Caladium question?

I've can't seem to find the answers on the net, so I came the smartest people on earth - DGers

Do they need a dormant period? Has any one grown them all summer to bring them inside to grow all winter?

I believe they need a dromant period. But heck, bring them in in the fall, place in a bright window and see what happens!

Tom

gg

Caladiums will grow all year long if the temperatures stay warm enough. There's two things that'll make a caladium go dormant. The first and most common is of course temperature. The plants will naturally begin to go dormant when the night time temps start cooling down. The second is moisture. Down in South America where these plants originally came from, the plants will go dormant during the dry season.

The Thai Beauty I planted last year hasn't gone dormant yet. It starting getting a little raggedy looking back in Jan.(It had one maybe 2 leaves) I would bring it into my climate controlled warehouse at night where it would stay nice and toasty and put it out during the day if it was warm enough. The thing started growing again around the end of March and right now it looks absolutely beautiful. It almost looks fake.

To sum it up, Yes, Caladiums can grow year round. I don't know what they'll look like though. After awhile I would guess they'd start getting a little straggely looking though. Maybe I'll try to see how long I can keep one looking nice this year.

Bill

Thank you! My office has a east wall of windows 7-10ft tall by 16-20ft long with a lwindow sill. Going to try keep them going this winter! Might be fun might be a nightmare, will see.