I grow 100-125 ordinary Caladiums around my garden and then a handful of
special ones. I define "ordinary" as those which can be obtained at a
price like $15 for 25 medium sized tubers.
My first year with large numbers of Caladiums, I dug them all up, washed
them, dried them, dusted them with fungicide (which I had to purchase),
placed them in new vermiculite (which I had to purchase), and then stored
them on a shelf in a warm part of my house. I believe that I had about a
60% save-rate. The digging and washing and drying and storing and... took
4-5 hours. It would have cost about $60-70 to just replace those Caladiums
(the ones which survived).
A friend brought reality home. I don't have that kind of time to spend (or
rather to waste). I'd rather just purchase new ones and use the efforts to
save any special caladiums and other garden plants.
The advice by many to just replace your caladiums isn't purely a
money-grubbing one. For many of us who have little free time, it's more
logical to simply replace the ordinary plants and devote what little free
time we have to more difficult (or more expensive) to replace plants.
If anyone here is in the New York area and wants to put in the time, you're
welcome to come take all my tubers before the cold sets in. If you have
the time, the tubers are yours. I wouldn't be losing all that much compost.
Les
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