Marge,
Do caladiums have flowers? I suppose they have to if they have
hybrids. Mine has a mystery growth that looks like it might be a seed pod.
I never saw a flower but then again I wasn't looking for one either. Barb
was kind enough to post a picture at:
If it is a pod, what do I do with it? Are they difficult to grow from seed?
Or is it better to just knock the pod off and let it put it's energy into
bulb growth?
Thanks for your help,
Marcelle
Thanks for the ID George. Yes it helps. Has Miz Anne ever tried germinating
the seeds? Or are they the minuscule type like orchids that need agar,
flasks, labs, etc.?? I'm sorry I missed seeing the flower.
I'm doing fine thanks. Made hundreds of cuttings today for the succulent
wreaths. Well, took the cuttings a few days ago but got them into perlite
and sand today. More concerned about your carotid troubles. Have they set
the appointment for the angio?
I'm going to go out right now and take another look at that caladium.
Marcelle
I'm not Marge but Miz Anne's caladiums bloom each year with a long bloom
spike that turns to seeds. Does that help? How you doing Marcelle?
George
Marcelle wrote:
AFAIK she has just saved them until spring in a paper envelope, inside a
plastic container, in the refrigerator, and then sown in pots. I seem to
remember about a 50% germination rate but YMMV.
George
Marcelle wrote:
Thanks George. I'll have to give them a try and see what happens.
Hey to Miz Anne & Sleepy.
Marcelle
Hey back to you, both are napping on the couch right now and I've been
watching a Biography show on the Queen Mum.
George
Marcelle wrote:
Marcelle,
Glad George piped in as I have never seen one bloom, but know they do
with a typical aroid spath and spadix. The female flowers and male
flowers are on the same spadix (female at the bottom half). The
female flowers are receptive to pollination before the male flowers
produce pollen. This discourages self-pollination, so you need more
than one flower open at the same time to get seed set with viable
seeds.
Most of the aroids I've seen set seed develop a cone of berry looking
items. On some, that is the seed and on others, each 'berry'
contains one or more hard round seeds. Some of them remain green
when ripe and some turn red or orange. I do not know what caladiums
do as I've not seen one and have not run across any descriptions.
Your mystery growth sure looks like a developing seed pod to me -
looks like the remnants of the spath at the top.
I would imagine that if yours sets seed it would be best sown fresh.
I've sown Arisaema and Arum seed both fresh and dried (after soaking
a bit) and had good germination. Have also sown seed from my Calla
lilies and gotten good germination - but sowed that fresh as it
seemed like a good idea at the time:-) If you need to store them,
I'd suggest keeping them at warm temps. rather than in the fridge.
Would also imagine that the seed would need warmth to germinate,
since these are heat loving tropicals.
They are monocots and if they germinate you'll just see a single leaf
the first year as they develop their tubers, which can be pea sized
at first. If typical of other aroids, you'll want to keep the
seedlings growing as long as possible until their first dormancy.
From what I've read, caladiums are not propagated by seed
commercially, but from tissue culture and most publications recommend
removing flowers as they stop leaf growth. Obviously, some had to be
propagated from seed sometime to obtain the different crosses and
clones.
If yours is setting seed, it would be fun to see what happened if you
try to grow it on...you never know what you'll get:-)
Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@hort.net
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> From: Marcelle
> Marge,
> Do caladiums have flowers? I suppose they have to if they
have
> hybrids. Mine has a mystery growth that looks like it might be a
seed pod.
> I never saw a flower but then again I wasn't looking for one
either. Barb
> was kind enough to post a picture at:
m/grow9.
> If it is a pod, what do I do with it? Are they difficult to grow
from seed?
> Or is it better to just knock the pod off and let it put it's
energy into
> Hey back to you, both are napping on the couch right now and I've been
> watching a Biography show on the Queen Mum.
> George
Who's the biography of? Is the picture on the Queen Mum better than on
your TV set? Margaret L
Pbfthbtf!
