When will I see sprouts of caladiums, etc.? Too much water?

I just spent over $2K on flowerbeds, irrigation system, and plants, mostly bulbs. My daylilies are growing, hostas and hibiscus are sprouting up... when should I see my caladiums, begonias, and dalias. They've been in the ground about 3 weeks and there is no sign of them.

Also, should I water every day? I got some advice that we may be over-watering although we just put the sprinklers on for 10 minutes every evening. All the other plants (rose, camelia, aloe vera, hydrangea, lilies) seem to be doing well except for the lavender which is hard to grow here. I thought that new plants needed a lot of water until they got rooted.

Thanks in advance.

Caladiums don't come up till august for me.Your climate is quite different I'm sure.As a whole most perennials need 1" of water a week.You can place a container in the garden to collect water.This will give you some idea how much you are watering.Begonias and dahalias should be coming up,I would think.Edge

I started my caladiums inside and it took about that(3 wks) for them to sprout. Did you cover them with only about 1 1/2-2" of soil?

My caladiums started indoors take even longer than that. Don't know the exact time- but usually around 6 weeks for me.
I'm not really sure about begonias. There are so many different kinds but I think I remember reading somewhere that the bulbs can rot fairly easily.
Watering for 10 minutes every evening may be doing more harm than good. Watering for short periods every day encourages root developement toward the surface of the soil. Ideally you want to encourage them to root deeply especially in the heat of summer. Water less often but more thoroughly. Another problem- watering in the evening. Wet leaves throughout the night can encourage fungal/bacteria diseases, it provides ideal conditions. It is much better to water early in the day; it allows the leaves to dry out by nightfall. Be careful of watering in the hot, afternoon sun though as this can cause leaf burn.

Yes, they were just 1.5" deep or so, but I think he planted them pointy side up. I'll try to be patient! Lol. Thanks for the info. Didn't know about watering at night. Can't wait to share pics.

My caladiums are doing really good. I have them in the sun. I give them fertilizer.

Aren't they going to get fried in your TX sun???

I had forgotten about my poor little caladium bulb I dug up last fall until I got to the bottom of my seed bin and found it. (I keep those little silicone packets in with my seeds to keep them dry.) I thought it was a lost cause because last year in July it just dropped all its leaves after they went brown and I just knew I had killed it. But I dug it up anyways and chunked it in with the seeds. I figured I had nothing to lose so I put it in a little pot of potting soil with some worm castings on top. Three weeks later still nothing so I figured that's it, I killed it. So I figured, why waste a pot of potting soil with worm castings? I'll just put some Rose of Sharon seedlings in it since I had too many in another pot. The seedlings were doing great and then a couple days ago my husband said "Honey, you have something growing up between the seedlings and that's not Rose of Sharon. You guessed it, it was the caladium. And not just one sprout but THREE!!! Yayyyy!! So don't fear, your caladiums still have a chance. I definately wouldn't have them in the sun in Texas though behillman, that's what made mine go dormant last year, besides the fact I let them get too dry. So I'll keep a closer eye on them this year.

I'm actually in LA not Texas and they do beautifully here Great news... I saw a sprout today! Thanks for the help. It was so nice of y'all!

I was asking behillman who said theirs was planted in the sun.

Here's the ones I just planted out on Friday, I started them inside the week of May 16th

My apologies, flowerjen. I didn't follow the TX thing. Yours are really beautiful. Love the color variation.

That one is Miss Muffet

I live in hot humid East Texas and although my caladiums are planted under the porch eave, I see people's yards where their caladiums are planted in all day sun. Somehow they look great! If I tried that they would fry.

Another I have seen planted in full all day sun is Gerber daisies and I have to put mine where there is afternoon shade or else they quickly die from overexposure. I guess some people have a special trick!

Here I am in Texas, & my caladiums are doing just fine. I have them in pots, but they are in the shade, with afternoon sun of about an hour. So being under the trees, are fine for mine. When I mentioned they were in the sun, I forgot to say, for only an hour.

Oh LOL I knew they couldn't have been in full sun

Maybe I should move my Coleus in the sun. They are not doing so well in; the shade.

Morning sun is ok for coleus

This message was edited Jun 15, 2010 7:15 PM

They're here

#2

#3

Nice!

Y'all should see them now. I'm in love! I got 50 more bulbs and there just beginning to sprout. I love this addictive pastime!

Tathib,
the colors are gorgeous!!! I used to plant caladiums but I lost all of them. Somehow they do not overwinter in my zone.

Regarding irrigation system, we have one and it is 7 zones with 8 faucets all over the yard. although the irrigation system is very efficient it does not cover every plant in the yard that is why DH had all the faucets added. it is the best thing to make my life easier so I can do other things rather than a slave of my gardening passion!! LOL!!

It is set to come on MWF early in the morning and takes 2 hours for the whole cycle.We were advised not to water in the evenings because of fungus growth, apparently the fungus develops at night.We have had this for over 10 and gets maintained by the same Co that installed it. I wished it costs what you had spent so I had more $$ for plants. LOL!!!
Happy gardening!!! Belle

This message was edited Jul 9, 2010 3:07 AM

Check em out now. I wanted to share an album on Photobucket with you!
http://photobucket.com/albums/mm34/tathib/gardening/July 8 2010


Sent from my iPad

That link comes up "page not found".

http://s292.photobucket.com/albums/mm34/tathib/gardening/July%208%202010/

Other side of the house by the rose tree

Just

one

more... lol

Here are all of my July pictures... http://s292.photobucket.com/albums/mm34/tathib/gardening/July%208%202010/

tatjib, you should be proud of your caladiums. Do yours get any sun? Mine are in the sun most of the day, & they are beautiful also. I have some others planted under the trees and they are not doing so well.

I actually have them both places. The photos woth the rose tree get almost full sun. Most of mine are planted under a big oak tree with lots of shade and they're doing equally well. I always thought caladiums liked shade.

I did sprinkle some Osmocote on them which I think may have contributed to their growth spurt. Where did you get the bulbs. I ordered 18 from American meadows and a huge mixed box from caladiums4less.com or something like that. The latter is rated really high on this sight and I was pleased with both.

Give them some time and maybe try a different grower next year. I'm no expert, but am very pleased.

Update on caladiums

A second view

Very, very nice!

Thank you.

Tathib ~ your caladiums filled in beautifully. I'm definitely going to plant some next year. Thanks for the inspiration!