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lucky bamboo, herbs, flowers and life
Wednesday, April 12, 2006,7:03 PM
Plants for summers part 2 - Caladium
Caladium is famous for its big and colorful leaves. You can get caladium in red, yellow, white and many shades of these color . Big leaves keeps the room fresh and cool throughout summer.
Caladium from Tubers.
Propagation of caladium occurs through tuber. When the tubers arrive unpack them immediately and spread them on a piece of paper or towel. Caladium bulbs contains moisture and will rot if not taken out rightaway. Bigger the tuber, more will be the number of leaves. Tubers can be as big as 6 inches in length.
Scooping of tubers.
A normal healthy tuber gives one or two big and strong leaves. But if more number of leaves from a single tuber is desired then scooping or de-eyeing can be done. Scooping is a very simple method of increasing number of leaves and making the plant bushier. When the tuber arrives, it would contain some visible and many invisible auxiliary buds or eyes. With a sharp knife tip scoope out the main bud. Take care not to harm the nearby auxiliary buds, and don't make deep scoope which might lead to rotting.
PlantingCaladiums can be planted in ground or in pots. To get a beautiful arrangement plant one big tuber or 2-3 small tubers. Use a light mixture of peatmoss, soil and sand. Plant the medium sized tubers 2 to 4 inches apart. Since the roots of caladium comes from the top as well, cover the tubers in 1-1.5 inch soil. water it thoroughly.
Caring tips:
- Being a tropical plant, caladium needs lots of water and good dose of plant food. Other than that this plant needs very less care.
- Keep the soil moist all the time untill the sprout occurs.
- Don't let the plant wilt or it may loose leaves and go dormant.
older posts in this series
Plants for summers part 1 - Crinum.
