Technique: Caladium de-eying and propagation

Caladium provides wonderful color in the shade, and contrary to many other shade plants, they perform best when the temperatures are really hot.

Caladium can be bought at stores in early spring, or online directly from the growers, which is my preferred way of obtaining them. The growers usually sell larger tuber than what is available in stores, and since they are shipped fresh, the tubers are usually more plumb with clearly visible growing eyes. This year, however, supply may be short due to the hurricanes in Florida late last year.

Producing more leaves

Irrespective where you buy the tubers, you can create much nicer plants by a process called de-eying. De-eying involves scooping out the dominant growing point (eye) which will cause the surrounding dormant eyes to elongate and grow. This will produce a plant with more leaves. Lets take a look at why this happens.

You may remember from our previous article Cutting and Pinching, part1 that dominant growing point will exert apical dominance over nearby surrounding buds suppressing them from growing. This is caused by a high concentration of the natural plant hormone called auxin in the primary growing point. This hormone will physically suppress the nearby growing points from developing. More buds are created by the plant as backup in case of damage to the main growing point (the terminal bud) but the auxiliary buds are not allowed to develop.

Behind the Scenes

Once the primary growing point is removed, the high auxin supply is cut off and the hormonal balance shifts to a high concentration of another natural growth hormone called cytokines. This will prompts all the nearby buds to start growing and developing into leaves.

This is a natural response aimed at protecting the caladium against damage by wind, animals or even a careless gardener (such as me!!). As long as the main growing point is intact, the caladium plant suppresses the other growing points which allow room for the terminal bud to develop into a leaf without having to worry about competition from other leaves. The reason is probably that as long as no damage is done to the plant, the development of one leaf is all that is needed to support the plant. Should the main growing point be damaged, several auxiliary buds will be prompted to grow by the changed hormone balance. Since the plant can only survive if has a leaf, in order to convert the sun's energy into food (i.e. photosynthesize), all efforts will be changed to concentrate on a new purpose: to grow many new leaves in the hope that at least one will survive.

The emphasis is no longer on creating one taller, larger, superior leaf, but rather as many leaves as practically possible. In this way the plant may actually survive, even if the damage continues, as long as at least one leaf remains.

Since the plant must make room for more leaves, these now tend to be smaller, and the leaf petiole not as tall. The reason for this is probably done in an effort to avoid the leaves shading for each other. The process requires more energy from the tuber, but the drain on the resources is an absolute necessity because without a leaf, the plant dies.

The response is quite ingenious and logical in my mind. As long as no damage has occurred the plant will grow as originally intended, but should damage occur, the plant now assumes that damage will continue and all efforts are put into the production of many leaves. The plant is not leaving it to chance that the damage is a one time event. If it has happened once, it assumes it will happen again; after all the caladium only has a limited growing season in which to create leaves, set seeds, and propagate.

Choosing Tubers to Scoop

Each tuber, depending on size, may have several eyes which contain a terminal bud and several dormant buds. A small tuber may only have one such eye, whereas a mammoth tuber may have a dozen. Larger tubers are often what I usually term "composite tubers", e.g. smaller tubers fused together into a single large tuber. These larger tubers can be left intact and will still produce several leaves (due to the high number of eyes available on the tuber).

To mimic the effect of a large tuber with many leaves, several smaller tubers can be planted together in a pot; you can even mix colors, but the grower can also prompt the caladium tubers to send up more leaves by a technique called de-eying, e.g. the removal of the terminal bud (dominant growing point) which will cause several nearby dormant auxiliary buds to start developing.

If you buy your tubers from local discount stores, the caladium is probably a dehydrated, hard, and compact where the eyes are not readily visible, whereas tubers shipped from the grower will have clearly visible growing points, some of which may already have started to elongate.

If you buy the fresh tubers from the growers, you may be able to simply break off the tooth-like growing points which will cause the auxiliary buds to grow. If not, you will instead have to 'scoop' the dominant eye.

