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

[Troppoz]

Dave as with my Mums caladiums in Canberra, they dont get many evenings over 15c, being at 800m elevation. Only in high summer and then for maybe a week or two at most.

I spoke to her on the phone a couple of days ago and asked her how they were going. Even though they have had about 3 weeks of frost and down to -7c they are still leafy and havent started to go dormant yet. She is going to start to withold water to encourage them to go into dormancy.

They are well under cover growing outdoors on a protected verandah, but they havent had a DAY over 15c for about a month now...

Taking that into account Im sure that yours should be fine...

Sean

[Dave Brown]

I hear what you are saying Sean, but as these are such a good display, and the only plants it looks like I can get this season, I'm erring on the side of caution. Once they die down I will depot them and see how many bulbs I have, and if multiples will divide next spring.

Looking the varieties up, it appears the red one will take some sun, but the White Christmas is a shade plant only, and as the sun is 62 degrees high here now, only 5 degrees lower than March/September at the equator, I'm not risking burning it Maybe after the equinox when the sun does not go above 38 degrees I'll try them, if they have not already died back.

Being a truly equatorial plant, apparently they die back on a time clock, and are not affected by seasons. They have a resting period after so many months in growth. Perhaps your mum's were started late If this timeclock is the case, I am considering, if I can get the bulbs at a reasonable price, starting some off in September and using them as house plants over the winter period. They are easily as showy as Poinsetter, and may well take full sun in winter here, as it is equivalent of 30 mins after/before sunrise/sunset in the tropics.

As I don't have anywhere with all day shade in summer they have spent most of their time in the conservatory which is bright filtered light. The heat they don't have a problem with, but I was concerned about the humidity. I have the teracotta tub they are in sitting in a drip tray of damp compost as the porous pot and damp compost with add to humidity. However, temps have been as high as 39.6C with a RH of 10% which is not good for a rainforest plant but so far they do not seem to be affected, and while all Alocasia, Colocasia, and Xanthosoma have been forced outside by Red spider mite attacts, the Caladuims have not (touch wood, finger crossed etc)

They are given an outing when possible in the shade of my Chamarops once temps have reached 20C, and the patio is doused down to increase humidity. They are also blasted top and bottom with the fan setting on the hose every few days in an effort to rid any Red Spider Mite or eggs. As said above seems to be working for the time being.

I repotted into the terracotta tub, using old peat based compost from a tub last year, and added potash and phosphate, the K and P avoiding any Nitrogen. The nest couple of White Christmas leaves were a very pale green rather than pure white, so it must have had some nitrogen still in the compost, but have now reverted back to pure white with green veins I will just add more potash and phosphate every 6 weeks or so.

The major difference between Colocasia and Caladuims is the latter do not lose leaves. I have not had to remove one yet This means that the clump just continues to fill out.

Certainly not a 'stick it in the ground and let it get on with it' plant, but the rewards far outweigh the effort for me

Not a good pic, but here under the Chamaerops on 25th June, together with Heliconia Schideana, and 3 x Hedescepe canterburyana.

[kata]

Hmm..Interesting thread,

Lovely plants, they would'nt do here in Wigan though..too far north...too much rain...too cool most of the time, now is an exception with the sun we're getting..

Hope you get them through the winter Dave.

[Yorkshire Kris]

I hear what you are saying Sean, but as these are such a good display, and the only plants it looks like I can get this season, I'm erring on the side of caution. Once they die down I will depot them and see how many bulbs I have, and if multiples will divide next spring.

Looking the varieties up, it appears the red one will take some sun, but the White Christmas is a shade plant only, and as the sun is 62 degrees high here now, only 5 degrees lower than March/September at the equator, I'm not risking burning it Maybe after the equinox when the sun does not go above 38 degrees I'll try them, if they have not already died back.

Being a truly equatorial plant, apparently they die back on a time clock, and are not affected by seasons. They have a resting period after so many months in growth. Perhaps your mum's were started late If this timeclock is the case, I am considering, if I can get the bulbs at a reasonable price, starting some off in September and using them as house plants over the winter period. They are easily as showy as Poinsetter, and may well take full sun in winter here, as it is equivalent of 30 mins after/before sunrise/sunset in the tropics.

As I don't have anywhere with all day shade in summer they have spent most of their time in the conservatory which is bright filtered light. The heat they don't have a problem with, but I was concerned about the humidity. I have the teracotta tub they are in sitting in a drip tray of damp compost as the porous pot and damp compost with add to humidity. However, temps have been as high as 39.6C with a RH of 10% which is not good for a rainforest plant but so far they do not seem to be affected, and while all Alocasia, Colocasia, and Xanthosoma have been forced outside by Red spider mite attacts, the Caladuims have not (touch wood, finger crossed etc)

They are given an outing when possible in the shade of my Chamarops once temps have reached 20C, and the patio is doused down to increase humidity. They are also blasted top and bottom with the fan setting on the hose every few days in an effort to rid any Red Spider Mite or eggs. As said above seems to be working for the time being.

