Hello
When is it safe to plant Caladium bulbs in Zone 10/Miami ?
I was planning late March but I'll certainly wait if best to do so .

From what I understand as a general rule the bigger the bulb the higher the caladium plant will be , larger leaf ?


I purchased some Caladiums from 2 vendors in this forum last summer which were beautiful did great for months and though some are still doing well with 2 recent weeks of daily rain , no sun and chilly nights in low 50s seems it took a toll on them .

Either way ,I was planning on buying more colors this year .

I am new to gardening .

Thank you

Rascal!
I'm across the state from you and I plant them anytime I feel like
I think the size of the leaf has more to do with the cultivar than the size of the bulb. But a larger bulb will make a bigger plant. I hope I got that right....

Just out of curiosity, do caladiums die back in zone 10? They do here in Central Florida, but they always come back when the weather warms up.

Yes, they do.

Dutchlady1 said: Rascal!
I'm across the state from you and I plant them anytime I feel like
I think the size of the leaf has more to do with the cultivar than the size of the bulb. But a larger bulb will make a bigger plant. I hope I got that right....

I see . I thought they would die in cold thus didn't order any new one's yet .

They were doing great but after the 2 weeks of daily rain and chilly nights my pots which were just bushes of thick caladiums died back substantially .

These are just two pots of my massive die backs but they were thick at one time .

IbisFla said:Just out of curiosity, do caladiums die back in zone 10? They do here in Central Florida, but they always come back when the weather warms up.

Oh good to hear that they might come back . I thought they were dead .


We have had some chilly nights in low 50s think one night hit high 40s .

I'm new to gardening and Miami but I didn't expect high 40s at night .

My elephant ears are thriving but the caladiums took a big hit .

Caladiums, I would even plant them here right now. Since the ground never freezes it's not a problem.

Now, I have thought a lot about caladiums and have come to the following conclusion: (believe it or not) They seem to know when to come up based on temperature and daylight hours. Even when we have a false spring of warmth, they still don't come up, hence my belief of the daylight hours theory. They die back when the hours of daylight get shorter (an exception would be one who hasn't learned that lesson yet)

Rascal, this comes from 10 year from living here in 8b. I moved here from Ft Lauderdale and didn't give a whole lot of thought to caladiums since everything grew in abundance down there. They would get lost in the masses.

I have planted the bulbs in the fall when they were on sale at 50% supposedly being out of season and they came up anyway, albeit small.

I believe the size of the bulb determines how many leaves will grow from it, a more mature bulb, larger, more leaves.

Also, you can't compare them to elephant ears, they are not even related. Elephant ears are hardier than caladiums and in your area can remain evergreen all year.

I also believe the better your soil, the larger the plant and leaves will be. I can buy a plant with big leaves, put it in the ground. The next year it comes back not quite as big. My soil is mostly sand I have been amending for the past 10 years.

MollyMc said:Caladiums, I would even plant them here right now. Since the ground never freezes it's not a problem.

Now, I have thought a lot about caladiums and have come to the following conclusion: (believe it or not) They seem to know when to come up based on temperature and daylight hours. Even when we have a false spring of warmth, they still don't come up, hence my belief of the daylight hours theory. They die back when the hours of daylight get shorter (an exception would be one who hasn't learned that lesson yet)

Rascal, this comes from 10 year from living here in 8b. I moved here from Ft Lauderdale and didn't give a whole lot of thought to caladiums since everything grew in abundance down there. They would get lost in the masses.

I have planted the bulbs in the fall when they were on sale at 50% supposedly being out of season and they came up anyway, albeit small.

I believe the size of the bulb determines how many leaves will grow from it, a more mature bulb, larger, more leaves.

Also, you can't compare them to elephant ears, they are not even related. Elephant ears are hardier than caladiums and in your area can remain evergreen all year.

I also believe the better your soil, the larger the plant and leaves will be. I can buy a plant with big leaves, put it in the ground. The next year it comes back not quite as big. My soil is mostly sand I have been amending for the past 10 years.

Mine are planted in pots as you know the roots are same temp as ambient air temp.