It is done exactly as it sounds: with the tip of a knife, the dominant eye is scooped out. In the process, you have to be careful not to damage the surrounding dormant auxiliary buds which can be quite close. With a bit of experience, and taking your time, it is possible to identify the active primary and the dormant auxiliary growing points.

Scooping Caladium

On the picture, I have exposed the active growing point and the dormant eyes surrounding the terminal bud. With a knife, gently dig about 1/4" down and lift (scoop) out the terminal bud. In the picture, you can see how one of the auxiliary buds are very close to the dominant buds which therefore often require a steady hand, and a magnifying glass. The tuber shown is a very small size #2 tuber which would normally develop only one leaf. Scooping out the growing point will cause 2-3 leaves to develop which produces a much nicer plant. As a special trick, you can also start the tubers in moist sphagnum indoors in early spring to force out the growing point, which will also make the auxiliary buds swell somewhat. At this time, it is easier scoop.

Propagating Caladium

The new plant, with more leaves to help photosynthesizing, have the potential to grow into larger tubers if given plenty of water, fertilizer, and bright light (not full sun, except in the north where caladium can be grown in full sun). The tuber will build starch reserves and improve in size. Tubers which have improved in size when lifted will as mentioned consist of several individual tubers "fused" together ("composite" tuber).

To propagate caladium, simply pull, or cut, the individual tubers apart (divide). Make sure to leave a few eyes on each division (see composite tuber above).

Note, while caladium tubers can handle considerable shade, to propagate tubers, try to give plenty of bright light or even half day sun in the north. Plants grown in deep shade will seldom generate enough energy to enlarge the tuber.

The copyright of the article Technique: Caladium de-eying and propagation in Seeds & Plants is owned by Kenneth Joergensen. Permission to republish Technique: Caladium de-eying and propagation in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Read more at Suite101: Technique: Caladium de-eying and propagation http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/propagation_seed_starting/113454

Yellow Caladium "Thailand"

Caladium Thep Paratch

Caladium Taling chun

Caladium Sadudee

Caladium Neo 48

Caladium Neo56

Caladium Neo 05

Caladium Ajarn Charoen

Caladium Ajarn Preeda

Caladium Queen's yellow

images from www.neofarmthailand.com

Caladium Gallery "Thailand"

Caladium Mahad Thai

Caladium Pink Banyan

Caladium Tida Sawan

Caladium Chao Ying

Caladium Chom Pu Siam

Caladium Sroi Sang Dang

Caladium Parn Tawan

Caladium Tape Song Sin

Caladium Changwad Songkla

Caladium Petch Pai Sarn

Caladium Sai Than

Caladium Ratchamongkol

Caladium Suvarnabhumi

Source images : hank-caladium.blogspot.com

How to Grow Caladium Plants

How to Grow Caladium Plants

Some people know Caladiums as a houseplant. Others recognize Caladiums as a colorful, leafy plant that brightens up the shady areas of their yard. However you recognize them, these plants are popular among home gardeners indoors or out. Caladium are easy to grow. They are tropical plants, native to the Amazon river area of Brazil. So, it's no surprise that these plants love a warm, shady, humid environment. Caladium is grown as an ornamental plant for it's colorful leaves. The leaves come in a variety of combinations of green, with white, pink or red. It grows to it's full height of 12" to 30" in one season. Caladium are perfectly comfortable in a pot or container, resulting a a very popular houseplant or deck plant. Did you know? While it is native to Brazil, Lake Placid, Florida claims to be the Caladium capital of the world. Nurseries in this area grow a wide range of Caladiums on thousands of acres.


Propagation: While people talk about Caladium "bulbs", they are really grown from a tuberous root. In the fall, the tuberous roots are dug up, cleaned and separated. Make sure to have some buds on each divided section of root. Store the roots in dry soil, or spaghnum moss in a dry, dark location until ready to use next spring. Storage temperatures should be at least 40 degrees. The largest tubers will produce the largest plants. Many people prefer to start with new roots each year. Many home gardeners find the roots produced by their plants are smaller, and turn to commercial growers who know how to produce the biggest roots for the best plants.