George
Margaret Lauterbach wrote:
Or how about:
Isn't she getting a little tired of you watching tv while you're on her? (squish!!)
Elizabeth
tiarella@bellsouth.net
Marge, thank you so much! You are a wealth of caladium information.
You'll find me tip toeing through the caladiums so I can see a flower in
bloom now that I know what I'm looking for. As long as the pod bears, yes,
I'll definitely try germinating the seeds.
I don't know why I've never grown them before. They were certainly easy
enough even though I wasn't sure which end was up but I sometimes have that
problem in life as well.
variety I grew, white with green veining, went with everything. They took a
lot more sun than I thought too. Gotta' grow more of these next year.
Marcelle
Marcelle,
This was the first year in a long time that I had a caladium again. Mine
was pink, red, white with a tiny bit of green. I can't recall the name,
but it's in the catalogs. I also liked the white w/green veins one, but
went for the pink. Mine didn't seem to care for the sun at all,
especially when we had all those 90 degree days. Fortunately it was in a
pot, so I moved it on the shady side of the gazebo where it got bright
light but no sun and it perked right back up. After Marge mentioned the
other day that they don't like to be below 65 I brought it in the living
room. We had one night that went down to the high 40's and I noticed
three leaves turned brown/wilted and the cold must have caused that. I
didn't know how cold intolerant they really are. I want to see how long
I can keep it going and I might take it to FL with me and plant it there
even if it does poop out. It was really pretty, and I think I'll get
another one next year. I was surprised that it grew as big as it did.
When I had one years ago I put it in the ground and it didn't do much of
anything. I think the key for me in my situation was putting it in a pot
so I could move it where it did best. Mine doesn't have any seed pod
though, at least not so far. It's in a grapevine pot and looks pretty in
the living room for now.
Karen in Pittsburgh, PA (zone 5b/6)
On Tue, 17 Sep 2002 21:31:42 -0700 Marcelle
writes:
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You're most welcome, Marcelle.
Forgot to mention that the spaths are, I believe, a pale whitish
green...at least from what I've read, so you may need to look hard to
find them. Sort of like Arum italicum, if you grow that, tho' I
think narrower.
The white with green veins is my favorite. I've tried to love some
of the brighter ones, but find this the most satisfying in the long
haul, at least for my garden...also the ones who came back for me the
best:-)
Which end up is a problem with these guys:-)
Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@hort.net
Editor: Gardening in Shade
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Current Article: Wild, Wonderful Aroids: Part One - Elephant Ears -
Caladiums
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> From: Marcelle
> Marge, thank you so much! You are a wealth of caladium information.
> You'll find me tip toeing through the caladiums so I can see a
flower in
> bloom now that I know what I'm looking for. As long as the pod
bears, yes,
> I'll definitely try germinating the seeds.
> I don't know why I've never grown them before. They were certainly
easy
> enough even though I wasn't sure which end was up but I sometimes
have that
> problem in life as well.
The
> variety I grew, white with green veining, went with everything.
They took a
> lot more sun than I thought too. Gotta' grow more of these next
year.
Karen,
I was surprised at how much sun mine handled. I thought for sure
the afternoon sun would crinkle a leaf or two but nada.
Seems like most of us grow them in pots, me because of gophers
although I just found out that all parts of them are poisonous so maybe
gophers won't touch them or even better, maybe they will.
give up a few to do in a couple of gophers. Btw, how many corms did you
plant in what size pot?
Marcelle
Since we're on the topic of caladiums... I've had them for several years
on my front porch in containers but always just tossed them after they
went dormant--just didn't seem like it was worth the trouble since they
are pretty reasonably priced at Wal*Mart, and those tubers have done
just as well as the ones I ordered from a nursery. My next door neighbor
told me a few days ago that she just stores them in her basement in the
pots over the winter and then brings them out in the spring. Thought I'd
try that this year--my basement stays warm enough that I think they'd do
fine. I've got several different varieties, some in shade and some in
partial shade with several hours of full sun and they've all flourished.
