Perhaps the one time that indoor plants are most appreciated is in the long gray wintery months that precede spring.
Average Indoor Plants
Foliage plants, African violets, gloxinias, and begonias are about the extent of what the average indoor gardener has to work with.
Summer Months: Growth and Bloom of Plants
Actually, with proper light, moisture, and humidity a number of plants normally growing and blooming in the summer months can be forced to shorten their rest period and give interest and color months earlier than usual.
Caladium As House Plants
Among the easiest and most effective of these is the caladium. Available in a wide range of sizes, the tall stemmed varieties.
Some hold monstrous leaves sometimes 20” inches in diameter, rival the florists’ large leaf foliage plants, and are most beautiful when placed on the floor next to an armchair or window.
Dwarf Sizes of Caladiums
Shorter types may be used on top of bookcases, end tables, or put in front of the taller ones giving a full banked effect.
Dwarf varieties of only 6” inches have countless uses anywhere in the home.
Caladium Have Colorful Leaves
The caladium is grown mainly for its fantastically colorful leaves although there is a flower scope not unlike a calla lily.
If left to develop, cut the stem to the ground immediately after flowering to save the plant from seed production.
After the novelty of the first caladium bloom, has passed it is best to cut future flowering sterns as they are noticed since they sap considerable strength from the leaf growth.
Procedure for Winter Culture
Getting caladiums to leaf in the middle of winter is of course playing a trick on nature, but since the plants themselves seem to thrive and are perfectly happy in January rather than July, there really is no harm being done as long as the proper growing conditions are followed.
Typical Growing Season of Caladium
First, consider a typical growing season of the caladium. The initial rooting time covers a period of from 6 to 8 weeks – the peak display carries on for at least 4 months with a dormant rest period of between 2 and 4 months.
Most firms will not have caladiums ready for shipment before January as their tubers seldom ripen before that time.
However, those that started in January will be at their peak by March and will carry on their display for at least another 4 months.
Proper Rest For Two Months
If plants are desired earlier than this they will have to come from your own stored tubers. This of course is possible as they will have had the proper rest of at least 2 months.
Warmth and moisture are all that is needed to awaken a plant from storage. Since food cannot be utilized until proper root growth is made, light material such as sphagnum moss or vermiculite is used for this initial rooting period.
A clay bulb pan, perhaps the same one into which the plants will finally be shifted, serves as the best container for rooting.
Examine Root Growth
Clear plastic sweater boxes allow the grower to examine root growth along the edges from the outside without periodically removing the tuber from the material.
Careful Watering of Caladiums
However, watering must be done very carefully in these since evaporation is much less than in a porous clay pot. Rest the tuber on at least 3” inches of dampened material and cover with 1” more inch.
Bottom heat during this rooting time is almost necessary and in the majority of homes, this isn’t too difficult to obtain in the winter.
Heating System
Our heating system has small registers set into the floor and at intervals, through the winter months, practically every unit is decorated by pots of rooting caladiums – a terrific temptation to the children and the cat!
Examine the material for moisture occasionally as it must never be allowed to dry. In case it is drying very rapidly a cover of Saran wrap will hold in the moisture considerably.
Avoid Soaking the Rooting
Never have the rooting media soaking wet for any length of time especially before roots appear as this will surely lead to rot.
However, the small soft, spongy part which in time can infect the entire tuber may be cut away and the cut dusted with sulfur.
Care After Potting
As soon as the plant has properly rooted (2”-inch roots completely surrounding the tuber-top and bottom) they should be potted in a soil mixture.
Most Satisfactory Combination
- 1/3 leaf mold or peat moss,
- 1/3 steer manure or compost, and
- 1/3 sandy loam
1 teaspoon of superphosphate and 1/2 teaspoon of muriate of potash are also worked into every 8”-inch pot.
In order to have a grand display, plan on using 2 or 3 tubers per 8”-inch pot. This is when using the average 1 ¼” inches, No. 2 size.
However, some specialists offer the mammoth size of 354”-inch and over, and these spectacular specimens may be used singly.
Slightly Moist For Top Growth Commences
After potting, keep only slightly moist until top growth commences, then slowly add more water but never to the point where the soil would become waterlogged.
Give the plants as much light and sun as they can stand without drooping or fading. As the spring months approach, they will require less as the sun intensity increases.
Necessary Feeding Schedule
A feeding schedule is necessary for top-quality plants and essential for maximum tuber growth which means better plants the following year.
As soon as 1 or 2 large leaves develop, I like to start feeding every 2 weeks with a solution high in nitrogen which gives the plants good leaf production.
High Potash Fertilizer
After it is felt that the plant has reached its peak of growth, then I switch to a high potash fertilizer in soluble form, which aids tuber growth.
Liquid manure when available also gives excellent results. An unfertilized plant may take so much from the tuber that it will be less than half the size of when it was previously planted.
Dormancy of Caladiums
At the end of about 4 or 5 months, do not be alarmed by an overnight drooping and drying of the leaves. This is a sign that the plant is readying for its dormant rest.
Pouring of Water and Fertilization is Forbidden
Never pour on the water or fertilizer in attempting to revive it as this can do more harm than good.
The roots have stopped functioning and the soil should stay on the dry side to keep the tuber from rotting before the leaves have dried sufficiently.
The tubers may either be left in their pots or cleaned from adhering soil and packed in vermiculite.
Use Pots, Not Tubers
Stored pots take a lot of room and therefore I prefer to remove the tubers and put the pots to use through the summer.
Furthermore, since it is essential that the tubers remain dry through the storage period, the soil is likely to take up moisture from the humid air during the summer months.
If possible, store the tubers in the coolest part of the house or garage. Winter storage temperatures for summer-grown plants should never drop below 50° degrees.
Additional Uses of Caladiums
The person having an eye for color in home decoration will have no trouble finding varieties corresponding to a particular room.
Although the deep rust reds and olive shades are my favorites, I have found dark blotched varieties with lighter backgrounds the most striking.
The strap and lance-leaved caladiums add interest to any house plant collection besides being very versatile in their uses.
The short, bushy, narrow-leafed ‘Little Rascal‘ served as a table centerpiece for 4 months last year, while the gorgeous rose and carmine ‘Token‘ and pure white ‘Snow Flake’ added spring-like charm to a bedroom through the winter months.
Facts About Caladium Leaves
The fact is well known that caladium leaves offer many interesting possibilities when used in arrangements but they certainly become more valuable for this use during the winter months when cutting material is at a premium.
By hardening the complete leaf under water for at least 24 hours, you can be certain of its freshness for at least 2 weeks.
The glycerinizing method does not seem to faze caladium leaves, though in an experiment I sprayed a few fresh leaves, top, bottom, stem, and cut end with “Wilt-Pruf,” a plastic concentrate, and this preserved them for 2 months.
44659 by Pat Shedesky