Botanical name: Caladium bicolor, syn. Caladium x hortulanum
Origin: South America
Common Names: elephant ear, heart of jesus and angel wings
The Caladium is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae. There are over 1000 named cultivars of Caladium bicolor from the original South American plant.
Caladiums are divided into two main leaf types: Fancy-leaf caladiums and Strap-leaf caladiums. The Fancy-leaf varieties generally have large heart-shaped leaves, sometimes growing to more than a foot long.
Strap-leaf varieties typically have a more narrower arrow- or lance-shaped foliage. The Strap varieties are more compact and a bit more cold tolerant.
FOLIAGE
Caladiums are amazing foliage plants that are known for their unusual patterns and colors on large leaves. Caladiums have beautiful heart-shaped leaves that are white, pink or red on the inside and green around the edges. They also grow subtle white flowers.
Caladiums grow rapidly and are beautiful indoors as well as in a garden. However Caladiums do not like temperature changes and cannot overwinter in the garden. So they do need some extra care to keep them healthy and pretty.
You can buy caladiums as potted plants or as dormant tubers. You can plant the tubers outside in spring and a little bit before that when you plant them in pots indoors. This blog on Caladium care will focus on care for indoor Caladiums.
SOIL
Grow caladiums in acidic soil that’s moist and well drained. Add mulch to help maintain moisture. The soil now should never be allowed to get completely dry. Just make sure it doesn’t stand in water. Most bagged soil available will do just fine as long as you add some light materials like perlite. Perlite is added to make the soil lighter and more poriferous. Make sure your pot has a drainage layer at the bottom as well as drainage holes.
WATERING
Water your caladium often, but don’t over water it.
Spray your indoor caladium to imitate the moist air of a greenhouse and/or use a humidifier. Provide enough moisture throughout the growing season to keep the soil evenly moist. If you allow the soil to dry out, the leaves may yellow and drop.
FERTILIZATION
Fertilize your caladiums only need a liquid fertilizer every couple of weeks. A balanced fertilizer with NPK about 8-8-8 will do the job. They don’t need a lot of fertilizer and can be easily overfertilized, a little bit can help the new growth to come out larger.
PROPAGATION
Division. When repotting, you can break off small tubers and pot them separately. Put each tuber in a small pot and plant them about 2.5 cm / 1 inch deep. General rule: the size of the pot should be about 5 times the diameter of the tuber.Water it and put it in a warm place. It can take several weeks or months for them to start growing but when they take off, they can be real fast growers.
SUN
Place your caladiums in a partially shaded location. Although they grow larger in full sun, the caladium’s coloring is best in partial shade. With their thin leaves they also really prone to sunburn. Provide at least 4 hours of filtered sunlight from a bright north, east or west facing window. Too much sun exposure can cause scorched leaves so avoid direct sun. I have mine on a north facing window where it gets sun almost 8 hours a day but it never gets any direct sunlight and it does very well.
TOXICITY
The caladium plant may be poisonous so keep it away from pets and children. Contact with cadmium sap may irritate your skin
TEMPERATURE
This plant really likes warm temperatures. Around 24-27°C / 75-80°F is ideal but it will tolerate a range of 21-29°C / 70-85°F. Protect caladium plants from blasts of cold air from AC vents, any kind of drafts. They don’t even like temperature changes within their preferred range of temperatures. So a sudden temperature drop can do some damage to a healthy plant.
HUMIDITY
High humidity is important for Caladiums. So it will do great with daily showers from a spray bottle, but don’t leave any big water drops on the foliage.
DORMANCY
Caladium are seasonally dormant plants. At the end of the growing season the leaves will start to fade. At this point you will have to reduce watering to stop it completely when all the foliage is gone and your plant has entered the winter rest.
Store it in its pot in a warm place not colder than 16°C / 60°F. It will need about two months of rest period. After that, take the tuber up, change the soil and start it all over again.
Some helpful Caladium Care tips from fellow Plant addicts:
Parttime Ninja 
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