their excellent technical support. This research was funded by the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station (FAES) and grants from the Florida Caladium Growers' Association and the Gloeckner Foundation.
Caladiums (Caladium×hortulanum) are ornamental aroids often forced in containers or grown in the landscape for their colorful leaves. The aesthetic value of caladium plants is largely determined by their leaf characteristics. Caladium breeding can be traced back to the mid-1800s when Gregor Mendel conducted his plant hybridization experiments, but information on the inheritance of caladium traits has been rather scant. To understand the mode of inheritance for three typical leaf shapes and three main vein colors in caladium, controlled crosses were made among commercial cultivars and breeding lines, and segregation of leaf shape and/or main vein color in the progeny was analyzed. The observed segregation ratios indicated that a single locus with three alleles seemed to determine the main vein color in caladium. The white vein allele was dominant over the green vein allele, but recessive to the red vein allele, which was dominant over both white and green vein alleles. The three leaf shapes (fancy, lance, and strap) in caladium seemed to be controlled by two co-dominant alleles at one locus. Leaf shape segregation was skewed in some crosses, which might imply the existence of other factors involved in caladium leaf shape development. Chi-square tests revealed that leaf shape and main vein color were inherited independently in caladium.
plants in landscapes that are irrigated with herbicide-treated water. Materials and methods Anthurium, caladium, spathiphyllum, and syngonium were purchased in Apr. and May 2009 from Agri-Starts IV, Inc. in Apopka, FL. All plants were purchased as liners
Abstract
One pot study and 2 field experiments were conducted to evaluate the use of ethephon, acifluorfen, endothall, dinoseb, glyphosate, oxyfluorfen, and paraquat as harvesting aids (removal of root and shoot tissue) in caladium (Caladium × hortulanum Birdsey) tuber production. Of these 7 compounds, paraquat and oxyfluorfen showed the most potential with 2 applications at 15-day intervals reducing ‘Canadium’ and ‘Freida Hemple’ caladium root weight as much as 51% and shoot weight up to 90%. No residual effects were observed for these herbicide treatments when tubers were subsequently forced in a greenhouse. Chemical names used: (2-chloroethyl)phosphonic acid (ethephon); [2-chloro-4-(trifluoromethyl)phonoxy]-2-nitrobenzoate (acifluorfen) (7-oxabicyclo[2.2.1]heptane-2,3-dicarboxylic acid (endothall); 2-(l-methylpropyl)-4,6-cinitrophenol (dinoseb); N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine (glyphosate); 2-chloro-l-(3-ethoxy-4-nitrophenoxy)-4-(trifluormethyl)benzene (oxyfluorfen); (1,1-dimethyl-4,4′-bipyridinium ion (paraquat).
excellent technical support. This research was funded in part by grants from the Florida Caladium Growers' Association. We appreciate R. Hartman's generous donation of tissue cultured caladium plants for this study.
Florida Caladium Growers' Association and approved for publication as Journal Series No. R-10657. We appreciate Dr. R. Hartman's donation of tissue-cultured caladium plants for this study.
Caladium (Caladium ×hortulanum) leaves can be injured at air temperatures below 15.5 °C. This chilling sensitivity restricts the geographical use of caladiums in the landscape, and leads to higher fuel costs in greenhouse production of pot plants because warmer conditions have to be maintained. This study was conducted to develop procedures to evaluate differences among caladium cultivars for chilling sensitivity and to identify cultivars that might be resistant to chilling injury. The effects of two chilling temperatures (12.1 and 7.2 °C) and three durations (1, 3, and 5 days) on the severity of chilling injury were compared for three cultivars known to differ in their sensitivity to low temperatures. Exposure of detached mature leaves to 7.2 °C for 3 days allowed differentiation of cultivars' chilling sensitivity. Chilling injury appeared as dark necrotic patches at or near leaf tips and along margins, as early as 1 day after chilling. Chilling injury became more widespread over a 13-day period, and the best window for evaluating cultivar differences was 9 to 13 days after chilling. Significant differences in chilling sensitivity existed among 16 cultivars. Three cultivars, `Florida Red Ruffles', `Marie Moir', and `Miss Muffet', were resistant to chilling injury. These cultivars could serve as parents for caladium cold-tolerance breeding, and this breeding effort could result in reduced chilling injury in greenhouse production of potted plants, or in new cultivars for regions where chilling occurs during the growing season.