I used miracle grow potted plant soil and I was watering with water from my turtle ''pond'' which is just a 125 gallon Rubbermaid stock tank which is buried .

The plants do well with turtle water/diluted waste and turtles get lots water changes so it kills two birds with one stone, sort of speak .

I would say that I ''lost'' more than half my caladiums when it rained for straight weeks without any sun and chilly nights but now after reading the forum hope they sprout back up.

I never planted anything in soil because the soil here is the worse . Its lots sand and rocks . I'm not sure I would call it soil, lol .

I'm from PA and the soil was fantastic but there I never gardened as winters are brutal . I just had grass and tree's .

I added lots top soil when I moved here and new grass which did take well .

The yard was an unkept mess but a good size yard with lots sun all year and no cement which I hate to begin with , lol .

I plan to order different colors in couple of weeks only because I like the bigger bulbs and don't see them now unless you order ''grab bag'' of unspecific colors and I want certain colors .

Thank you

mmmmm, Miami, lots of sun in the yard, have you ever considered Plumeria @Rascal?

Rascal!
I agree with what other members have said, that your Caladiums may re-sprout at some point as long as the bulbs didn't rot. I live way north of you in Daytona Beach and Caladiums will sometimes return here as long as we don't have hard freezes or a lot of rain to where the bulbs get too wet and rot. The pretty one in your photo looks a lot like Fancy-leaf Caladium (Caladium 'Florida Beauty')

Hi and Welcome! I think those Caladiums that you have in pots there might need a "rest" aka a dormant period, for a month or two, so I'd put the pots somewhere shady, maybe under an overhang so they don't get too soggy if it rains, and leave them be until, say, April. Then pull them out, add some fert and maybe an inch or two of fresh potting soil and start watering them again. They will come back, I'm sure.

I agree with your other advisors above, you can plant your new bulbs just about any time. If the weather stays cool, you may not see them jump up right away, they will know when to start up. Once you see them up, fertilize and water so they will make lots of leaves, which will make big, new bulbs for you for next year.

I've planted them in fall, and had them live through January, then die back and stay dormant all through the hot, wet summer and come up again in the fall. In fact, I think I had the same ones as you - Florida Beauty.

dyzzypyxxy said:Hi and Welcome! I think those Caladiums that you have in pots there might need a "rest" aka a dormant period, for a month or two, so I'd put the pots somewhere shady, maybe under an overhang so they don't get too soggy if it rains, and leave them be until, say, April. Then pull them out, add some fert and maybe an inch or two of fresh potting soil and start watering them again. They will come back, I'm sure.

I agree with your other advisors above, you can plant your new bulbs just about any time. If the weather stays cool, you may not see them jump up right away, they will know when to start up. Once you see them up, fertilize and water so they will make lots of leaves, which will make big, new bulbs for you for next year.

I've planted them in fall, and had them live through January, then die back and stay dormant all through the hot, wet summer and come up again in the fall. In fact, I think I had the same ones as you - Florida Beauty.

Thanks .

The Florida beauty is one of the types which semi remain and hasn't gone dormant or worse.

I had lots of these pink types which were my favorite in 2 big clay pots which after 2 solid weeks of rain disappeared but after getting info on this forum. I'll keep my fingers cross and hope they come back up .

As far as fertilizer goes I haven't used any because I keep fish inside and turtles outside . I use that water to water plants .

I have used earthworm ''juice'' in the past which I bought on ebay from a Florida farm because it sounded interesting , lol .

plantladylin said: Rascal!
I agree with what other members have said, that your Caladiums may re-sprout at some point as long as the bulbs didn't rot. I live way north of you in Daytona Beach and Caladiums will sometimes return here as long as we don't have hard freezes or a lot of rain to where the bulbs get too wet and rot. The pretty one in your photo looks a lot like Fancy-leaf Caladium (Caladium 'Florida Beauty')

Thanks.

My favorite three types are the Florida beauty , the pink type I just posted which I forgot the name and Gingerland which are the only types which didn't disappear and growing very large .

