Secrets of caring for caladium at home

Bright Caladium - a plant of rare beauty, is considered a capricious and whimsical "pet". Because of this, some growers do not dare to grow it. But is Caladium really that finicky? Taking care of it at home requires some effort, but it can also be grown in a city apartment.

Description and varieties

The shrub plant Kaladium (lat.) Is a perennial that can grow both in a flower pot and in the open field. The basis of the plant is a tuber, which growers jokingly call "turnip" because of its similar shape. A fairly strong fibrous rhizome, prone to bud formation, is knocked out of the tuber. The base of the socket is also knocked out immediately from the "turnip". This species of plants does not have stems - the leaves on long straight petioles immediately form a shrub, which, when grown at home, reaches 90 cm in width and up to 150 cm in height.

Caladium blooms early, the bud is knocked out almost immediately after the formation of the second pair of leaves. The inflorescence lives only a few days, and then forms reddish berries. The flowers are odorless, often of a white-greenish tint, and look like a nondescript "cob". Therefore, the beauty of the plant is in wide, heart-shaped leaves with contrasting veins.

Most often in houses we see a spectacular bush with green-pink leaves, the so-called two-color caladium. This is just one of 16 known species of this plant. Hybrid varieties of two-tone caladium are in great demand among decorators and florists because of the variety of colors and foliage patterns.

Here are just a few popular hybrids:

• Pink Beauty;
• Rosaline;
• Pink Blush;
• John Pul;
• Florida Cardinal;
• White Christmas.

These varieties are most often found in florist shops. It is worth noting that because of the unusual shape of the leaves, and especially because of their size, Caladium has several "pseudonyms" under which it can be sold: "elephant ears", "heart of Christ", "angel wings". All this is one and the same plant - a gentle and bright indoor caladium.

Indoor microclimate for home caladium

Proper Caladium care begins with creating a suitable microclimate. In nature, various species of this shrub grow only in the tropical forests of South and Central America, most often on the damp banks of small rivers. The caladium bush will feel comfortable in an atmosphere close to the climate of its "native" places.

The microclimate for this exotic flower consists of three conditions.

1. Lighting. The forest flower cannot stand too hot direct rays of the sun. It is best placed in an area with a lot of bright ambient light. For example, on windowsills facing east or west.
2. Humidity. The percentage of moisture in the air must be at least 70%. This can be achieved by installing an automatic humidifier or by placing the flower pot in a tray of damp moss. Watering is carried out according to the regime and only with soft, settled water.
3. Air temperature. Caladium does not like to freeze or overheat. Depending on the season, the optimum temperature for it is from +18 to + 25 ° С.

"Winter Dream" for Caladium

The year is divided for Caladium into two periods: active (tropical summer) and rest (winter). In the "winter" months, from about October to February, the flower needs rest. The first sign of a flower preparing for winter sleep is considered to be a profuse loss of leaves. For the grower, this is a signal to change the watering and feeding regime.When the rosette completely loses its leaves, the flower in dry soil is placed in a cool room without drafts. The optimum temperature for sleeping is about + 18 ° C.

Advice

To insure the caladium tuber from diseases will help "landless" wintering method. The plant is cleaned of old soil, dry and diseased roots are cut off and covered with vermiculite or clean sawdust in a separate container.

Spring transplant

Caladium should be woken up from "hibernation" by annual transplanting into fresh soil. This should be done in late February - early March. Unlike most indoor plants, the size of the flowerpot is not matched to the size of the rosette, but to the diameter of the main tuber. For a small one, up to 3 cm in size, a container of 9-12 cm is suitable. A larger tuber is transplanted into a pot 17-20 cm wide.

Then the caladium is planted in the following order.

1. A drainage layer is placed at the bottom, at least 3 cm.
2. The first layer of soil is poured on top. For this indoor plant, a universal nutrient substrate or pure peat is suitable. You can independently make a mixture of leaf and humus soil with peat in proportions of 1: 1: 1 with the addition of coarse sand.
3. The tuber is removed from old soil, cleaned of soil residues. It is imperative to inspect the flower and remove dried roots.
4. The soil is moistened from a spray bottle, a tuber is placed on it and sprinkled with a root collar.

There are two options for how deeply the tubers are planted in the ground. Young strong indoor plants are best planted to a depth of 5-10 cm. In such conditions, the buds are activated and the rosette grows thick and lush. An adult plant, which is planned to be propagated next year, is planted much closer to the soil surface - 2-3 cm deep. This will give many daughter tubers, but a beautiful bush with large leaves will not work.

Tuber propagation

Is it possible, having an adult plant at home, to try to propagate a caladium bush? There are two ways to get a young plant - vegetative (tuberous) and generative (from seeds). The latter method is highly discouraged by professional florists. The main reason for this is that hybrid seeds do not retain or transmit the hereditary characteristics of the variety: leaf pattern, shape and color of the plant.

Caladium tuber sprouting is a fairly popular method. This can be done at home. The easiest way is to grow a flower from "children", daughter tubers of an adult rhizome. If no new babies are formed, the bush is propagated by dividing the main tuber. To do this, it is cut into pieces so that 1-2 healthy kidneys remain on each cut. "Saplings" are dried in the open air for a couple of hours and the cut sites are disinfected with crushed charcoal. After the caladium tubers are planted in the pots in the usual "spring" way.

How to care during the active period: watering, feeding, pruning, treatment

From the moment of spring transplanting until late autumn, the correct irrigation regime is important for the health of Caladium. It is important to find a "middle ground" in soil moisture, because flooding a flower is just as dangerous as overdrying it regularly. Before the first shoots of caladium appear from the ground, they are not actually watered. Instead, the soil is lightly moistened with a spray bottle every few days.

When “greenery” appears in flower pots, the stage of active growth begins. From this moment until autumn, it is recommended to adhere to the following regime.

• Active growth (until leaves appear). Twice a day, 100 ml of water (1/2 glass)
• Summer (until about the end of August). Abundant watering of 200 ml as the soil surface dries. Be sure to drain excess water from the pan.
• Preparing for winter (until the leaves completely fall off). The frequency and intensity of watering are reduced by about a third.
• Winter (rest). Watering stops completely. The soil is slightly moistened with a spray gun.

For feeding, a complex mineral fertilizer with a content of phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen is used. Top dressing should be applied only in the summer and no more than once every 3 weeks. As a rule, with regular care and a suitable microclimate, indoor caladium grows luxuriantly and without any problems.

It is necessary to control the appearance in order to notice a vegetative disease or the appearance of pests in time.

• Leaf rot or root rot. Occurs due to improper flow and air humidification. It is necessary to cut off the damaged parts and reduce the amount of moisture.
• Spider web, yellow spots on the leaves, white bloom, and other signs of spider mites, aphids, or worms. Treatment: cutting of infected leaves and treatment with special insecticides for flowers.
• Dull pigment in leaves, dull plant. Signs of dehydration, you need to water the flower more often and increase the humidity.

In general, the rules for caring for a caladium bush are not much more complicated than for most indoor flowers with delicate threadlike roots. For many growers, caring for this plant will seem too troublesome. But the time spent caring for the Caladium will definitely be rewarded. If you manage to create the conditions for this tropical flower, you will receive an unusual living decoration of your home, which will please the eye for several months in a row and create a festive atmosphere.