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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
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.
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.
This research was supported in part by the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station and approved for publication as journal series R-08681. The authors thank the Caladium Growers Association for financial support of this research, and Bates
resources by the green industries. 11 Nov. 2011. < http://fyn.ifas.ufl.edu/pdf/GIBMP_Manual_WEB_2_17_11.pdf > Harbaugh, B.K. Overman, A.J. 1984 Evaluation of fertilizer types and rates on Caladium × hortulanum Birdsey ‘Candidum’ tuber production in muck
vulgaris ( Lucas and Griffiths, 2004 )], soybean [ Glycine max ( Bates et al., 2008 )], and wheat [ Triticum aestivum ( Higginbotham et al., 2004 )]. Caladium ( Caladium × hortulanum ) is one of the few floriculture species evaluated for resistance to
studies as well. For example, EC 10 values of topramezone on caladium ( Caladium × hortulanum ) and syngonium ( Syngonium podophyllum ) were 186 and >6000 µg·L −1 , respectively, and EC 10 values of bispyribac-sodium on caladium and anthurium