# Riparium-Caladium?



## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

There are some _Caladiums_ that grow in the wild as marginals in saturated soils, but I imagine that few of the hybrids would be very hardy in conditions like that. 

Asiatica used to have a species _Caladium _that was a big plant with dark green arrowhead-shaped leaves with many round pink and white spots. I can't remember the name but I do recall reading it described as growing in wet streamside conditions in nature. It would be hard to use except in a big tank, but maybe one could also control the size or use smaller offsets. I gotta go try and dig up the name of that plant. The local zoo has one growing in their big dartfrog vivarium and the roots are down in the water. 

Asiatica in general has some pretty amazing plants.

Check this out...

http://www.blackjungle.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=BJTS&Product_Code=TP-CLPLC&Category_Code=RC 

According to the description there, unlike most _Caladium_ that one does not go winter-dormant. I might have try to get it if I can find any references to growing it as a marginal.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

That caladium palacioanum is certainly a great looking one, that would fit in very well in a riparium, but at $30 each, plus shipping, that is a lot to spend without knowing it would do well. I like to limit my "gambles" to under $10, if possible. That's the beauty of Home Depot's house plant table - CHEAP!


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

You oughta try out one or two _Caladium_ from Home Depot. It seems like I saw a couple of those wild new hybrids there recently. Those new ones are bound to start getting around and showing up at grocery stores and wherever else too.

I see that Tom Croat, the aroid expert from Missouri Botanical Garden, named that _Caladium palacioanum_. I had met Dr. Croat at the aroid show in Miami. I should send him a note to see if he has habitat data for that species.


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## legomaniac89 (Mar 16, 2008)

Hydro, if you ever come across one of those C. palacioanum, I call first dibs on baby plants :hihi:! We've sold Caladiums as pond marginal plants before at my work. I think they were just the regular Elephant Ear kind that gets huge, but I know they do well in marginal conditions as long as they get their dormancy in winter.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Hey you got it man. Doesn't it have cool leaves? I need to write Dr. Croat to see what he might have to say about it. I see that that _C. palacioanum_ is described as having petioles 12-14" long. There are so many cool plants that are just a little too big for my 55-gallon or my 65. I really gotta get something bigger like a 90-gallon. A 110 Tall could be good too.


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## EdwardN (Nov 7, 2008)

Hoppy said:


> That caladium palacioanum is certainly a great looking one, that would fit in very well in a riparium, but at $30 each, plus shipping, that is a lot to spend without knowing it would do well. I like to limit my "gambles" to under $10, if possible. That's the beauty of Home Depot's house plant table - CHEAP!


See if you could get Caladium humboltii. It has small, white variegated foliage. 

There are small, green with markings, red and variegated varieties of some Bromeliads ( notably in Neoregelia genus), which you could possibly use on the side walls, or driftwood/rock. I have a large collection of this plants.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

EdwardN, Have you grown that _C. humboltii_ specifically in wet conditions? That one would look super in a riparium down beneath a larger plant. With those white leaves it would pair well with a dark green background _Spathiphyllum_.


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## EdwardN (Nov 7, 2008)

I don't think this ( and other) Caladium would withstand 'wet feet' for longer than a bief while, but ypu could make some provision for a corm or two on a side wall or a net pot attached to anything above 'v.wet' level and mask it with a little Sphagnum, which itself could possibly 'resurect' itself in such moist condition.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Ok it took a lot of Googling but I found two species that are definitely described as being associated with wet soil habitats:

_Caladium clavatum_
_C. steudnerifolium_

Here's a shot of _steudnerifolium_...

http://media.photobucket.com/image/Caladium%20steudnerifolium/HabloPorArboles/Caladium1.jpg

...and here's a picture of _clavatum_...

http://media.photobucket.com/image/Caladium%20clavatum/HabloPorArboles/DSCN1274.jpg

They both get really big. You would need to use a big tank for them. _clavatum_ is the one I was thinking of before.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Both of those caladium would do well as a single leaf umbrella over my 65 gallon tank! I had something a bit smaller in mind:icon_mrgr

EdwardN, I will be googling both of those plants as soon as I post this. And, tomorrow I may head back to HD to see what caladiums they have. As I recall they had several, but all were the very large leaf varieties. I also can visit an Ace Hardware near me that has a good selection of houseplants, and a plant nursery not too far away also with a good selection.

