somewhere that snow falls and it gets cold enough to skate on the local pond, you should keep it in the same pot all summer and make sure you water it faithfully.  

Refer to the varieties of Calla Lilies sold at
www.pacificcallas.com/Varieties.htm.  If you check the different colors on that page, you will see that even thought they are all Calla Lilies, they bloom for different lengths, depending on the color/species.  So don't feel that you have to induce dormancy.  It will tell YOU when it's time for a rest.

Growing Calla Lilies need rich soil, bright light and moisture.  Some people think Callas are good plants for beginners because it is so hard to overwater them, a common and fatal beginner's habit for other plants and very helpful if you are growing a Calla Lily.  Drying these out while they're growing MAKES them go dormant.  Drying them out totally while they are dormant will turn them into good additions to your compost pile.  In the wilds of Florida and Louisiana, these plants thrive at the edge of a tropical pond or lake where it never dries out.

Some Callas are hypersensitive to Sodium. (Brown leaf tips are the usual symptom).  Is your Spanish water spiked with water softener?  Does it perhaps come out of the spout with naturally high Salt levels?  Bottled or distilled H2O would solve that problem.

Although I am not a fan of White Flower Farm, and I would not encourage anyone to buy anything from them, they happen to have some very clear instructions that you can access at:

www.whiteflowerfarm.com/growguide-293.html

They also have photos on their internet catalog of some of their overpriced Colored and White Callas.

WFF's success depends on explaining the keys to growing the plants they sell and I think they have done a good job on that page with the Calla Lily.  If you can get past the unfamiliar vocabulary (think of a
'Rhizome' as just a funny looking bulb that you plant sideways, with little bumps that sprout into plants), you can see why these Calla Lilies are so popular.  The hardest part is the patience you need to get through deciduous dormancy, if of course that is the kind of Calla you have.

There is a lot of mis-information on the Internet about this plant, andyou can see how that would happen -- evergreen/deciduous, hardy/tender, it can get confusing.  The challenge of growing and flowering a Calla Lily is worth the effort you are making.  And if you can get through a full one year cycle, you are on your way to becoming the Queen of Callas.