How to Plant Caladium Tubers - After Warm Soil, Eyes Up

Plant caladium tubers when the soil is about 70°F. Clemson: the same window as sowing okra. Cold wet ground rots them. White Christmas and Red Flash share that gate. Knobby side (eyes) up, about 2 inches deep. Shade and summer water stay on How to Grow Caladium.

Planting Caladium Tubers care summary diagram

When soil is warm enough

Factor	Recommended	Avoid
Soil	About 70°F, moist, draining, organic	Plant-out into 50°F mud
Air	Consistently about 60°F+ nights before a long outdoor stay	A one-warm-afternoon plant-out followed by a cold week
Start	Pre-sprout indoors if spring soil stays cold	Leaving mail-order tubers in a fridge
Site	Shade to morning sun, marked so you do not dig later	A west bake for a white fancy-leaf type

North Carolina Extension: 70°F soil preferred; start indoors about four weeks early in moist mix if the bed is still cold. Proven Winners: air about 60°F and soil about 65°F as a working floor — Clemson’s 70°F soil is the safer rot line. If tubers arrive early, keep them warm and breathing, not on ice.

Depth, eyes up, and spacing

Wait for warm soil, or pre-sprout (next section) and plant the started tuber out later.
Loosen the bed. Work in compost so moisture holds without a puddle. NC State: plant 2 inches deep.
Set the tuber knobby side / eyes up. Roots and shoots both come from the top.
Space about 8 inches for small tubers, 12 inches for large ones (NC State). Crowding thins the canopy.
Water to settle. Mulch after the soil is warm. Do not bury sprouts under a wet blanket.
Mark the patch. Heat-season gaps look empty until leaves rise.

Too shallow in baking sand dries the eyes. Too deep in cold clay delays and rots. Match nursery pot depth when you transplant a started plant. Candidum and White Christmas still follow this depth — leaf color does not change the shovel.

Pre-sprout indoors when spring stays cold

Use a shallow pot or tray of moist mix. Barely cover the tuber.
Keep the tray warm (room temperature, not a fridge) in bright light.
Start about four weeks before outdoor soil will be 70°F (NC State).
Plant out when nights stay mild and the bed has warmed. Harden if the indoor leaves were in low light — they burn in a sudden hot bed (LSU).

Do not pre-sprout in a sealed wet bag. Rot starts there the same way it starts in cold mud.

First weeks after planting

Keep evenly moist while sprouts rise. Do not flood.
Water the soil in the morning.
Wait for leaves before you judge a “dead” tuber — cool spells stall growth.
If greenhouse foliage scorches, give afternoon shade and wait for new leaves rather than extra fertilizer.

Summer water and scorch live on How to Grow Caladium. This page is the plant-out month.

Lift and store at season end

Deeper than the grow-page checklist: you are closing the year so next spring’s tuber is sound. Dig before frost, when leaves yellow. Shake off loose soil. Cure dry and shaded one to two weeks. Pull dry foliage. Pack so pieces do not touch — dry peat, perlite, or vermiculite. Store dry, above 50°F. Never refrigerate. Check once in winter; throw out anything soft or moldy. In frost-free, draining beds you may leave them — weak deep shade often returns a small tuber (LSU). Pots can stay dormant in a warm closet; stop watering as they yellow. Do not store a wet clump in a plastic bag. That is rot, not rest.

Label the bag by color job if you grow more than one type. White and red look alike as dry tubers. Replant only when soil is 70°F again. The grow page covers the summer water decision. This page covers the shovel and the box.