Mine are beginning to show signs of going into dormancy, too--had a few
nights with temps in the 50s here. I've never had any bloom before, but
this year every one of them did. Only thing I can figure is that I
faithfully fed them this year whereas in the past it was sporadic at
best ;-)
Marge, should I start withholding water and let them go into dormancy
now?
Thanks,
Barbara A. in Southcentral Virginia, Zone 7b
Karen Barker wrote:
I had one five gallon pot with Caladiums from last year which I purchased
locally, they were a mix of the reds and whites. When the leaves started
dying back, I lifted the tubers tossed them in a pair of nylons and left
them in the internal staircase which gets day light from the skylight. It
stays around 65 degrees there. This spring I started them in pots and they
came back & multiplied.
I also brought back a whole tray of reds and whites from the Orlando Kmart
in March of this year. They were doing great indoors for a couple of months
until the soil outside warmed up. I planted them in ground around a red
hibiscus which I also brought back from Florida at the same time. They were
doing great until July, at the end of July the leaves completely died back,
I actually thought that I lost them to disease or something. At the end of
August, new growth started showing and the Caladiums are back big time.
Although it isn't as hot as it was just about a month ago, they are putting
on a show, the white leaves densely surrounding the red double flowering
Hibiscus is a spectacular combo!
Mariana
Zone 6b, Brooklyn, NYC
See my gardens @ http://photos.yahoo.com/gardengrl911
Mine
Marcelle, I planted 2 in a 12 inch pot. Now it's about 20 inches tall by
about 2 feet wide. Right now it's on the window bench in the LR.
Earlier in the year (May - 1/2 June) the sun didn't seem to bother it but
once we started getting all those 90 degree days it started getting brown
damaged spots on a couple of the big leaves that were getting the full
force of the sun. Once I moved the pot to the east side of the gazebo
under the overhang that didn't happen any more. I had to cut off one
leaf that got the worst of it because it was sort of horizontal at the
top of the plant. Maybe the pink variety I have is more delicate or
something - I dunno. Or it could be that at first (early in summer) the
amount of sun was okay and then later in high summer with the sun being
more straight overhead it was just getting too much sun at that point.
Whatever, I really am pleased with it this time around. I do have three
leaves that have holes in them but IIRC that was from the time we got
hail (the gazebo overhang mostly protected it) and not bugs eating. The
hail really shredded my big-leaved hostas. Do caladiums have any trouble
with bugs, do you know?
Karen in Pittsburgh, PA (zone 5b/6)
On Wed, 18 Sep 2002 08:12:37 -0700 Marcelle
writes:
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You could if your nights are starting to cool and they are starting
to droop; would be better than leaving them out and exposing them to
chill. Just bring the pots in and set them in a corner somewhere
until the foliage dries out (week or so - it gets crispy and just
pulls off); remove it and stack the pots in a spot that stays about
70F and forget about them until spring.
You are south of me, but maybe at a higher elevation? I will be
doing the bring em in/take em' out dance for the rest of this month
at least - as long as day temps stay above 65F and if yours are still
in decent shape and you want to muck around with that, you can do the
dance too. If you don't want to mess with it, just bring them in and
let them go dormant. Drying out brings on dormancy.
Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@hort.net
Editor: Gardening in Shade
-----------------------------------------------
Current Article: Wild, Wonderful Aroids: Part One - Elephant Ears -
Caladiums
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------------------------------------------------
Complete Index of Articles by Category and Date
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------------------------------------------------
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----------
> From: Barbara Anders
> Mine are beginning to show signs of going into dormancy, too--had a
few
> nights with temps in the 50s here. I've never had any bloom before,
but
> this year every one of them did. Only thing I can figure is that I
> faithfully fed them this year whereas in the past it was sporadic
at
> best ;-)
> Marge, should I start withholding water and let them go into
dormancy
Thanks, Marge, that's what I'll do.
Barbara A. in Southcentral Virginia, Zone 7b
Marge Talt wrote:
If you don't want to mess with it, just bring them in and