EDIT: http://www.blackjungle.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?store_code=BJTS&screen=PROD&product_code=TP-CHMW
http://www.asiaticanursery.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=plants.plantDetail&plant_id=734 Right in my price range.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

EdwardN said:


> I don't think this ( and other) Caladium would withstand 'wet feet' for longer than a bief while, but ypu could make some provision for a corm or two on a side wall or a net pot attached to anything above 'v.wet' level and mask it with a little Sphagnum, which itself could possibly 'resurect' itself in such moist condition.


One way to use such a plant would be to use a standard riparium planter cup, but mount it just above the water level. Then water it by hand periodically. IN my case, when I do water changes I temporarily raise the water level about 1/2 inch, so that could suffice for watering it. Hydrophyte, do you think this would work?

EDIT: I don't know if this website is correct, but according to it you could use both caladiums and impatiens as marginal plants - http://www.ponddoc.com/WhatsUpDoc/Plants/EnchantingPlants.htm Now, I am getting interested!

EDIT: http://www2.mailordercentral.com/pwg/products.asp?dept=22&pagenumber=1 lists caladiums as suitable for pond margins! Maybe all caladiums could be treated as such.


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

these reminds me of elephant ears... there are some really nice ones too.
http://www.asiaticanursery.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=plants.plantDetail&plant_id=679


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Hoppy said:


> One way to use such a plant would be to use a standard riparium planter cup, but mount it just above the water level. Then water it by hand periodically. IN my case, when I do water changes I temporarily raise the water level about 1/2 inch, so that could suffice for watering it. Hydrophyte, do you think this would work?


That would work fine. One concern that I see would be that the plant in the raised cup would then be higher up relative to its neighbors. Whether or not this would look alright would depend upon their relaitve sizes and how they all fit together.

You could also just have the base of the planter down in the water, with water wicking up through the planter media and maintaining it constantly moist. This kind of setup would give the roots a lot more oxygen than if completely underwater.




mistergreen said:


> these reminds me of elephant ears... there are some really nice ones too.
> http://www.asiaticanursery.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=plants.plantDetail&plant_id=679


There are a number of cool elephant ear or taro plants in _Alocasia_, _Colocasia_ and _Xanthosoma_ that should work well for this kind of growing, although most need to have some elbow room in a larger tank. Here is one of my favorites, _Colocasia fallax_ 'Silver Dollar':


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

A couple of weeks ago I visited my HD store and bought a bag of 3 tubers of Caladium candidum because they had them and at $4 or so per bag I didn't care if they failed to grow for me. I planted one in a small planter cup, which just did have enough room for it. Today I noticed roots growing and showing through the plastic. Now, tonight I see a tiny sprout sticking out of the Flourite gravel. I think its going to work! I keep the planter a little high, so only the bottom half or less is under water. I need to experiment a bit more after it gets started, to see how it does with more of it under water.

This is a pretty large leaf variety of Caladium, so I may not want to use it in one of my big tank. But, if it does well I will be in the market for a good miniature one this Spring. Once this one grows out so it is more visible I will post a pic.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Hey I heard back from Dr. Croat about that rare species _Caladium palacioanum_. He had observed it growing as an upland plant near cliffs. It is a pretty neat plant, but apparently not associated with wet soils.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

hydrophyte said:


> Hey I heard back from Dr. Croat about that rare species _Caladium palacioanum_. He had observed it growing as an upland plant near cliffs. It is a pretty neat plant, but apparently not associated with wet soils.


