Few plants beat the color Of The Caladium foliage! They come in an awesome color palette and offer a wonderful splash of color, whether you are planning them for indoor or outdoor use. Planting caladium bulbs can be a little difficult, so read on to learn all about how to plant them, how to know which end is ready, when to plant, and much more.
Bicolor caladium (sometimes known as Caladium botulinum) is native to parts of Central America and much of South America, including Brazil.
PLANTING Caladium BULBS
How do you know which side is in place?
Sometimes it can be difficult to tell which site is in place, but I will give you some tips on how to say it. Usually, the bulbs will have a smoother bottom, and the top will have a lot of bumps or buds.
Many times you can already see how the onion begins to germinate, so it’s easy to say that this is the tip of the onion. Here is the high-end:
The tip of a caladium
You can see in the photo above, the eye begins to germinate, so it would be the end that is on top when you plant it in the ground.
Let’s take a look at another example below. In this caladium onion, you can clearly see the sprout, and this onion was painted white by the breeder, so you know that this end goes up.
A proven Caladium Corm that has been painted white to let you know that this finish is on the rise.
Proven Winners has an awesome selection of caladiums, and they paint the top end of the bulbs white, so it’s very easy to know which end goes up!
It eliminates any guesswork!
If you accidentally tip them over, they will probably still grow, but it will take much longer to rise again.
The caladium bulbs came too early. How to save up to the time of planting?
If you’re not ready to plant yet (or if it’s still too cold to plant), make sure your bulbs come out of every box they’re in and leave them in a well-ventilated place that stays above 65°F.
When are caladium bulbs planted?
Regardless of which area you are in, caladium bulbs should be planted for best results if the air temperature is at least 15.6°C (60°f) and the soil temperature is at least 18°C (65°f).
Do you need to soak the caladium bulbs before planting?
Although this is not necessary, you can soak your bulbs in hot water for about an hour before planting. It would be beneficial if your onions are too dry.
At what depth are caladium bulbs planted?
Plant your bulbs so that the top of the bulbs is buried about 1.5 to 2 inches below the soil surface.
How to plant caladium bulbs
Start inside
This is my process to start the caladium bulbs indoors. I love giving them a head start indoors and then planting them outside in hot weather, either in larger pots or directly into the ground.
You can also start them in this way and use them as indoor plants.
Planting in small pots
I started by planting each bulb in a 4-inch square pot. You can put several bulbs in a larger pot, but I prefer to give each a separate pot so that I have more flexibility to plant them outdoors, and I can decide how I want to show them in combined planters or just plant them in the ground.
I put general-purpose soil on the bottom of the pot, put the onion (from top to top, as I described above), and then covered about 1.5-2 inches of soil.
Make sure the top of your onion is covered with about 1.5 to 2 inches of soil.
Water in
Then I put my pots in the sink and gave them a good watering.
All my pots are planted, watered and labeled. You are ready to go!
The next step is very important if you really want to accelerate the speed at which your caladium bulbs grow.
It is not 100% necessary, but it will speed things up!
Laying on a propagation mat
Simply place your pot directly on a heating mat. This increases the soil temperature and allows your caladiums to germinate much earlier than they would have otherwise.
If you are not in a hurry, you can skip this step, but once you start using a heating mat, you will probably never come back.
And if you live in an area with a short growing season like mine, this is very valuable.
