Caladium Plant Care

The botanical name of Caladium plant is Caladium and the plants are heat-loving tropical perennial plants that have almost unparalleled foliage and they make showy houseplants. The Caladium plants have a large, heart- or arrow-shaped, paper-thin leaves that come in a striking array of colors and patterns. A mass of caladium plant is an explosion of greens, whites, reds, and pinks that are mottled, veined, and striped. The Caladium plants can easily offer the visual impact of having planted flowers while only being foliage plants. Though the plants are grown mainly for their foliage, the Caladium plants do produce some flowers, which start in the form of spathes, or spikes. You can plant them in the springtime after the threat of frost has passed. The Caladium plants are striking plants but they are toxic to animals and humans.

Below is the basic information about Caladium plant:

The common name: The common names are Caladium, elephant ears.

The botanical name: The botanical name is   Caladium.

The family: Caladium plants belong to Araceae family.

The plant type:   The Caladium plant is a tropical perennial plant.

The mature size: The mature size is about twelve to thirty inches tall, twelve to twenty-four inches wide.

The sun exposure: The Caladium plants prefer indirect light (indoors), full to partial shade (outdoors).

The soil type: The Caladium plant does well in rich, well-drained soil.

The soil pH: Slightly acidic

The blooming time: The blooming time is spring, summer, and fall.

The flower color: The flower colors are pink, green, white, red.

USDA hardiness zones: Nine to eleven.

The native area: The Caladium plants are native to Central America, South America.

Plant toxicity: The Caladium plants are toxic to people and pets. 

Caladium Varieties

The Caladium plants has many cultivar, some of them are green, red, pink, white, even orange. Most times the cultivars are sold without names. Almost all the varieties of Caladium plants are descended from C. bicolor, which is native to South America. Some gardener’s books list these plants as C. hortulanum. You can easily choose your variety based on its appearance. Some of the varieties will make a showy border or a single plant. The following are the Caladium plants varieties:

-         The Caladium 'Creamsicle' variety: The Caladium 'Creamsicle' can be a vigorous grower. The Caladium 'Creamsicle' variety features large green leaves accented with vibrant red and veined with bright white.

-         The Caladium 'White Christmas variety: The Caladium 'White Christmas variety has large, arrow-shaped green leaves with a heavy "dusting" of bright white making it a simple and striking color combination.

-         The Caladium 'Miss Muffet' variety: The Caladium 'Miss Muffet' variety is a dwarf variety that reaches only about eight inches in height and it has lime-green leaves flecked with bright pink spots.

-         The Caladium 'Puppy Love' variety: The Caladium 'Puppy Love' variety is a relative newcomer that has pink leaves edged in green and it can tolerate full sun in some climates. 

How to grow Caladium plant

A lot of gardeners use masses of the caladium plants as summer accents and conversation pieces. Indoor or outdoor, the caladium plants are seasonal tuberous plants that grow foliage from spring into autumn, peaking in the summer. You can cut off any spathe as soon as they appear to ensure that all of the plants' energies are used for their gorgeous leaves. The Caladium plants rest period comes in the autumn or winter. The Caladium plants rest period isn't determined by temperature or light cycle, but by how long the plants have been growing.

The Caladium plants are seasonal plants even in the tropics, where gardeners grow the plants in the spring and summer months when they'll thrive in the heat and humidity they require. Unless you live in zones nine to eleven, you should plan to grow the Caladium plants as annuals, or dig up the plants' tubers at the end of the growing season and then store them for the winter.

When the Caladium plants are grown indoors, the plant do best with lots of heat, bright but indirect light, and plenty of humidity. Even under the best conditions the caladium foliage lasts only a few months before the plant leaves start to die back and the plant goes dormant again, which is actually normal.

Light requirement

The Caladium plants actually prefer indirect light or moderate shade indoors. The narrower the plant leaves, the greater the amount of sun the plant can withstand. Growing Caladium plants outdoors in containers gives you more control over light conditions. Some new varieties can be grown in full sun, but most caladium plants need protection from too much intense light. When growing Caladium plants in a garden, give the plant partial shade to full shade; full sun actually scorches their leaves.

Soil requirement

Make sure you plant the caladium in a rich, well-drained soil in the garden or in potting mix for containers, such as a damp mix of soil and peat. Also, the garden soil should be similarly rich and well-drained. The perfect soil pH is slightly acidic, at 5.5 to 6.2.

Water requirement

When the leaves appear on the plant you can water the plant as needed to keep the soil evenly moist. Don’t ever let the plant dry out, as the plant leaves may yellow and drop. You can stop watering the Caladium plant when the plant leaves start to die back. You can also resume watering in spring after winter dormancy. The new plant leaves will reappear as temperatures warm.

Temperature and humidity requirement

Actually, the warmer the better for the Caladium houseplants. Aim for seventy to seventy-five degrees Fahrenheit during the day, sixty to sixty-five degrees at night, if possible, as that is the temperature at which tubers begin to grow. Make sure you keep the humidity as high as is practical.

When planting the Caladium plant outdoors, you can easily transplant the potted tubers (or, better yet, simply transfer them in peat pots) after the last frost date for your area. Plants grown this way should be started indoors 4 to 6 weeks prior to the transplanting.

Fertilizer requirement

You can fertilize the Caladium plant every 2 weeks during the growing season with liquid fertilizer or you can use slow-release pellets.

How to propagate Caladium

When the Caladium plants actually die back in the fall or early winter, you can save the tubers in a bag and then replant the tubers next year for another show. The tubers of the mature caladium plants can also be divided using the following steps:

Allow the plant leaves to die back in the fall. Just let the soil to dry out a bit, and then lift the tubers from the ground. You can store them in a box in a cool, dry, dark place, like a basement, with temperatures at about fifty-five degrees Fahrenheit.

Use a sharp, sterile cutting tool to cut tubers in late winter/early spring. Just make sure that each new tuber section has at least one growing site (with an eye or a knob).

Make sure you allow the tubers to "heal" for about a week, developing a callus on the cut ends.

You can plant the tubers with the "eye" facing up outdoors or you can plant them in pots again when the next growing season begins and the soil temperatures are over seventy degrees Fahrenheit. 

Pest and Disease control

The Caladium plants are not naturally troubled by pests, although sometimes pests nibble the plant leaves or cell sap. Aphids and caterpillars can be a problem to the plant. Actually your best defense against the caladium plant pests is watchfulness. If you see ragged margins on the Caladium foliage, you can look for the creatures and then hand pick them off the Caladium plants. If the infestation is out of control you can easily use Bacillus thuringiensis, known as "Bt," that’s made for caterpillar control. The aphid insects can be bothersome, but they usually do not pose real threats to the Caladium plants. You can wash them off with the hose or, if necessary you can use horticultural soap or neem oil to control the aphid insects.

Furthermore, the Caladium plants grow from tubers and the diseases of caladium plants are those that actually attack the tubers. Generally these diseases are actually caused by fungal pathogens, like Rhizoctonia and Pythium species. At times, these are present in the dormant tubers. If you want to start preventing the caladium plant problems from fungus, you can immerse the tubers in hot water – water heated to one hundred and twenty-two degrees Fahrenheit prior to planting or storing. Just leave them in for about thirty minutes to kill the harmful fungi. Also make sure that the tubers are thoroughly dry.