I repotted into the terracotta tub, using old peat based compost from a tub last year, and added potash and phosphate, the K and P avoiding any Nitrogen. The nest couple of White Christmas leaves were a very pale green rather than pure white, so it must have had some nitrogen still in the compost, but have now reverted back to pure white with green veins I will just add more potash and phosphate every 6 weeks or so.

The major difference between Colocasia and Caladuims is the latter do not lose leaves. I have not had to remove one yet This means that the clump just continues to fill out.

Certainly not a 'stick it in the ground and let it get on with it' plant, but the rewards far outweigh the effort for me

Not a good pic, but here under the Chamaerops on 25th June, together with Heliconia Schideana, and 3 x Hedescepe canterburyana.

Looking wonderful. Isn't funny when you see a group of plants that you haven't really seen much (if at all) outside in the UK they look even more tropical?

[Dave Brown]

Kata, they will probably die down for winter, and if not, I'll dry them off and keep warm

Kris, yes they do look very tropical.

Had to happen..... On work calls etc, and forgot to move them as the sun moved round, and at 3:30pm I noticed they were in full sun and had been for a while, maybe half hour to 40 minutes. I moved them into the shade again, and sprayed them with water, fully expecting them to show signs of frying, but 7 hours later they are still looking ok

The sun was about 50 degrees high and the UV levels high today, so maybe they are as tough as Sean's mum's are

[Scott Radford]

I have my two tucked behind the bamboo giving dappled shade from the sun and watered well they are fine - same two as in your pic Dave and yes white kept the shadiest

[Dave Brown]

I have my two tucked behind the bamboo giving dappled shade from the sun and watered well they are fine - same two as in your pic Dave and yes white kept the shadiest

Are they actually growing in shade temps I had thought about planting in the front border by the bungalow wall, but that shady area is where my weather station sensor is and remains cool if any northerly aspect wind is blowing.

Also the sun did not fry the White Christmas, but it is turning pink between the veins. Maybe that is why they need more shade, It colours up in the sun

[Scott Radford]

They're doing OK I just put them out there when I went to Glastonbury as i knew it would rain on them

If I'd left them on the kitchen windowsill i think they'd have been forgotten by my stepdaughter so not worth the risk

[kata]

Thanks Dave,

Fingers crossed fer ya.

[Troppoz]

Being a truly equatorial plant, apparently they die back on a time clock, and are not affected by seasons. They have a resting period after so many months in growth. Perhaps your mum's were started late

That interesting Dave but I know from my own experience that ones that grow in the watered parts of the garden stay leafy much longer than others that only rely on the natural rainfall, and come into leaf earlier.

I spoke to my mother about hers a couple of weeks back and all of hers have now died down, but only after she stopped watering entirely. The ones that she had grown previously were growing for over 2 years constantly indoors before dying entirely without their rest period.

Glad yours are doing well! Keep us updated with their progress.

[Dave Brown]

That's also interesting Sean, I wonder if it is like Musa Cavendish 17 months from pup to banana harvest in the Sub tropics, but 5 years with no flowering in UK. I just wonder it it grows so many leaves, or needs to flower before dying back. If slower to grow maybe it needs it's clock manually resetting.

There are loads of new leaves coming on the plants which is a surprise. They have settled down well despite getting strong sun, and now being placed in a mainly shady ferny part of the garden during the day.

Caladiums 201107.wmv

(2.22 MiB) Downloaded 445 times

[Troppoz]

Hi Dave any updates? How have they coped with your cool summer?

[Dave Brown]

Hi Dave any updates? How have they coped with your cool summer?

Well....... It has coped far better than I expected. It has lost a few older leaves now, but is producing more. I'm quite impressed really.

As we've had a cooler than average July, and it has not batted an eyelid, I think this is a go'er form mid June to mid September at least

[Troppoz]

Ah good stuff Dave, thought you'd get good results from these plants

I wonder if where other people might have gone wrong is keeping them too wet. Wet and cool would be a fatal mix and the tuber would rot right out from underneath them. Youve obviously got the right mix of conditions for them.

Let us know when they start to go dormant.

Sean

[Dave Brown]

Ah good stuff Dave, thought you'd get good results from these plants

I wonder if where other people might have gone wrong is keeping them too wet. Wet and cool would be a fatal mix and the tuber would rot right out from underneath them. Youve obviously got the right mix of conditions for them.

Let us know when they start to go dormant.

Sean

They are in a terracotta tub Sean. The idea was to increase humidity around the plants, but this also allows it to dry out more quickly.