Caladium care: Grow your own tuber at home!

Are you up for a little PLNTSparent challenge? Grow your own Caladium tuber at home! The Caladium are plants with big heart shaped leaves and colourful foliage.There is a big variety of colours and patterns to choose from, so for every PLNTSparent there is a Caladium that suits! Caladium are seasonal growers, no matter in what conditions the Caladium is held in. This gives you an opportunity to regrow your Caladium every year! Let’s get into Caladium care. :)

Make her nice and comfortable

You Caladium tuber is super excited to have found her new plant parent and would love to be spoiled with a comfortable pot. She prefers a pot with holes in the bottom, like a nursery pot or terracotta pot. If you prefer an ornamental pot, you can always use this as your outer pot. You can fill up the bottom of your pot with a mix of 60% soil, 20% perlite, 10% french bark and 10% sphagnum moss. These substrates combine all the qualities for soil that your Caladium will be most comfortable in. You can place the tuber 3-5 centimeters deep in the soil with the bud facing upwards. Cover her with a thin layer of soil and now she is ready to grow!

Water that baby up

Once you have planted your tuber, you can water her thoroughly. She likes to have slightly moist soil at all times, but the soil should not be soggy. Always make sure that you drain the excess water from the pot. She would also love a humid environment of at least 50%. You can either place her on top of a pebble tray to increase the humidity or provide her with her personal humidifier. To help you maintain the soil's moistness, you can either place a Tessa water meter next to your Caldium or use the Naomi plant sensor.

Placement

Your Caladium would love to grow in bright indirect light, near to a North or East-facing window would be perfect. She can also tolerate some direct morning sun. Just keep an eye on her striking foliage in summer, you wouldn’t want this beauty to get sunburned. Caladiums do not like to be grown in low temperatures, the minimum is 18 degrees. If you keep her inside a temperature of 21 degrees, your Caladium will grow the best and will be super grateful for this cozy environment!

Care and patience

It can take about 3-6 weeks before the first growth appears of your Caladium. To make sure your Caladium has all the energy that she needs to grow for you, you can provide her with some PLNTS nutrition. Add a part to your water every two weeks during spring and summer.

When should I plant my Caladium?

The best planting time is in the beginning of spring. She will grow until fall and peaks in summer. Once her foliage starts to die, she is preparing herself for dormancy. Let this process happen until there are no leaves left. Once this has occurred you can get the tuber out of the pot and store her in a dry space, like in dry sand. You don’t have to provide her with anything during this time period. Once spring is on your doorstep you can replant her!

This is everything you need to know to grow your own Caladium! We would love to see the growth of your colourful Caladiums on Instagram. When you tag us with the hashtag #PLNTS we can witness their beautiful journey! If you have any questions about this topic, or any other topic you can send us a private message on Instagram.