Distinctive features, agricultural techniques for growing caladium, the reproduction process, difficulties and ways to overcome them at home, interesting facts, types. Caladium (Caladium) is part of the extensive Aroceae family, or as it is also called the Aronnikovs. It has united in itself more than 3000 species of monocotyledonous plants, which are assigned to 117 genera. This genus consists of only 16 representatives of the flora. The homeland of these tropical examples of the green world of the planet can be considered the forests, which are located in the lands of Central and South America.
Caladium got its name due to the fact that in the native tribes the population considered it "a plant with edible roots", and the shape of its leafy ones reminded them of the ears of an elephant, for which the plant was often called "elephant ears". More romantic terminology was used by other peoples - you can often hear how this brightly colored exotic bush is called "Christ's heart" or "Angel's wings". All this is because the outlines of the leaf plates are heart-shaped and there is a red color scheme in the shades of the foliage. Lovers of this plant call the leaves "papery" because their surface is thin and exquisitely colored.
Caladium is a perennial. Its roots have a tuberous shape, and resemble dark brown cones. Over time, their outlines become turnip, and their diameter does not exceed 10 cm. In the very center of this tuberous formation there is a powerful base of the bush, and sleeping buds are comfortably located on the sides. Root processes, which originate from the root collar, have a fibrous and strong appearance. When caladium is grown as an indoor crop, then with the arrival of a dormant period, after the end of the growing season, the root processes completely die off and the plant goes to sleep.
Stems in the "angel's wings" are absent, and brightly colored leaf plates begin to grow directly from the buds located on the surface of the tubers. The leaves are crowned with elongated petioles. From such leaf plates, leaf rosettes resembling bushes are formed, which can be close to 30 cm in diameter. However, when grown indoors, such leaf rosettes often vary in height from 30 cm to 1.5 meters. Growing in natural conditions, caladium forms thick and dense clumps with its leaves.
The shape of the leaves is heart-shaped at the base or it can take an arrow-shaped shape. The length of the leaf can be measured in the range of 20–45 cm with a width of up to 5–10 cm. Its surface is thin and leathery. The color of the leaf is the most diverse and quite decorative, it includes both green and whitish, and deep red shades. But on the surface there is always a pattern of contrasting veins that are clearly visible on the sheet. When the caladium acquires two pairs of leaves, then you can wait for the formation of flowers on the bush.
Compared to the color and shape of the leaves, the flowers of Christ's Heart are completely unattractive. They are a modest-looking inflorescence that rises in the form of a white cob. It is covered with a sheet-blanket, painted in a whitish or greenish tone. In the inflorescence there are male and female flowers. Usually the male buds are on top, and the pollen falls on the female flowers when ripe, thus the self-pollination process takes place. Such an inflorescence lasts on the plant for only a few days. After the process of pollination of the flowers has passed, then after two months the fruits will ripen in the form of rounded berries.
When grown indoors, Caladium can delight its owners for two to three years.
Caladium care recommendations
- Lighting for the plant should be bright, but without direct sunlight. This can be provided on the east or west windows.
- Temperature content should be maintained year-round in the range of 18-25 degrees. The plant is afraid of drafts.
- Air humidity it is necessary that it be 70%, but spraying is not carried out, since all the beauty of the foliage will deteriorate. Water is sprayed next to the bush or vessels with water are placed near the pot.
- Watering. Once foliage appears, the potted caladium soil is moistened abundantly as it dries from above. When growth is inactive, then watered with one glass of water per week, and in the summer up to 0.5 liters of liquid per day, which are divided into morning and evening. The water is only soft and warm.