The ornamental value of caladium (Caladium ×hortulanum Birdsey) depends primarily on leaf characteristics, including leaf shape and main vein color. Caladium leaf shapes are closely associated with plant growth habit, stress tolerance, and tuber yield; leaf main vein colors are often used for cultivar identification. Thirty-eight crosses were made among 10 cultivars and two breeding lines; their progeny were analyzed to understand the inheritance of leaf shape and main vein color and to determine if there is a genetic linkage between these two traits. Results showed that a single locus with three alleles determined the main vein color in caladium. The locus was designated as V, with alleles V r, V w, and V g for red, white, and green main veins, respectively. The white vein allele was dominant over the green vein allele, but it was recessive to the red vein allele, which was dominant over both white and green vein alleles; thus the dominance order of the alleles is V r > V w > V g. Segregation data indicated that four major red-veined cultivars were heterozygous with the genotype Vr V g, and that one white-veined cultivar was homozygous and one other white-veined cultivar and one breeding line were heterozygous. The observed segregation data confirmed that the three leaf shapes in caladium were controlled by two co-dominant alleles at one locus, designated as F and f, for fancy and strap leaves, respectively. The skewedness of leaf shape segregation in some of the crosses implied the existence of other factors that might contribute to the formation of leaf shape. Contingency chi-square tests for independence revealed that caladium leaf shape and main vein color were inherited independently. The chi-square tests for goodness-of-fit indicated that the five observed segregation patterns for leaf shape and main vein color fit well to the expected ratio assuming that two co-dominant and three dominant/recessive alleles control leaf shape and main vein color and they are inherited independently.
Experiments with' White Christmas' and `Carolyn Wharton' caladiums (Caladium × hortulanum Birdsey), croton (Codiaeum variegatum), brassaia (Brassaia actinophylla Endl.), `Annette Hegg Dark Red' poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima Wind.), and `Super Elfin Red' and `Show Stopper' impatiens [Impatiens wallerana (L.) Hook.f.] determined effectiveness of paclobutrazol in solid spike form as compared to media drench applications for height control. Paclobutrazol drenches and spikes were effective for all crops tested, with a similar concentration response for all, except that drenches had greater efficacy than spikes on caladium. A reduced effect was observed when spikes were placed on the medium surface of `Super Elfin Red' impatiens, while placement in the middle of the pot or around the side was equally effective. These results indicate that the spike formulation of paclobutrazol has potential to provide adequate size control for floriculture crops with the possible exception of rapidly developing crops, such as caladiums. Chemical name used: (2RS, 3RS)-1-(4-chlorophenyl)-4,4-dimethyl-2-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl-) penten-3-ol (paclobutrazol).
Phosphorus is considered a major pollutant of lakes in central Florida, and growers producing crops in the Lake Okeechobee watershed are being challenged to reduce use of P fertilizer. Caladium (Caladium×hortulanum Birdsey) tubers are produced on organic soils within this area. This study was done to determine if current commercial P fertilization rates could be reduced or eliminated, since these organic soils have high levels of water extractable P (Pw). Two farms were selected with low (Farm A 19 lb/acre; 21 kg·ha-1) or high (Farm B 59 lb/acre; 66 kg·ha-1) preplant Pw levels. Production of caladium tubers with the standard grower P fertilization practice (Farm A = P at 39.2 lb/acre; 43.9 kg·ha-1, or Farm B = P at 15.9 lb/acre; 17.8 kg·ha-1) was compared to production with either one-half the standard grower rate of P or no P. The percentage of harvested tubers in each of five grades and the estimated harvested tuber value index were similar irrespective of the amount of P fertilizer used on either farm. These results indicate that P could be eliminated from the fertilization program for caladium tuber production on organic soils.