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This is the first time I grow Caladiums. My climate is somewhere between C3 and C4 Mediterranean climate. That means conditions dictate dormancy as well as sheltering from winter rains. I bought my Caladiums around this August. Now, end of october, they are gradually entering into dormancy. Few cultivars just stopped growing further while others have already begun to shed their leaves. I currently have four different plants, and if everything goes well I will expand my collection next spring.

As I cleaned-up the leaves around one of them, I accidentally broke-off two corm pieces, the ones shown in the picture below. Caladium corms As you can see, the one on the right is one inch long, the one on the left is 4/5 of an inch but is much thicker. The corms have been taken just today, so I am waiting for them to dry-out before brushing-off all the dead organic material sticking to it.

So my question, is such a piece big enough to be stored for next spring?

Christmas Snow
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2 Answers2

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The important thing with caladiums is the potential growing point, the bud. In a normal healthy corm there will be a clear pointy bud and on large corms many buds, and as long as one is there the corm is good. Most of the corm is just nutrient to get the bud growing initially - the root potential lies at the base of the bud, not at the base of the corm (unlike other corms such as gladiolus where the root area is separate from the bud).

So when you are doing the cleanup do it very carefully since the bud is everything. Examine the corm piece for buds, and if you don't find any then all you have is a piece of supporting material with little to no potential for growth. Look at your larger corm pieces to get a clear idea of the bud shape and colour and then tease off dead material from the odd chunks with tweezers and not a wire brush. You get the idea.

Colin Beckingham
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  • Thank you. At-least one seems to possess the tip. The second one may have too, I guess it is in the area where the old leaf was shed. Once cleaned, I will make sure the second one is good as well. – Christmas Snow Oct 24 '20 at 16:19
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It costs nothing to store them with larger corms ,so try. I used to buy cases ( 144 ?) of caladium ; the supplier did not clean them much . After planting obvious corms ,I planted the inch of debris in the bottom of the box ( I can't remember if anything came up).

blacksmith37
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