- Landing tubers should occur after a dormant period - in February or March, using new soil. A new container for transplanting is selected taking into account the size of the tuber - if its diameter is within 1-3 cm, a pot with a diameter of 9-12 cm is taken, and if its indicators vary from 4 to 6 cm, then the container should have a diameter of 17-19 cm The soil is selected nutritious with neutral acidity, good moisture and air permeability. You can compose it yourself from leafy soil, humus soil, peat and coarse sand, maintaining the proportions of 1: 1: 1: 0, 5. The bush of "elephant ears" also feels good in a heather substrate or pine bark mulch with a greenhouse substrate. Also, flower growers often grow this plant in one peat. If there are small nodules, then they can be placed in several pieces in one container, which will be free enough for their future growth. Each tuber is planted with a pinkish bud upward. If there is a desire to acquire a large number of baby nodules by the arrival of autumn, then the parent tuber is not deeply buried in the soil. But when the owner needs to get a lush and beautiful bush, the tuber is dug into the substrate to a depth of 5–10 cm. This will help awaken all dormant buds on its surface, which will become a source of new leaves. It is important that before the first leaf plates appear, soil moisture should be minimal, and as soon as foliage is formed, it is watered as usual.
- Fertilizers for "angel wings" they are introduced as soon as the activation of the growth of caladium begins. Regularity - weekly with the use of complex mineral feeding. In winter, the plant does not need to be fertilized. In March-April, it is necessary to use liquid preparations intended for decorative leafy indoor plants once every 7 days, you can also fertilize the leaf by spraying the preparation. From the middle of summer, the frequency and amount of fertilizers should gradually decrease, and with the arrival of August, watering also decreases.
- Dormant period Caladium has a mandatory time of rest and it falls in our strip in the autumn-winter months. By September, it is recommended to gradually reduce the volume and frequency of watering, so that the plant begins to prepare for "sleep". When the tubers are dry, they need to be removed from the soil, carefully cleaned off the remaining soil and dried out root shoots. Then, the tubers are examined for damage, putrefactive processes or any diseases. All damaged nodule tissues should be removed and the sections should be treated with a fungicidal preparation. Then leave to dry and only then sprinkle with crushed activated charcoal or charcoal. Prepared tubers are placed in dry moss or vermiculite, and kept at room temperature until a growing bud appears at the top. This period falls in the months of January and February. Then you should plant the tuber in a pot with prepared drainage and substrate.
How to propagate Caladium at home?
To obtain a brightly colored plant of "angel wings", sowing of seed material and vegetative propagation is carried out by dividing the tuber.
Seeds must be sown in the spring months in a bowl with a moistened sandy-peat or peat-leaf substrate. No more than ten seeds are placed in one pot. Then you need to cover the container with plastic wrap or glass and put it in a warm and bright place, but without direct sunlight. The germination rate of seed is 50:50. It is necessary to regularly air the seedlings and if the soil is dry, then it is moistened with a spray bottle. After 2-3 weeks, the first sprouts hatch. They remove the shelter and continue to care for the steams (water it as soon as the soil dries up). However, it should be remembered that with this method of reproduction, the resulting young caladiums may experience a change in the color of the foliage, that is, the loss of parental traits.
To preserve the features of the parent plant, it is recommended to divide the tuber or plant the daughter nodules, which eventually form with the tuber of an adult specimen of "angel wings". The tuber must germinate a little so that the growth points are clearly visible. When dividing, it is important to use a well-sharpened and disinfected knife and it is necessary that each of the dividing sections has at least one of the revival buds. Sections must be thoroughly powdered with charcoal or activated charcoal crushed into powder and allowed to dry in the open air before planting. This will be a guarantee of disinfection so that putrefactive processes do not start.
Then each of the divisions is planted in a separate pot with drainage at the bottom and filled with suitable soil. Watering is not recommended after planting.
It is important to remember that caladium during the growing season cannot be transplanted and multiplied, otherwise it threatens the loss of the plant.
Difficulties in cultivating caladium
Of the pests that can infect caladium, aphids, spider mites, and mealybugs are isolated. When the following symptoms appear, you should be vigilant when walking:
- the formation of a cobweb on leaf plates and petioles, punctures along the edge of the leaf, the formation of deformed young leaves, yellowing and wilting;
- the presence of black or greenish bugs covering the leaves and petioles;
- the appearance of a whitish cotton-like lump on the back of the leaves and between the petioles, as well as the covering of the surface of the leaves with a sugary, sticky bloom, which can degenerate into a sooty fungus if timely measures are not taken.
