Gardening Talks ft. jean_plant_love

Jeanel and her Caladiums and Syngoniums:

‘‘Welcome to the gardening talks featuring Jean Plant Love. Today we will be answering a few very simple questions to understand more about Syngonium and Caladiums. So, today we have Mrs. G. Jeanel Margaret with her Caladium and Syngonium plants.

Hello Jeanel, How are you?” asked Zehra. ‘‘Hello everyone, and hello Zehra, I am doing great and I am very happy to be back with another Workshop, with the affordable organic store.” Said Jeanel ‘‘Jeanel is a multi-talented person and she is a loving mom to a girl as well as lots of lovely plants. Before beginning with the question. Jeanel tell me about yourself?” said Zehra. “I am Jeanel Margaret. I’m professionally a teacher and now I’m working as a Principal in a CBSE school. I have a daughter who is doing her college in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. I’m very passionate about plants and my interest is completely in plants. I want to live along with the plants, very particular in using the plant in my daily life. So, that is my Motto and also I’m promoting everybody to be Vegan and then also like, use plants in multiple ways you know that instead of going for the chemical, you can go for the Organic one. So, that is what my Mission and Mission are to be, and that is what I’m doing now, also I thank the Affordable Organic Store for inviting me again for another Workshop. So, that I can share my mind with my followers and my friends and also with other people.” Said Jeanel. 

1. “how can you tell the difference between Caladium and Synogonium?” asked Zehra.

“Many beginners get confused because of the similarity between its leaves and color. These two plants are entirely different but they have a distinct relationship with the same family, botanically. . The difference between Caladium and Syngonium are: 

1. That Caladium grows through the tubers and Syngonium grows through the roots, which is the first difference between them.
2. The Caladium and the Syngonium adopt different kinds of climate conditions. The Caladium always wants a warmer climate condition and the soil should always be in moist condition. But the Syngonium plants can bear little cold climate conditions as well as hot climate conditions. 
3. During the hot climate, the Syngonium should be moved in the direction of indirect sunlight but sunlight is the worst enemy of the Caladiums because if the leaves are burned by the sun’s rays, it is difficult to recover the plan.

You can propagate it in the water but you cannot do it as it can be possible in thousand and one cases only, they can grow. Therefore, the living time of Caladium and Syngonium leaves does vary. The Caladium plants live for 2-3 days or 4-5 days and then they may die. So, Caladiums have more than 1000 kinds of varieties. The primary colors that you can find in Caladium are White, Green, Red, and some types of Pink, you cannot see any other colors than this but people are making different colors like Peach and Beige. There are some rarest varieties, like full White color Caladium. Which are very rare and costly. Whereas, if we talk about Syngonium there are around 16 varieties of this plant. Among that 16 varieties, 13 varieties came from Brazil and Mexico. The reason why Syngonium grows so well in India is that Mexico and India have similar kinds of climatic conditions. The 13 varieties came from Costa Rica and around 11 from Panama and some others from their native area.” Said Jeanel.

“Yes, that was a very detailed explanation. And this is how we can differentiate between the normal and a teacher talking. So, moving to the next question:

2. “what conditions do Caladium and Syngonium like?” asked Zehra. 

“Caladium and Syngonium, both need indirect sunlight. When you plant Caladium in moist soil, you should leave it overnight. It should be planted only when the temperature is above 25 degree Celsius. As the plant cannot bare cold climate conditions and therefore, you may find it growing under trees or in shady places. Talking about Syngonium, they are user-friendly and they don’t die in cold or hot climate conditions. The Syngonium leaves are green in color when you place this plant in the morning sunlight, it will get a Pink shade leaves and the times it is kept inside the house it seems to be Green in color. You can keep the Caladium and Syngonium in the morning sunlight, around 6-7 a.m., as it is the best time to find food.” Said Jeanel.

“Thank you so much, for explaining that so well to us. Let’s take the next question: 

3. “Is Syngonium a Climber?” asked Zehra. 

“Yes absolutely, the plant planted on my right is a Climber, I planted it as a sapling which is 5 inches or something. Thankfully, I have a plant of that kind of growth. The side of the plant has also grown longer. Then it can be supported by a moss stick for its growth, which can be 6 feet tall. To avoid the tall plant, we can trim the plant when it is dried. If you want a bushy plant, it needs to be pruned regularly for better growth. It can grow on Hanging Pots too. I have another Syngonium that is supported by the Moss stick and I have twisted it around it, so this will grow in a twisted form. And this also has Pink color lines on the leaves. Therefore, Syngoniums can be grown in three different ways:-  

1. You can have growth with the help of the Moss stick.
2. You can keep it in the pot as a show plant.
3. You can also keep it in hanging pots.

