Starting caladiums, help!

I bought a cheap-but-good pkg of a dozen caladium tubers for $8.97, all in good shape, but they seem to be very slow to start. I put them in moist ProMix and am keeping them around 70F. No sprouts, and some are rotting. I couldn't figure which way was up so I put them in sideways. They're not like most tubers where you can easily tell (begonias, dahlias, bulbs). Is my soilless mix too damp? Do they need more or less temperature?

Today I bought a second pkg to try again. HELP!

They do like to be very warm before they will come up. You don't need to water them to death after the initial watering. If you look at them very close, you should see the tiniest little pink nipple on one side or the other and possibly small roots that are very thin or even hairy looking. Usually you can peel back the papery covering just a tad and see the small pink nub on the top.

I took a pic of mine but still in their packet (reference), there's 3 in this. The one you can see clearly on the right has a cut off stem at the top, with ball shaped tubers all around. They have rounded bottoms with old roots over most of it.

The temperature (70-75F or 21-24C) is OK. I'm not sure about the "sideways" part(?) You can tell the top from the bottom by looking at the shape of the tuber. The bottom will be rounded, the top will be flat or concave. The bottom may have old roots or scars where the roots were attached and the top should have a few little "eyes" or knobs where the new growth will form. If you're familiar with callas/zantedeschia, the appearance is (somewhat) similar. Keep them moist but not soggy.

How long should it take form them to start coming up and developing tubers once planted?

It will take a couple of weeks for them to show up. If they are like other bulbs. Water once and forget them and they will come up. Fran

Mine took forever!! I thought they were lost and then they finally came up. I orderd 50 of them from Caladium World.
Large. They do like it warm. But Oh! are they so Nice whem u have a bunch!

Thanks for the advice and encouragement. I'll be patient...

Andy, I was just going to post your same question when I found this thread. Great! Just out of curiosity, where did you get you caladiums?

Steve

Hey,
I planted caladiums about 7 weeks ago and they are just now poking through. I had them in the shade on the patio, but have since moved them to where they get some warm sun part of the day. They are slow growing. I did sprinkle a high phosphorus fertilizer (High middle number) on top of the soil just before placing each tuber on the soil. Then I covered them over and watered lightly. I been keeping the soil moderately most, not allowing it to dry out inbetween. I think I'm going to have a good crop. They're all coming out at the same time, in 8 different pots.

Once they're out, I'm putting them in a window box on the east facing patio where it's shady, but bright. I'm into container gardening on my patio.

I bought mine at Sam's Club. 30 tubers per box, $14.88.

Steve, mine came from WalMart. They had pkgs of bulbs for $8.97, 10 Caladiums, or 12 lilies, 20 glads, 6 dahlias, etc. They were gone in 2 wks.

Andy, thats where I got mine too. I'm hoping to get them planted today so I can see some growth in May hopefully...

Steve

Last year mine took 6-8 weeks to sprout, but I had trouble keeping the soil temp high enough. This year I have them starting in another room and they've been sprouting fast. After I first pot them I give them very little water till I start seeing growth. Sounds like you'll be seeing sprouts soon. Good luck, Neal.