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I have bought a Caladium Plant last week. When I was potting her, I accidentally cut a few roots. When I saw some of her leaves wilting I associated it with my clumsy hands. But just today I noticed that some of her leaves are now turning yellow.

I water her,lightly, more like sprinkling for about half a minute, once everyday because I read that they like to be moist. The yellowing I assume is predominantly because of root-rot. I've gathered with a little research that over-watering aids root-rot

Misc:

  • I'm growing her as an indoor plant.
  • I place her outside my window (no direct sunlight) for a few hours (almost) everyday.
  • Most of online blogs suggest watering to keep her moist. That's what I'm doing (Am I overdoing that?).
  • Most of her leaves are quite healthy.
  • Some leaves though are just rotting partly (no yellowing though).
  • The partly suffering leaves suggest me that it's not over-watering. My diagnosis is that she has caught an infection.

yellowing caladium leaves

I seek, as an amateur gardener, advice. Looking at her image, does it look like the yellowing is due to an infection, or over-watering?

kevinskio
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Harsh
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1 Answers1

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The soil should be kept slightly moist. If you are watering daily I would expect you are over-doing unless it's in a very hot dry place. Potentially adding to the troubles are the type of soil and the pot it is in. Does the pot have drainage holes in the bottom? If the soil and pot drain well, that is good, otherwise the plant is sitting in standing water. Based on your picture, the soil looks very dark, which makes me suspicious the soil was very wet. My thought is probably over-watering. Possibly root-rot caused by over-watering but the fix is the same either way, water a little less often.

GardenerJ
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  • Thanks for your suggestion! :) I will try watering her a little less. And yes, the pot has drain holes. The soil is black soil (will that matter to a Caladium?), probably why it'd have looked very wet to you. – Harsh Sep 05 '15 at 10:24
  • Shouldn't, I just tend to assume soil that looks black is dripping wet. – GardenerJ Sep 05 '15 at 10:32