AZALEA GARDENS, SEEKING, FLA. 
11 
CALADIUM CULTURE 
The following applies to pot culture; for ground beds or window 
boxes the procedure may be the same, or better, turn the plants out 
oi pots and place in beds or window boxes. 
Caladiums will not make beautifully colored leaves if placed in a 
poor soil. They are of easy culture, and many failures are due to 
some wornout soil. Many soils used in the northern states seem to 
have a large percentage of clay. This is undesirable for Caladiums — 
they should be given as much humus as possible, in the form of peat, 
or cow manure, the latter preferred. No plant repays a right start 
as much as do^s the Fancy Leaved Caladium. Get your soil mixture 
as near to the following as possible: 1 gallon well rotted dairy manure 
or woods mold (leaf mold), 1 gallon good garden soil or rich loam; 
Mj gallon peat moss, and V 2 gahon clean sand. Be sure the material 
is free from highly concentrated chemical fertilizers. Use organic 
fertilizer, if desired in the potting soil, such as castor pomace, antu 
blood, tankage, cottonseed meal, eui. A four inch pot full of such 
organic fertilizer added to 3 gallons of above soil mixture will work 
wonders in giving Caladiums a vigorous growth, color and plenty of 
foliage. A soil having an alkaline reaction must never be used for 
Caladiums. 
Store Caladiums in a temperature of not less than 50 degrees un¬ 
til you wish to plant. Start them as early a s you wish. Do no 
pot the bulbs. Use a pot in proportion to the size of the bulb, and shift 
when the pots become full of roots. Keep the plants growing, and see 
the difference. Several bulbs may be placed in a 6 inch pot for color 
effect in different varieties, or for specimen plants of one variety. 
Most important is watering. Water sparingly until the leaves be¬ 
gin to develop, then increase the supply gradually as the plant comes 
into full growth, after which the pots must never be allowed to reach 
a stage of even slightly dry on top of the soil. 
Heat will be found very beneficial in starting the bulbs into 
growth, but do not place the pots too close to the pipes. 
In case any bulbs are left over after the growing season, gradual¬ 
ly decrease watering as the foliage shows sign s of yellowing. When 
the leaves have died off, turn the pots on their sides under a bench 
where the temperature does not get below 50 degrees, and WATER 
the pots, filling them full, every 21 days during the rest period. This 
has been found a very good method of preserving the life of the bulb 
in northern greenhouses in winter, which has always been a problem. 
