Heart to Heart^® 'Bold 'N Beautiful' Sun and Shade Caladium Caladium hortulanum

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

Indoors:

Bold N Beautiful 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 the Caladiums, especially when grown as caladium in containers. 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, making containers ideal for sun and shade caladiums. So this can be a good guide for when to grow these Caladiums, 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, whether used as caladium for landscapes or caladium in containers. Too much fertilizer can burn the leaves, especially the white portions of the leaf. 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, wilting will cause leaves to yellow and drop, so just check to make they do not dry out!

Outdoors:

Keep plants in a sunny to partly sunny location and avoid burning hot southern exposures especially at higher altitudes, a common recommendation for sun and shade caladiums. Keep soil in your pots moist at all times, wilting will cause leaves to yellow and drop, so just check to make sure 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 caladiums in containers, as the soil in pots or planters warms up faster and has better drainage so plants will not become soggy. 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 for both caladium for landscapes and containers; 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 as it also causes leaves to yellow and drop.

Where the Bold N Beautiful Caladiums will do best depends a lot on your location within the US, since sunlight intensity varies depending on where you live, especially when selecting placement for sun and shade caladiums. Here's a quick reference to help guide you to help you succeed.