INTRODUCTION AND EVALUATION OF ZANTEDESCHIA CHILDSIANA FOR YEAR-ROUND POT PLANT PRODUCTION

Zantedeschia aethiopica, 'Childsiana' a dwarf cultivar of the common white calla lily, is free branching and produces flowers year-round, when night temperatures are kept below 18.5°C. It produces multiple, white flowers within 4 weeks if transplanted from single shoot actively growing mother stock plants, and within 42 days if started from dry rhizomes planted in 15-cm pots. When grown in an environmentally-controlled greenhouse plants can be scheduled for flowering year-round. When plants are grown under low light-intensities, growth-regulating chemicals, should be applied as soil drenches to reduce stretching of foliage and scapes.