That makes me hesitate to buy some of the nice looking ones at Asiatic, not that their $22 shipping cost didn't already discourage me. Being a near ignoramous about plants in general, I assumed that all caladium varieties would work in the same environment. Last night I had an order to Asiatic all set to push the "buy" button, when I looked at the shipping cost - apparently they employ several people just to package anything I might buy:icon_mrgr


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

They must have heard you coming.

That vendor does charge a bit for S & H, and their plants aren't cheap, but I'll tell you they have really high quality material and a lot of it is rare and/or never before offered in the US.

I have my eye on several selections from Asiatica that look promising as riparium subjects. I really want to try to get these:


_*Dieffenbanchia rex*_
*Schismatoglottis sp. 'Frosty Kiss'*
*Spathiphyllum 'City of Angels'*

I'm pretty sure about the suitability of the spath and the _Schismatoglottis_, but somewhat less certain about the _Dieffenbanchia_. Although I think that most _Dieffenbanchia_ do grow in moist to wet soils.

I wonder if it would be cost-effective to try to do a combination order and then split up the material(?). Would you be interested in looking into that?


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

hydrophyte said:


> They must have heard you coming.
> 
> That vendor does charge a bit for S & H, and their plants aren't cheap, but I'll tell you they have really high quality material and a lot of it is rare and/or never before offered in the US.
> 
> ...


Yes, I would be interested. I'm really interested in getting just two Caladium bulbs, a couple of the miniature ones. That's probably about 4 ounces or less, and a box the size of an ear ring gift box. I have no problem with paying normal Priority Mail shipping costs, but nothing like what Asiatic wants. And, I do realize that they are a very high quality operation - I'm just a penny pincher at times. If you decide this is cost effective let me know and I will PM you the ones I'm interested in.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

OK if you think try to help me to remember. It will be a few weeks before I can move on it. 

Do you have the caladiums in mind specifically for riparium culture? If you like I could also ask at Aroid-L about growing requirements for the ones you are considering.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

The Caladiums I want to try are:
http://www.asiaticanursery.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=plants.plantDetail&plant_id=734
http://www.asiaticanursery.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=plants.plantDetail&plant_id=1458

Asiatic only ships Caladium bulbs until about April 15th, so that gives me about a month to decide.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

I'll ask about those. If not suitable for growing in water they'll certainly make great patio/houseplants. I really like that humboltii. And I can forward them to you economically enough.


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

hydrophyte said:


> I'll ask about those. If not suitable for growing in water they'll certainly make great patio/houseplants. I really like that humboltii. And I can forward them to you economically enough.


Hey I want in on this TOO! roud:


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

These two look really cool as does the other lily that is golden in color.

Schismatoglottis sp. 'Frosty Kiss' 
Spathiphyllum 'City of Angels' 

OMG some of there plants are super expensive!


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Hey Craig I highly recommend that spath 'Golden Glow'. I already have some of that one going and it is an awesome riparium plant. It looks great planted among other _Spathiphyllum _ with the normal dark green coloration. Some of those other _Dieffenbachia_ could also be great for your setup. They would probably eventually grow too large, but you could probably take offsets and start new ones as they get too big.

I think that they might still have _Cyrtosperma johnstonii_ too.

Some of their plants are pretty pricey, but many are unique offerings not available anywhere else. 

Please remind me about this if you think of it. I will ponder the order some more.


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

hydrophyte said:


> Hey Craig I highly recommend that spath 'Golden Glow'. I already have some of that one going and it is an awesome riparium plant. It looks great planted among other _Spathiphyllum _with the normal dark green coloration. Some of those other _Dieffenbachia_ could also be great for your setup. They would probably eventually grow too large, but you could probably take offsets and start new ones as they get too big.
> 
> I think that they might still have _Cyrtosperma johnstonii_ too.
> 
> ...


I'll send you a pm in a week or so. I would be down for a few plants like the 2 spaths and maybe a couple more. Gotta rebuild the bank abit as its been super expensive the last few weeks.

Craig


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

The Caladium bulbs get cheaper when ordered 10 at a time, so if enough of us want them forwarding them should be no problem at all cost wise. I will look at the other plants they have to see if there are any more I want to try.


