Abstract
Caladiums, grown for the colorful foliage in containers and the landscape, are the major floricultural tuber crop grown in Florida. They are planted for their variety of leaf colors, shapes, color patterns, and their ability to grow in areas of reduced light and high temperatures. `Florida Calypso' (FC), a fancy leaf caladium with dark-red central venation and rose and white blotches, was released by the Univ. of Florida in 1995. It is in the same color classification as `Carolyn Whorton' (CW), a top-selling rose/pink cultivar. When grown with on de-eyed 6.5-cm-diameter tuber per 10-cm pot, FC was 33 cm tall, produced five leaves within 33.4 days from planting, and had 33.6 leaves after 8 weeks, compared to 42.9 cm, 48.2 days, and 11.0 leaves, respectively, of CW. When grown in the field for tuber production, FC produced larger tubers, had a greater total tuber yield by weight, and had a higher production index than CW. Tuber yields of FC were not significantly different than `Candidum', the cultivar produced most in Florida. `Florida Calypso' can be grown in heavily shaded areas or in full sun in the landscape and in 10- to 40-cm containers.
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