How to plant and maintain caladium

This pretty tuberous plant produces stunning, richly colored leaves that it sheds in October. The bulb is then kept in the cellar. The end of winter sees its revegetation.

Materials needed for planting caladium

• pot
• leaf mold
• blond peat
• sprayer
• rainwater

Tip:
Caladium is a plant whose colors stay vivid in soft light. So place your pot behind a curtain so that the leaves do not receive direct sunlight. The plant is also afraid of drafts.

Good to know:
Do not keep your tubers too long. Replace them every three or four years to keep plants with lively foliage.

Check the tubers

If you have kept tubers from the previous year, check their health status. They should be firm and free from all traces of the disease.
Get rid of their dry or damaged envelopes. Only retain those with a bud.

Prepare a pot

• Take a pot at least 20 cm in diameter.
• Place a shard over the water drain hole.
• Fill with a mixture of equal parts of peat moss and sifted leaf soil.
• Add a little crushed bark to lighten everything.

Plant the tubers

• Plant two or three tubers.
• Cover them with a little potting soil.
• Tamp lightly.
• Sprinkle in fine rain, with non-calcareous water, previously stored at room temperature.

Place the pot in the heat

• Install the pot near a heat source. It needs a minimum of 22 to 24 ° C for the vegetation to start.

The top of a radiator is ideal.

• Make sure to keep the soil always moist, but without exaggeration, because fearing excess water, the tubers will rot quickly.

Fertilization

Add half a dose of liquid green plant fertilizer every two weeks, from May to September.

Watering

Adjust water to the development of the leaves: very little in spring, plentiful in summer, reduced in autumn, and none in winter. Place the pot in a saucer filled with wet clay balls. Maintain 2 cm of water, never spray the leaves.

Gardener’s advice

Appreciated for its large leaves tinged with green, pink, red, and cream,  caladium grows best exposed to the west in subdued light. It fears direct sunlight, but too much shade makes its colors fade. He does not like drafts. A veranda, less dry than an apartment, suits him well.
The deciduous leaves fall in autumn, then it is time to put caladium to rest for the winter.