If you haven't brought them in, you're probably too late for this year. I'm sure you know caladiums are bulbs. It is recommended here in the south that you wait for a couple of light frosts to kill the top growth before digging. You bring them inside to dry, and after a few days, remove the foliage and shake off the dirt. Storing the bulbs in a cool airy place for the winter is usually all that is needed.

Hi Donna,

Yes I've done all of the above and still they rot. I'd read that up here in zone five one should bring them in before the frost and dry them in a frost free zone, I did that this year, I brought them in in mid Sept this year. I went to dig them out of the pots today and the pots were still wet!!! I've not given them any water for two months and they were wet and bulbs were rotted. Grrrr..... My potting medium is light and should not have still been wet. I'm wondering if I should dig them out as soon as I bring them in and let them dry out of the potting medium. Thanks for the advice! I'll keep on trying there is always next year.
Deanne

if you google storing caladium.. you will get about 349,000 hits ...

but my gut asks.... how are you drying them????

i suspect you are creating a situation where they are rotting before they are dried ... or at least the spore is set ...

are you leaving them in the peat filled pots and hoping that they will dry inside a plastic pot????

tell us what you do.. maybe we can spot an anomaly ...

these and begonia are grow in nearly all peat.. which sometimes refuses to dry ... leading to bulb rot ... after the first light frost.. they should have been taken out of the pot... the green cut off.. and left for the peat to dry.. and then kncoke doff .... and then one of the links suggests a sulphur dusting ...

once they are dry and clean.. think about how you would store a potato for winter ... cool ... dark.. and pretty dry ... but not too dry ...

so.. what is your method

ken

yeah yeah.. i saw your post after ... lol ...

there is no reason they could not be lightly frosted... it would probably trigger a slow down of growth for winter.. obviously not a freeze ... but the potting media will protect the bulb from extreme temp swings for a while ...

as i suspected.. you brought them in.. and left them standing around too wet.. and that is one of the problems .... next fall.. dump them out of the pot into a wheelbarrow.. and let them dry ... and i suggest you let it dry completely before cleaning off the media .... instead of breaking off roothairs while damp ... and look into the fungicide application ...

your media may or may not be good for this plant .... if it grew well .. then it should be ok.. but i think you are discovering it might not be great in late fall .. you will have to figure out how to deal with that..

btw ... they are perennial bulbs.. not annuals.. we have i post over in that forum about such ... though i really dont care where you post ...

good luck

ken

PS: they should be no different that canna ... potatoes .. begonia ....... or any other bulb/tuber you want to dig and save ... and there was a recent post about canna ... where ever you find info on any of them.. it should work for yours ....

PPS: you dont mention fertilizer .... plants fed too heavily.. too late in the season.. can be speeding into fall slowdown .. instead of slowing down for dormancy .... if you fertilized it all summer... perhaps you should have ended such sooner ... is fert in the equation here????

You definitely need to remove them from potting medium. That's what I meant, when I said "dig". I lay them on newspaper to dry inside the garage or basement for several days (this is with the majority of the soil knocked off). Then clean off the remaining residue. Ken makes a good point about fertilizing. They need to be slowing down their growth in late summer. Fertilizer would prevent that.

Thanks very much for the advice Ken and Donna, I'll make sure to knock them out of the pots next year, I like the idea of leaving them on newspaper to dry in the garage. I don't fertilize them any time after mid August so that shouldn't be a problem as they don't need to come in until end of Sept. Sorry for posting this to annuals instead of bulbs. I looked at the bulb forum and it was all about spring bulbs and didn't think this would be addressed there.

Here is a pic of some of the beauties I lost... bummer!
{{gwi:26624}}

Happy gardening!
Deanne

PS I've not trouble with the Colocasias but I keep them in the green under lights after pruning.

Once you've removed them from the containers and dried them for a week or so, store them in a cool, dry location buried in dry sphagnum sheet moss or similiar. Some say that 70 degress is better than 60, which tends to reduce the size of the new leaves.

Please note that the quality and size of the foliage that second year depends largely upon how the tubers were grown the previous season. The tubers should be plump, healthy, and firm....not soft and depleted.

Most (not all, mind you) folks tend to be disappointed with their second season caladiums and end up treating them AS annuals.

Good luck to you next year...try to remember to let us know the results of your efforts.