Great in landscapes and containers and will grow well in shaded to partial shade locations as a versatile shade caladium and attractive red spotted caladium. They can also be grown indoors as a houseplant where they prefer bright light or a sunny window, making this Splash of Wine shade caladium ideal for decorative use.

Caladiums can be an irritant if ingested. The ASPCA has more information on which plants may be harmful.

Indoors:

Caladiums can be a very nice windowsill or sunroom plant and for much of the United States and certainly in Canada, this might be the best use for Caladiums, especially as tropical plants for part shade. Since they are tropical they need to have warmth and humidity, try to always keep the temperatures above 65 F for best growth and leaf size, and a pebble tray or frequent misting can help to keep humidity up around your plants. If you live in a northern climate, be careful not to plant Splash of Wine shade caladium too early in spring as temperatures below 50F will chill and stunt plants, normal indoor temperatures should be fine and winter heaters usually dry things out a bit too much. So, this can be a good guide for when to grow these Caladiums, particularly this decorative fancy leaf caladium when you turn the heater off for the summer.

Plant tubers pointed end facing upwards, so the tuber is about 2” below the soil level. The roots form on the top of the tuber , so you need to plant them deep enough that roots have room to grow, but not too deep because it delays new leaves and weakens the plant, including this vibrant red spotted caladium. If your plants are already growing in pots when you purchase them, plant them about ½” deeper when you transplant them to make sure the tubers have room to keep growing.

Splash of Wine shade caladium does not need a lot of fertilizer, about ¼ of what most folks feed their flowering annuals, and too much fertilizer can burn the leaves, especially the white portions of the leaf. So, just fertilize with ¼ the strength what you normally do for your flowers and apply weekly or every other week to maintain healthy foliage on this shade caladium.

Keep plants in a sunny to partly sunny location and avoid burning hot southern exposures especially at higher altitudes.

Keep soil in your pots moist at all times, wilting will cause leaves to yellow and drop, so just check to make sure they do not dry out, particularly for optimal performance of this fancy leaf caladium!

Outdoors:

Since Caladiums prefer heat and humidity and do not tolerate cold, soggy soils, for most gardeners who live in the north will have best results in containers, as the soil in pots or planters warms up faster and has better drainage so plants will not become soggy. Remember for best growth always keep the temperatures above 65 F when growing this colorful, shade caladium.

A ¼ - ½ strength fertilizing every week or every other week is fine throughout the season, too strong a fertilizer can burn leaves, and since the leaves last all season you want to keep them looking fresh on this ornamental red spotted caladium. Caladiums like to be moist at all times so avoid allowing them to dry out as it also causes leaves to yellow and drop.

Where the Caladiums will do best depends a lot on your location within the US, since sunlight intensity varies depending on where you live. Here’s a quick reference to help guide you to help you succeed with these beautiful plants for part shade.