Heart to Heart^® 'Mesmerized' Sun or Shade Caladium Caladium hortulanum

Caladiums can be an irritant if ingested. The ASPCA has more information on which plants may be harmful.

Indoors: Caladiums can be a very nice windowsill or sunroom plant and for much of the United States and certainly in Canada, this might be the best use for sun or shade caladium varieties. Since they are tropical they need to have warmth and humidity, try to always keep the temperatures above 65 F for best growth and leaf size, and a pebble tray or frequent misting can help to keep humidity up around your plants. If you live in a northern climate, be careful not to plant too early in spring as temperatures below 50F will chill and stunt plants, normal indoor temperatures should be fine and winter heaters usually dry things out a bit too much. So this can be a good guide for when to grow this heat tolerant caladium, when you turn the heater off for the summer.

Plant tubers pointed end facing upwards, so the tuber is about 2” below the soil level, the roots form on the top of the tuber , so you need to plant them deep enough that roots have room to grow, but not too deep because it delays new leaves and weakens the plant. If your plants are already growing in pots when you purchase them, plant them about ½” deeper when you transplant them to make sure the tubers have room to keep growing.

Caladiums do not need a lot of fertilizer, about ¼ of what most folks feed their flowering annuals, and too much fertilizer can burn the leaves of this vibrant red caladium plant. So just fertilize with ¼ the strength what you normally do for your flowers and apply weekly or every other week. Keep plants in a sunny to partly sunny location and avoid burning hot southern exposures especially at higher altitudes. Keep soil in your pots moist at all times, so this caladium for containers continues to thrive. Wilting will cause leaves to yellow and drop, so just check to make they do not dry out!

Outdoors: Since Caladiums prefer heat and humidity and do not tolerate cold, soggy soils, for most gardeners who live in the north will have best results growing this sun or shade caladium in containers. Soil in pots or planters warms up faster and drains better, which benefits this heat tolerant caladium. Remember for best growth always keep the temperatures above 65 F. A ¼ - ½ strength fertilizing every week or every other week is fine throughout the season, too strong a fertilizer can burn leaves, and since the leaves last all season you want to keep them looking fresh. Caladiums like to be moist at all times, so avoid allowing them to dry out to keep this colorful red caladium plant looking its best.

Where the Caladiums will do best depends a lot on your location within the US, since sunlight intensity varies depending on where you live. Here’s a quick reference to help guide you to help you succeed.