I'm not a purist so most of the pots had them mixed because I like different colors .

I say purist because imagine they can put out hybrids .

Not the best pic but here you can see some Gingerlands which are still growing .

I don't much about gardening but by pure luck I happen to like plants which do well in South Florida weather and my yard gets lots of sun all year because all the houses in my area are 1 floor so no shaded areas . . Add to that my neighbors like it ''sterile'' as far as their yards are cement with pools and no tree's .

I do not like cement and pools , lol .

Dutchlady1 said:mmmmm, Miami, lots of sun in the yard, have you ever considered Plumeria @Rascal?

Thanks.

I looked up Plumerias and very pretty plus lots types .

I like them but I lean towards ''leaf plants'' and for now I have caladiums and like 12 dozen different types of Elephant ears .

Hmm, I like EE's too, and I think that dark green/white one you posted above is one of those, isn't it?

The pink one in your other picture might be Carolyn Wharton. This is Gingerland, one of my faves too:

dyzzypyxxy said:Hmm, I like EE's too, and I think that dark green/white one you posted above is one of those, isn't it?

The pink one in your other picture might be Carolyn Wharton. This is Gingerland, one of my faves too:

Oh your Gingerland looks huge .

I purchased several types from 2 sellers who post here and spread them out through out the yard .

The green white plant is an EE I have that also in the other pic but the other plant has much more white and just huge . Looks like a kite .

I think its called variegated something. I forgot the name .

All the plants are from the original and spread well .

There is another type of variegated which is also green/white with much bigger leaves and plant gets much bigger .

I saw it at a plant show last summer . I hope to get that one but I read it varies as far as lots of white or not so perhaps I'll wait again for plant show if they have it this summer .

The 6 inch sprout they had at the show was high white .

This is it . It is a link from Dave's Garden .

Yes other caladium is a Wharton . I had forgotten the name

These I plan to replant in half barrel pots . As you know its upright Portora .

Rascal, the green and white EE's are Mickey Mouse Taro: Xanthosoma atrovirens.

I used to have a lot of EE's, but so many don't like the cold here. I have a Mickey Mouse that showed up 2 summers ago and grew quite large. It had been years since I saw one there and didn't think it was alive. It died back last winter and didn't come back this last spring. My dogs have that yard now and there's digging going on. One dug up a huge root ball and just left it laying there (how could she?) I planted it in my barn yard garden and hopefully it will come back next summer. Don't know if it was the EE or a ginger. We'll see.

Molly

Love, Love, Love that Xanthosoma with all the white variegation ... really beautiful! I think I need to put on my wish list!

MollyMc said:Rascal, the green and white EE's are Mickey Mouse Taro: Xanthosoma atrovirens.

I used to have a lot of EE's, but so many don't like the cold here. I have a Mickey Mouse that showed up 2 summers ago and grew quite large. It had been years since I saw one there and didn't think it was alive. It died back last winter and didn't come back this last spring. My dogs have that yard now and there's digging going on. One dug up a huge root ball and just left it laying there (how could she?) I planted it in my barn yard garden and hopefully it will come back next summer. Don't know if it was the EE or a ginger. We'll see.

Molly

Thanks .

Looked it up and that is my next variegated. They get bigger then my current type and some put out close to all white leaves .
http://smg.photobucket.com/use...

That is the problem with most EE as far as they need heat.

We had some chilly nights in high 40s with only mid 60s during day but they were rare which is good considering the engulfing hate I have for the cold and after leaving PA . I hope I never see temps under 70 again, lol but I know better .

I think some types EE do well all over the state but I'm just going by what I read .

Seems a few here keep Ginger caladiums which I love . The large leaf types are beautiful . Mine are regular size but I plan to get jumbo bulbs .

plantladylin said: Love, Love, Love that Xanthosoma with all the white variegation ... really beautiful! I think I need to put on my wish list!

Thanks.
That one put out a shoot last summer which was about 60 percent white . I gave it away to friend . After couple months as it got bigger and stunning it was stolen from his front yard .

It was actually dug out of his soil because it wasn't in a pot .