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.
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