After 6 - 8 month of growing when summer terminate , your colorful caladium will get to look tired , stringy and bedraggled . When leafage begins to perish back , they ’re quick for a short sleep . But if their bulbs are stack away decently , they ’ll wintertime just fine and you could replant them next class . Lift your bulb before the first call Robert Lee Frost from August to October , depending upon your emplacement . caladium ca n’t support freezing .
Step 1
issue the caladium ’s browning foliation back to about 6 inches tall . You ’ll use that counterfoil as a hold when take away the bulb from the primer . It ’s also a effective idea to depart enough foliage intact so that you ’ll be able-bodied to key out its variety after labor , if necessary .
Step 2
dig the stub in one hand and drive a trowel vertically into the grime several inch away . go digging a circle around the bulb , scooting the trowel blade underneath it . Gently tug on the bulb as you undo the soil around it . you may slip a manus under it to avail draw it upwardly . Take tending not to chip or cut the medulla with the trowel , since damage can make the bulb to rot during storage .
Step 3
Use your fingers to scratch around in the hole a second . You may find some small bulbs that have developed from the mother plant but have become dislodged . These are as viable as any remaining on the mother bulb .
Step 4
Spread the caladium bulb out in a cool , ironic localization and allow them to dry out for about a hebdomad . Do n’t remove the soil from them until they ’re through dry .
Step 5
Brush dry soil from the bulbs and cut or pull any remaining foliage off . analyse them for augury of rot or damage , and discard any that are n’t perfect . you could carve up them with a sharp tongue at this point , if desired . Any incandescent lamp that you issue will require an additional 2 - 3 daylight dry time for the wounds to heal . Also , keep in mind that 2d year plants will probably be small than they were this year . So most gardener prefer to leave alone fresh tubers on the original for the sake of producing more abundant displays on each plant next year .
Step 6
debris caladium lightbulb with powdered fungicide , if desire . Layer a cardboard box seat 3 - 4 inches deep with Vermiculite or dry peat moss . Arrange the bulbs on the surface so that they are n’t touching each other . Add another 3 - 4 inch deep layer of substrate . you may continue to add layers of bulbs and spiritualist as desired . salt away the caladium in a well ventilated domain which does n’t drop below 50 degree F until you ’re ready to set them back outdoors in early May .