How to Grow Caladium: It's best to give your Caladium plants a head start. Roots can be started indoors 6 weeks before the last frost date. We recommend individual containers. 4" to 6" peat pots work well for transplanting later, with minimal transplant shock. Plant roots, round side up, 1 1/2"- 2" deep, in rich starter soil, peat moss, or vermiculite. Roots should have a few buds on them. Water well the first time, then keep the soil moist. The plant needs warm soil to sprout. If planting as an indoor houseplant, plant roots directly into the container they will grow in.


Tip: To promote more leaves, remove the largest bud in the center of the root. Being native to the tropics, Caladium does not like cold weather. Wait to transplant them outdoors until all danger of frost has past, and the soil has warmed. Select a location that is shady, or does not receive direct sunlight. Caladium likes rich soil. The soil needs to be kept moist, but should be well draining. If the soil is poor, add generous amounts of compost and manure. Caladium grows well with little care or attention. Fertilize outdoors once a month with a general purpose fertilizer. Indoors, use a liquid fertilizer every couple of weeks. During the growing period, remove any dead or damaged leaves. In the fall, dig up the roots for storage. The roots will survive overwintering outdoors only in the warmest areas of the country.


Insects and Disease: You should experience few problems with your caladium. Use insecticide or fungicide only if a problem occurs.



source : www.gardenersnet.com

Variant Caladium Part 3

Caladium Bloody Marry

Caladium Bloody Marry features heart-shaped leaves, red leaf color predominantly liver, and bone blood red leaves.

Caladium Florida Sweet Heart

Caladium Florida Sweet Heart is the result of the university florida cruciferous, red dominates the entire leaf, except at the edge of the green leaves.

Caladium Chilli Red

Caladium Chilli Red is a heart-shaped leaves are rounded, with a leaf color predominantly dark red, red leaves of fresh bone.

Caladium Charming Princess

This Caladium elongated heart-shaped leaves, with leaves color red dominated, dense bones red leaves. the edge of a dark green leaf.

Caladium Sinbad

Caladium Sinbad is a heart-shaped leaves, leaf color red dominated by the bones and the dark red leaves.


Source : from various sources
images : from www.neofarmthailand.com

"Rodent Tuber Caladium/Typhonium flagelliforme" Alternative Cancer Treatment

"Rodent Tuber Caladium/Typhonium flagelliforme"
Alternative Cancer Treatment

As a natural supplement may help to combat cancer/tumor and stimulate anti body.

Typhonium Plus may help patients recover from breast, colon, rectum, liver, prostate, leukemia, cervical cancer and lung cancer.

Cancer is not one specific disease. It is a process that can affect any organ of the body. A healthy human body consists of normal growing cells which carry out the life processes in a normal and orderly manner. A normal living cell can, for various unfortunate reasons, turn abnormal or cancerous. It multiplies in the body rapidly and excessively, forming a group of cells of uncontrollable growth resulting in a swelling. Then the abnormal cells break up and invade adjacent tissues and organs and destroy them. With each hectic, uncontrolled and disordered cell growth, the body's energies are misused and wasted. If this continues unchecked, death can occur.

Typhonium flagelliforme / Rodent Tuber Caladium is a herbal plant grows in East Asia as traditional medicine to combat cancer.

How Does Typhonium Plus Affect Your Body?

Typhonium flagelliforme / Keladi Tikus extract and other herbs combine help in the detoxification of the blood system. Typhonium Plus contains ribosome in acting protein (RIP), anti oxidant, and anti curcumin. Together triggered cells may in turn produce mediators that stimulate and strengthen other cells of the immune system of the body to combat the cancerous cells. Since the growth of cancerous cells is reversible given the correct chemical stimulus and environment, this explanation is not far-fetched.

source : www.cancerhelps.com