Re: Caladium bulbs shrinking ?

From: "Julius Boos" ju-bo at email.msn.com> on 2000.07.13 at 23:29:32(5085) Sounds to me like they did not have enough growing time. Here in Florida I leave mine in the ground for a month or more AFTER the leaves 'go down', I was told by an old grower at Lake Placid that the roots continue to allow the tubers to develop AFTER the leaves are lost, and since they do it, I tried it, and it works for me! I then dig them up and store them in labled paper bags in my unheated garage (in W.P.B., Florida) where when it warms up in spring the bulbs will begin to sprout, letting me know that it`s time to plant them out again! See my other posting on this virus. I`m not worried about it, as it has been around for YEARS, I`ve seen it in MANY collections on MANY species (including Amorphophallus sps ). It can come and go, as I used to have it on a Xanthosoma, and in the last couple of years it seems to have gone away. I do not know for sure, but believe it stays with tuberous aroids of only certain families such as Colocasia, Alocasia, Caladium, Amorphophallus, etc. I do not believe that it affects Philodendrons, etc., but could be wrong on this. Cheers and good luck, Julius +More ju-bo@msn.com >I never noticed a lack of vigor in Caladiums, in fact they sometimes surprise me with how large the leaves and inflorescences can get on some of them. What mystifies me is that at the end of the season, I have basically no corm to store for the winter regardless of how large it was when it was sprouted in the spring (?). I've never been able to store them over the winter successfully. Are you saying that this Dasheen Mosaic Virus is responsible for this? How do the growers in FL get their corms to be so large in the first place? Would this virus spread to my other aroids if grown in close proximity to Caladiums? This is the first I've heard of this and sounds somewhat scary. David Sizemore plantsman@prodigy.net ----- Original Message ----- To: Multiple recipients of list AROID-L Sent: Wednesday, July 12, 2000 8:52 PM Subject: Re: Caladium bulbs shrinking ? : Dear Tsuh Yang Chen: : : Most of the commercial Caladium bulbs are produced in and around Sebring : , Florida & They are all infected with Dasheen Mossaic Virus. They are : all propagated from infected stock plants. This virus severely retards : the vigor of the infected plants and there is no way for these plants to : fully express their full potential. : Piabinha@aol.com wrote: : > : > my previous plant, a small one in a 5" pot, croaked easily and then never : > came back, although i expected it to have a tuber... just this weekend, i : > bought a large plant (in a 12" pot) for only $9.95 from a vendor at jerry : > barad's picnic. i'm keeping my fingers crossed... : > : > incidentally, why do cultivated Caladium tubers shrink from year to year? : > how do they increase in size in the wild then? : > : > tsuh yang chen, nyc, USA : : :

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