How to keep Caladiums or start them early?

I bought caladiums at Wal-Mart 2 weeks ago and they are still in their bags, stored in a cabinet in my bedroom.

I was itching to plant, but understand I should wait for the early spring rains to let up a bit and the ground to get warm - not just no longer freezing. So, it is probably going to be another 6 weeks at least before I can put them in the ground.

I'm worried about leaving them in those green bags, in a cabinet. Should I put 'em in a pot? Can I get them to leaf out earlier by doing so?

Same question in Virginia. I bought mine today at HD.

Well, I bought some in those green bags too. I took them out and soaked the roots in water for an hour then potted them up. Man oh man were they eager to green up! I have them in my sunroom and they are really taking off.

My bad ☻, it was hostas I bought last week in those green bags. But had it been caladiums, I would have done the same thing...soak in water for less than an hour and then go ahead and put them in pots. Since it's close to spring I just wanted to wake them up.
Deborah♥

I believe they need some bottom heat to get going. I think if you are planting them in the garden, the soil temp has to be about 70 degrees. You could start them early in pots, just put them on a heat mat.

I'm gonna start mine this week.. I just pot them up and place in front of my sliding glass doors, lots of light.. I do them this way each year.. They do fine until the ground warms up outside.I use no heat source other that the sunlight and the room temp, which we keep pretty cool.



Larkie

I suspect the sun exposure heats up the soil in your pots fine down in your neck of the woods. Up here, we would need to supplement the heat. It would probably also depend on the orientation to the sun.

Its times like this that I miss Savannah, GA, where I lived for four years. Of course, I don't miss the constant gnats - the real reason why I left!

I think hostas could be started in the same way, I potted up some caladiums last week but I didn't think to soak them -I have them inside in a sunny window, but no sign of life yet.

LarissaH,

I was flipping through one of my many catalogues today and found an answer. I am attaching a hyperlink to the Brent and Becky's Bulbs website. According to them the caladiums should be potted right away.

I spoke with a representative there today about liatris and torch lilies. Not only was she pleasant, but full of information - even though I told her up front that I wasn't ready to place an order. I needed more information first to make my decision. Unfortunately, I didn't see this information until just now.

http://www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com/summer/productview/index.php?sku=60-10

Attaching another link. This one is from the container forum. They discussed taking out the dominant "eye" of the caladium to produce more leaves. If you haven't already potted your bulbs, you might want to consider this info.

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/692583/