From: Denis denis at skg.com> on 2000.07.11 at 21:46:16(5047)
Dear David:
You'd be surprised at what goes out as generic tropical foliage to
K-Mart and Walmart when nurserymen in Florida get over stocked.
Xanthosoma lindenii has been in the foliage plant industry for 20 years
from Tissue Culture labs. Although it was reclassified as Caladium
lindenii based on Floral Characteristics, old names are hard to change.
Xanthosoma Lindenii was the first plant I grew in my nursery when I
started in 1981. It can make a nice specimen plant for interiorscape
jobs or as house plant. Since that time I have dropped it from my
line-up as being too hard to grow well(I did not want B grade foliage
plants to sell to K-Mart). It has a predisposition to a fungal pathogen
called Myrothecium roridum and it can get mites on the undersurface of
the leaves it kept too dry. You'd think being tropical that it would do
well in South Florida landscapes...not! It does well in a pot but wilts
when temps dip below 45 deg. F. If planted out in yard everyone who
tries it finds out it just peters out. If it starts to decline for you
after awhile, step it up into a bigger container or disassemble it, and
repot the rhizomes in new soil. I find there is something beyond
fertilizer that it draws from the soil that it needs to flourish and
look beautiful. PH, Micro-elements, something I never stopped to figure
out. That is all. By the way, how much did you pay for this 3 gallon pot
of "Tropical Foliage" at K-Mart?
Denis at Silver Krome Gardens
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