Ooh, very pretty! Thanks for the inspiration photos & for starting a journal of results. This is my first year trying them too. In FL, strawberries are grown as annuals. Plant in October, yank around April. So I need something to fill in the rest of the year. I selected a caladium variety (from local big box store) that was rated for full sun. I started them indoors in pots in February. They were big enough to plant out in April, and they are in ground now. I am very curious to find out if they really can take full sun. So far, they are showing a bit of sunburn on the leaves that emerged indoors, but the new leaves seem to be doing fine! I'll post a pic when I get a chance.

Quick post

I just received my Size #1 Moonlight caladium bulbs in the mail. As I am unpacking them they are totally different than my Fannie Munson Size #1. The Fannie Munson bulbs were one big bulb with one bud. These are 2-8 small bulbs that are grown together in a clump plus alot of small loose #3 sized. I wonder if this is because they are a different variety or maybe these were de-eyed in previous years. Kinda concerned since the FM were big fat bulbs and these are so different. Pictures to follow in next post. If anyone knows if this is normal for Moonlight or a result of de-eying please let me know.

Ok so here is what I got from Caladiumbulbs4less. I ordered 50 Size #1 Moonlight.

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They are quite different than the Fannie Munson size 1 from caladium depot. The large tubers were many small bulbs that were grown together. This may be the way Moonlight grows or it may be the result of de-eyeing. So there were about 35 large size clumps (1.5-3.5inches). None were a large individual bulb with one bud. See the comparison photo, the left is moonlight and right is fannie munson.

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The rest were small bulbs, between 1/4 inch to about 1.5 inches.

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If you separated the large clumps you would have these. There were about 60 or so of these small bulbs. The box was labeled 50 Moonlight #1. I believe that a single bulb that has one bud will produce larger leaves, so I think these Moonlight will produce smaller leaves. Not sure whether to contact the company about these or not. Maybe this is normal. I got alot of bulbs but it was more of wide variety of sizes, as some sites sell by the bushel of small/medium.

I went ahead and got these started in pots same as above.

Today I ran across a 2 places that have Moonlight labeled as a dwarf variety. I was unaware of this fact, as it is not listed as dwarf in the lsu ag trials or the uf literature. Maybe that is why the tubers have smaller bulbs. The leaf size in the trials was listed as 21 to 24 inches, however the websites that have moonlight labeled dwarf say leaf size is 12-18. So maybe there is a dwarf moonlight and a large fancy leaf moonlight.

I love Caladiums, too, and although I've grown them many times, I've not examined the bulbs closely. Please keep us posted on the progress of your bulbs! My favs are the white ones and Carolyn Whorton. I'm pretty sure one of the ones that's come back this spring is a FM. They are all so pretty!

It has been 12 days since I planted the FM caladiums in pots. They were outside in the sun most days and brought in in the evening. Daytime temps were in the 80's. Here is what they look like now.

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I decided to plant them in the ground today since some of the bulbs were crowded together in a big shallow pan and I did not want the roots to grow together. I dug a hole for each about 6 inches deep and 8 inches wide. The bulbs were spaced about 10-12 inches apart, so 2-4 inches between each hole. I filled the hole with peat moss, lime, bone meal, and covered with pine bark mulch. I applied Preen on the entire bed and watered thoroughly.

Now for the Moonlight Caladiums. Today I saw that two of the pots have a small bud emerging.

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I expected the bud to look green or white since that is the color of the leaves, but they are pink just like the Fannie Munson. It has been 10 days since they were planted. I will wait for more growth before putting them in the ground, and I dont have their bed prepared just yet. More updates to come.

I have been trying to find out if I can use Preen in the caladium beds. Anyone have experience with Preen (trifuralin) and Caladiums?

Another update. First here are some pictures to show the spacing of the Fannie Munson bed.

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Here is a closeup of the leaves emerging from the shoot.

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The Moonlight Caladium bulbs are emerging. I will need to plant them soon. I am still concerned about their leaf size as the shoots are much smaller than the FM shoots.

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Sperritt, how did it all turn out?

I am a beginner container gardener and just bought and re-planted a couple of these. Thanks for your nice summary in the first post and the photo-log - very useful and interesting.

Well this was anticlimactic. I was looking forward to seeing the results.