You will need to wash the caladium bush under warm shower jets, and then treat the leaves with oil, soap or alcohol solutions that will help remove harmful insects. If non-chemical agents do not give a positive result, then you will have to spray with insecticidal preparations, for example, Aktara or Aktellik. But before processing, it is recommended to cover the soil in the flowerpot with plastic wrap.
If the substrate is often flooded, then rotting of the root system of the "angel's wings" may begin. Most often this occurs in the first months after planting the tuber, before the leaf plates have appeared. In the case when, after 1–1, 5 months from the transplant of the tuber, the plant still does not grow leaves, then it is necessary to dig out the tuber and check it for the presence of putrefactive processes. A sign of health is the pale yellow color under the skin.
If the conditions of detention are violated, then the following problems arising with the caladium can be distinguished:
- drops of water falling on the leaf plates of the "elephant ears" plant cause their decay;
- more often the bush begins to wither and look bad with low air humidity and the presence of drafts;
- if the leaves of the "angel's wings" began to fall off, then most likely your plant is preparing to go into dormancy.
Interesting facts about Caladium
This specimen of nature does not differ in any medicinal properties, but on the territory of its natural growth in the Indian tribes of the Amazon, the local population is able to extract the starch contained in the tubers of some varieties of caladium.
Types of Caladium
Caladium Humboldtii can be found under the name Caladium Myriostigma or Caladium Argyntes. The native territories of growth are in Brazilian lands. It has multiple leaves of arrow-shaped or arrow-oval outlines, which reach 10 cm in length and up to 5 cm in width. The color of their surface is dark green with a pattern of silvery specks. The flowering process takes place from early to mid-spring.
Caladium bicolor may also be referred to in literature as Arum bicolor. It is a native of the Antilles and the highlands of Brazil. The leaf plates also differ in arrow contours or oval-arrow-shaped shapes. The dimensions of the leaf are quite large, in length it can reach 30 cm with a width not exceeding 15 cm. The color is quite interesting, since it changes from greenish to red. On the surface there is a spotting of the most various shades and shapes. Flowering begins in February and lasts until the end of March.
Caladium achomburgkii is native to Brazil and Guiana. In this variety, oval-shaped leaf plates are weakly cordate at the base, can reach 12–15 cm in length when measuring 7–12 cm in width. On the reddish surface of the leaf, there are areas with a silvery tint located between the veins. The reverse side of the leaf plate is less bright. Various forms with veins, painted in a variety of shades, have been bred:
- Sea gull it is distinguished by a greenish color of the leaf, along which there is a pattern of whitish veins;
- Rosalie has sheet plates with a red color of the surface, and a wide green stripe runs along the edge;
- Pink blush - in this variety, the surface is dark pink or dark red, and the edge has a green rim;
- Pink beauty the leaves of this plant have veins painted in a red tone, the central part is pinkish, and the border is green;
- Carolyn whorton it has a foliage color similar to the previous variety, but there are fewer greenish spots on its surface and more pinkish color predominates;
- John Pul the entire surface of the leaves is painted in a red-green palette;
- Pink cloud the leaf plates of this caladium are distinguished by a reddish-green tone, but there is a beautiful transition from a red-scarlet central part and a pattern of snow-white veins to a border of pinkish-green color;
- Florida Cardinal a rather decorative variety with leaf plates, the central part of which is distinguished by a raspberry color scheme and the same veins on the surface, along the edge there is a wide green stripe;
- Scarlet pimpernel has a leaf in which veins and a central part are highlighted in a rich blood-red tone, which in turn surrounds a light green area;
- White christmas the entire surface of the foliage of this variety is painted in a whitish shade, but there is a very spectacular pattern of dark green veins, there are also species on the surface of which a spot of dark green color is scattered, which is concentrated at the edge or is absent.
More about Caladium in the following video:
