Caladiums - My new obsession if I can get them to grow.

[Dave Brown]

Great stuff Guys Hadn't got around to looking for them yet, but will give them a try

[Kristen]

Had a further look around Anglia Bulbs site, their prices were quite a bit keener than other sites I have been looking at recently, so I bought some.

The site isn't very informative (and bits of it don't work very well), so please note that you can choose two items from the freebies list, but I didn't see anything during checkout alerted me to this (so make sure you do it manually before checkout ...) and also: I got a discount and free shipping, but I couldn't find anywhere that said how much I needed to have spent ... or whether spending another £ more/less would have got me more/less discount.

The stuff they sell (if it might enable you to bulk up an order) includes:

Agapanthus, Alstroemeria (Peruvian Lily), Amarcrinum, Amaryllis Belladonna, Amorphophallus, Anemone de Caen, Anemone for shade or woodland, Anemone St Brigid, Arisaema, Arum Italicum, Babiana (Baboon Root), Begonia..., Bletilla (Ground Orchid), Caladium, Calanthe (Hardy Orchid), Calla Lily (Zantedeschia), Calochortus, Cardiocrinum, Chlidanthus, Colocasia, Convallaria (Lily Of The Valley), Cosmos, Crinum, Crocosmia, Cyclamen, Dahlia Tubers..., Dracunculus Vulgaris, Eremurus (Foxtail Lilies), Erythronium, Eucharis, Eucomis 'Pineapple Lily', Freesia, Galtonia (Summer Hyacinth), Gladioli..., Gladioli Byzantinus, Gloriosa (Glory Lily), Gloxinia, Habenaria (Egret Orchid), Hedychium (Ginger Lily), Hymenocallis, Festalis, Incarvillea, Liatris, Lilium..., Lycoris, Mirabilis (Four O Clock Flower), Nerine, Ornithogalum, Oxalis, Pancratium, Pleione, Rockery Orchid), Polianthes (Tuberosa), Rhodohypoxis, Sandersonia, Sauromatum, Scadoxus, Schizostylis, Sparaxis, Sprekelia, Tacca (Bat Flower), Tigridia, Trilliums, Triteleia, Tulbaghia, Uvularia

[acphm]

Hello Kristen, good find

Last summer was my first time growing Caladiums and they are easy to grow and very showy.
Here in Spain was hard to find caladiums and finally I could find last August for 4€ each pot. I'm only 3 varieties.
Now, they are in my greenhouse getting fatter bulbs, I decided don't make winter rest and to provide nitrogen-rich fertilizers.
I think I will buy more varieties to Anglia in early March.
If someone is thinking about ordering to USA I'd be happy to contribute, they have a huge variety but the phytosanitary is expensive.
Regards.

IMG_3016.jpg (60.57 KiB) Viewed 2032 times

[Troppoz]

Dave my caladiums have only just emerged after the rains started. I think this puts the theory that they are dormant for only so many days or whatever to rest...

Ordinarily they would have been out of the ground for a couple of months now, but they obviously knew that the rains would be late this year...canny beggars

When do you plan on putting yours back into growth?

[call]

i must get

[Dave Brown]

Oooh missed these posts

Sean, my bulbs have started to have small shoots after I misted the compost a couple of weeks ago. I'm going to put them in the prop watered well this weekend. I have been told there is not really enough light until March, but I have an 11W daylight lamp giving 2500 lux illuminating it.

Now, they are in my greenhouse getting fatter bulbs, I decided don't make winter rest and to provide nitrogen-rich fertilizers.

If someone is thinking about ordering to USA I'd be happy to contribute, they have a huge variety but the phytosanitary is expensive.
Regards.

acphm, from what Sean said it sounds like they exhaust themselves if kept going. Seems they come from tropical areas with a dry season so have a rest period. Same as people die if they can't sleep I think it is about 114 days for us then the brain completely shuts down stopping the heart.

Also all the info I have read says avoid high nitrogen or they revert to almost plain green leaves

I'd love to be able to get hold of some American varieaties, but most won't ship over seas, and those who do wanted orders of 1000 per type. Don't think I'd need that many. Needs a big EU wholesaler to buy in that quantity but I have not found one selling in EU so far. I'll continue to look.

[Kristen]

gardenbypost_direct is selling 10 x Caladium 'Mrs. Arno Nehrling' for £11 on eBay. Some interesting other plants too

[acphm]

acphm, from what Sean said it sounds like they exhaust themselves if kept going. Seems they come from tropical areas with a dry season so have a rest period. Same as people die if they can't sleep I think it is about 114 days for us then the brain completely shuts down stopping the heart.

Yes Dave, I agree, but my caladiums are from Netherland and I bought in September when they was little. This means they were 3 months old approximately and I decided to kept going 3 or 4 months more in the greenhouse and next year to begin a schedule adapted to my climate after a short rest period.

Also all the info I have read says avoid high nitrogen or they revert to almost plain green leaves

Yes, I have readed also. I didn't detect changes in leaves, maybe I didn't provide enought nitrogen to see symptoms.

I'd love to be able to get hold of some American varieaties, but most won't ship over seas, and those who do wanted orders of 1000 per type. Don't think I'd need that many. Needs a big EU wholesaler to buy in that quantity but I have not found one selling in EU so far. I'll continue to look.

Today I discovered this provider from Italy with an extensive catalog...
http://www.florianabulbose.eu/cataloghi/cat1.htm

[Dave Brown]

An update. The White Christmas and Red Caladiums were potted up and put into the prop at between 25 and 31C back in Feb, then I had a bug and have not been able to do very much for a few weeks. When I checked some were pressed up against the top of the prop, so have had to come out. They are spendin the days on the window ledge in the lounge, but shuuuush don't tell the wife and are on the top of the fridge during the evening, then under a cupboard unit light overnight.

Today one of the White Christmas has opened it's leaf

The Red corms are huge and the larger pieces have 5 or 6 shoots already.

[GREVILLE]

White Christmas is a long way off - but not if I can help it

I want one and I'm obsessed with it already. Pretty keen on the others,too

[Libby]

Beautiful

[call]

really nice

[Dave Brown]

They're all going mad the growth rate is astonishing. They'll all need repotting very soon.

[Yorkshire Kris]

I'm getting tempted by these more and more.

[Dave Brown]

Last year, as the plants were expensive, and I only had one pot of each, I was very cautious of how I treated them. Now, as I have a few pots of each, I will be a bit more adventurous