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

Hoppy said:


> The Caladium bulbs get cheaper when ordered 10 at a time, so if enough of us want them forwarding them should be no problem at all cost wise. I will look at the other plants they have to see if there are any more I want to try.


 
I love that first Caladium wiht the white leaves taht is cool I wouldn't mind trying one of each....

Craig


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

My Caladium is growing very well so far. It sends out numerous shoots, not just a single one, something I didn't expect. So, at least now I know it can be started in a riparium. How it will do over time is still to be determined.


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

Hoppy said:


> My Caladium is growing very well so far. It sends out numerous shoots, not just a single one, something I didn't expect. So, at least now I know it can be started in a riparium. How it will do over time is still to be determined.


Nice- Did you jsut burry the bulb in planter gravel? I saw a couple different varietys at the local Earl Mays one reddish leavs the other green outer edges with white insides.

Craig


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

This one is the green outer parts, with white inner parts, "candidum". It is planted on a bed of hydroton, with a few Osmocote pieces spread on it, and filled in with Flourite "dark". It isn't very deep in the water now, but has been halfway down in the water. I have to replenish water by hand in this tank, so the level varies quite a bit. I'm still debating whether or not to try having it at a more normal depth.


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

Might have to go buy a couple bulbs and watch your progression! I add a 1/2 to full gallon of water to my tank daily.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Hey that's excellent. Did you get that one with a variety name?

I'm still contemplating that Asiatica order--just need to get some more dough into my PayPal account.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Oh we are all writing at the same time, so that one is variety 'Candidum'.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

I'm expecting the C. candidum to be a very large leaf variety, probably too big for a riparium, but growing in a riparium might stunt it enough to make it usable. In any case it should demonstrate whether it is possible to use caladiums in ripariums (I need a second stanza for this poem.)


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

The Caladium is growing very well now, and is now an honored occupant of my 45 gallon riparium. Even if it eventually gets too big, as I'm sure it will, it is still a nice plant for a riparium, just as Spathiphyllum is. Unlike plants like Spathiphyllum, I don't see a way to divide a Caladium to keep it going in a riparium. But, there are smaller ones available.


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## RipariumGuy (Aug 6, 2009)

I like it. It reminds me of an Aluminum plant on steroids!
Jake


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

This is looking very good right now. I'm learning that Caladiums grow as individual leafs from the "bulb", not as a stem with multiple leaves. The bulb is still send up new leafs, and I'm afraid the newer ones are going to be even bigger than this one. Now I'm really interested in getting one of the miniature varieties to try out.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

I was just reminded about one spot where I had seen a cool species caladium that should be suitable for riparium culture, _Caladium picturatum_.

*http://www.fantasticfrogs.com/aroids.html*

This catalog offering is currently sold out, but maybe they will offer it again some day. I should send them an email to ask.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

hydrophyte said:


> I was just reminded about one spot where I had seen a cool species caladium that should be suitable for riparium culture, _Caladium picturatum_.
> 
> *http://www.fantasticfrogs.com/aroids.html*
> 
> This catalog offering is currently sold out, but maybe they will offer it again some day. I should send them an email to ask.


That one has a leaf that is 16 inches long! I sure doubt that this will look good in a small riparium, but it would be spectacular in a 100+ gallon one. I think my preference is for a 3-4 inch maximum size leaf, but that's because my tanks are only 45 and 65 gallons.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

I think it could work in a medium-size setup as a centerpiece plant. I thought that that _Cyrtosperma johnstonii_ would not scale right with the 50-gallon riparium where I had it, but it looked right as a centerpiece even when it got to 28" or so tall.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

...hey Hoppy how has that fittonia done for you?


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

hydrophyte said:


> ...hey Hoppy how has that fittonia done for you?












It is a spectacular success, as is the small plant to the right of it. Both are very healthy, growing slowly, and beautiful. Perfect riparium mid-ground, raft planted plants.

The slight violet color is from my GE9325K light - I forgot to color correct this.


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