Talking about Syngonium, the evergreen Syngoniums are called Authentic Climbers. I do have an authentic evergreen Syngonium. The last point I want to mention is that, if you want to propagate you can cut the plant according to the gaps between the nodes and you can propagate in the water.

I think the root will take at least one month to grow and then after the roots will come, the new leaves will come. So you can cut between the nodes and put it in the water to propagate it. So, it is a climber and it can grow in different patterns.” Said Jeanel.

“Wow, that’s a wonderful property of Syngonium. So, I just wanted to ask you, These plants on your right (Syngonium), the roots that are coming out of the plant so, if we just put it back into the Pot will it grow?” asked Zehra.

“Yes, of course, you can cut it near the nodes of the stem. Syngonium can be cut anywhere between the nodes of the stem, you can put it first in the water so that you can have a new root. Once the new root comes through water, propagation of water is faster than in the soil. So that is why some plants have to be propagated through the water.” Said Jeanel.

“So the next question for today is:

4. “how Caladium multiplies?” asked Zehra.

“So, Caladiums are tubers. I have small Caladium pots at my house. The Caladiums that I have, it has small leaves which are called Strap leaves, and plants with bigger leaves are called Fancy leaves. I by accident saw the Fancy leaf in my neighborhood and asked for it. The Fancy leaf grows up to 30 inches.

Talking about growing, it can multiply on this own, with the help of the Tuber. You can even grow it by cutting the Tuber in half and planting it in two different pots. But you have to keep in mind to plant it during the spring and summer seasons when Caladiums can grow. They have one leaf attached to one stem. The plant reproduces every 6 months. So, Caladiums multiply only through Tubers.” Said Jeanel.

“So Caladiums have a short life span?” asked Zehra. “Yes, Caladiums have a short lifespan but the tuber has a lifespan of 3-years.” Said Jeanel.

5. “How can you make the Caladium grow faster?” Asked Zehra.

“The main sources to grow a Caladium faster are Climatic conditions, Water, and Soil. The pH level of the soil is important, as it requires moist soil. Caladium can grow on Clay but as days go by it gets tightened and it will have slow growth. If you talk about Red Soil, you can find it in the plant nursery, because if you bring the plant from the nursery you can only see Red soil. After all, it is nutritious soil, hard soil, and the nursery uses it to maintain the gardening soil and plant grip, they produce many packets, so if the soil is loose the plant will come out. Water is also important, if you find the water yellowish after keeping the Caladium plant in it for a day don’t use that water as it is not suitable for it.” Said Jeanel.

6. “Do Caladiums needs Fertilizers?” asked Zehra.

“Both Caladium and Syngonium need fertilizers if required. The smallest and the cheapest fertilizer that someone can buy is NPK, it comes in a granule form. It is recommended, to take only four granules and place them in the corners of the soil of the pot, not near the roots as it is very powerful and it can even kill the plant. As a beginner, use only two of the granules. The important point, use fertilizers twice a year for Caladium and Syngonium. Potassium and Phosphorus are good for Caladium and Syngonium NPK is good.” Said Jeanel.

“What about Cow Dung fertilizer and Manure?” Said Zehra. “Cow dung has a lot of acid consistency and is dangerous, if you use an excessive amount of Cow dung in the plant it will burn the plant. You can use it in small quantities, as I know the Affordable Organic Store is selling Cow dung in the size of a small cake that is the perfect size to be used in pots.

I would suggest people, properly use any kind of fertilizers, but putting it in the corners of the pot rather than in the center, as we are not aware of the condition of the roots, it may have a bad effect on it.” Said Jeanel.

“If you have noticed, the nursery has proper knowledge and measurement to use the fertilizers, but we normal people do not know and even if we ask them they won’t tell us. Because they have the fertilizers to make the plant grow faster and to make the plant die faster.” Said Jeanel.

Thank you so much Jeanel!

It was a very simple explanation that a layman can understand very easily. I hope this session helps and thank you everyone, for being in this workshop. “Thank you Jeanel for your valuable time and efforts for solving the questions. Thank you all of you for joining the workshop.”So let’s Root for each other and watch each other Grow.

HAPPY GARDENING!