How to store caladium bulbs

They are among the most reliable plants for summer color in shady areas. A great thing about using caladiums as a bedding plant is that you can get more than one year of colorful foliage for your initial investment.

The best time to dig caladiums varies depending on the climate, but generally it’s done after the foliage dies back naturally in fall or early winter. Caladiums must be lifted from garden beds and stored before soil temperatures drop below 45 degrees Fahrenheit to prevent damage.

Store tender bulbs in paper bags, reusable mesh bags, or cardboard boxes with air holes poked in for air circulation. Fill the container with peat moss, sawdust, or vermiculite—enough to cover each bulb by one inch. Make sure the bulbs have enough air circulation to prevent rotting. Store bulbs in a dry place.

Overwintering Caladium Bulbs In The Ground

If you‘re lucky enough to live in a warm enough climate, you can just leave your caladiums right in the ground all winter. They will eventually go dormant, and all the foliage will die back. But, once the soil warms in the spring, they’ll grow back better than ever.

Caladiums like a little bone meal or 6-6-6 once a month or so – more for cladiums in full sun. Watering in early am/late pm seems to make ’em happy – you don’t need to soak the ground.

Dividing Caladium Bulbs

Caladiums are not actually bulbs but rather tubers. When propagating caladium, you can divide the tubers in the spring, notes Fine Gardening. In colder climates where the caladium isn’t hardy, dig up and divide the tubers and store them over the winter to replant in the spring.

Take a sharp knife and cut out the large central bud from your fancy leaf caladium bulbs before you plant them. This will encourage the growth of the secondary buds and give you a fuller but just as colorful plant.

Caladiums grow best in shade to part shade (two to four hours of direct sun, preferably morning) or bright dappled light. In these conditions, they produce the lushest growth with large, colorful leaves.

Coffee grounds are a good source of slow-release nitrogen, but are also acidic (3.0-5.0 pH). When using them as a side dressing, concentrate on acid-loving plants such as blueberries, raspberries, rhododendrons, azaleas, hibiscus, begonias, caladiums, impatiens, gardenias, citrus (in pots), heathers and most conifers.

Sun tolerant caladiums can be planted in full sun, keeping in mind that more watering may be necessary. One dwarf caladium, Red Ruffles, and one lance leaf caladium, Gingerland, are sun-loving caladiums. All caladiums are shade or filtered sun lovers.

They are likely to start dying back on their own because it is very difficult to maintain the level of humidity they need in a house, especially through the winter. When that happens, allow them to rest. You can store them right in their pots.

Leaf droop is a sign of salt buildup in the soil of potted caladiums. Excess salts can be seen as a yellow or white crust on the top of the soil or a ring around the inside of the pot. To prevent salt buildup, leach potted plants every four to six months. Severely crusted plants will need to be repotted.

There is never a guarantee that your plant can bounce back from overwatering. If your plant is going to survive, you will see results within a week or so. At this point, you can move your plant back to its original location and resume watering it as normal.

Determine which by feeling the leaf showing browning: if it feels crispy and light, it is underwatered. If it feels soft and limp, it is overwatered. Yellowing leaves: Usually accompanied by new growth falling, yellow leaves are an indication of overwatering.

When plants have too little water, leaves turn brown and wilt. This also occurs when plants have too much water. The biggest difference between the two is that too little water will result in your plant’s leaves feeling dry and crispy to the touch while too much water results in soft and limp leaves.

Conclusion. Transplant shock is difficult to predict and could last anywhere from two weeks to five years. There are a couple of ways to avoid the issue altogether, though, especially for gardeners who are willing to take the time to research their plants and identify how and when transplanting should be done.

When to water

They should be watered at planting time and at these intervals: 1-2 weeks after planting, water daily. 3-12 weeks after planting, water every 2 to 3 days. After 12 weeks, water weekly until roots are established.

Do Not Fertilize

Never directly fertilize a newly planted perennials. Ideally, the plant should not need fertilizer in subsequent weeks because it has been placed in enriched garden soil, where the necessary nutrients are already in place and available to the plant once the root hairs start to grow.

Trim back the plant – Trimming back the plant allows the plant to focus on regrowing its roots. Wait patiently – Sometimes a plant just needs a few days to recover from transplant shock. Give it some time and care for it as you normally would and it may come back on its own.

When a plant suffers from wilted leaves after repotting, along with a host of other symptoms, it’s usually caused by the way it was treated during the transplant process. Plants are especially vulnerable right before they begin to bloom, so always avoid transplanting in the spring.