Repotting guide

When & how to repot Caladium (Caladium bicolor)

Also called angel wings, elephant ear (small), heart of Jesus.

About Caladium

Caladium bicolor · also called angel wings, elephant ear (small) · tropical

Caladium is a tuberous tropical from Brazil with paper-thin heart-shaped leaves in pink, white, red, and green patterns. Grown indoors for a season or outdoors in summer beds; tubers go fully dormant in winter. Toxic to pets due to insoluble calcium oxalates.

Caladium bicolor, a tuberous tropical perennial native to forests of South and Central America that naturally experience pronounced wet and dry seasons.

Wants moist, rich, light, well-drained soil; heavy soils should be amended with compost, and container culture is preferable on clay.

Mature size: 30-60 cm tall

Sources: hort.extension.wisc.edu, missouribotanicalgarden.org, aspca.org

How to tell caladium needs repotting

Repotting on a calendar is less reliable than reading the plant. For caladium, watch for these signs:

Flowering has tailed off year on year and the clump has become congested and overcrowded.
Lots of leaf and few flowers — a classic sign that caladium bulbs or tubers need lifting and dividing.
Bulbs visibly bursting the pot or pushing each other to the surface.
It is the natural dormancy window (foliage yellowed and died back) — the only safe time to lift and split.

For the underlying biology of a pot-bound root system and why it stalls a plant, see our guide to spotting and fixing a root-bound plant.

How often to repot caladium

Lift and divide every 3–4 years once clumps congest. Rather than a true repot, caladium is lifted and divided once the clump congests and flowering drops off. Tuberous tropical perennial; dormant in winter.

What size pot to step caladium up to

Pot size matters less than depth and spacing here. When you replant caladium, set the bulbs or tubers at the correct depth (a rough guide: two to three times their own height of soil over the top) and space them so they are not touching. A wide, shallow pot suits a clump better than a tall narrow one.

Not sure of the exact diameter? Our pot size calculator takes the current pot and root spread and tells you the right next size — it deliberately recommends a single step up, never a big jump.

The best time of year to repot caladium

The only safe window is dormancy: wait until the foliage has yellowed and died back naturally, lift and divide then, and replant before or at the start of the next growing season. Disturbing caladium in full growth or flower sets it back badly.

Step-by-step: repotting caladium

Wait for dormancy. Let caladium foliage yellow and die back completely. Lifting while it is in growth wastes the energy it is storing for next year.
Lift carefully. Loosen the soil well away from the bulbs/tubers with a fork and ease the whole clump out without spearing them.
Separate the offsets. Gently pull the clump apart into individual bulbs or tubers. Keep only firm, healthy, blemish-free ones.
Replant at the right depth. Reset them in fresh rich free-draining mix at the correct depth and spacing — not touching — so each has room to bulk up.
Water in and rest. Water once to settle them, then keep on the dry side until growth resumes. Do not feed until leaves are actively growing.

Aftercare

After replanting caladium, keep the soil barely moist — not wet — until shoots appear; bulbs and tubers rot in cold, saturated soil. Once leaves are growing strongly, resume normal watering. Hold off feeding until the plant is in active growth again.

The right soil mix for caladium

Caladium wants rich free-draining mix. Compost with 20% perlite; tubers planted 5 cm deep. Always use fresh mix when you repot — reusing old, broken-down soil reintroduces the compaction and poor drainage you are repotting to fix.

Repotting caladium — frequently asked questions

How often should you repot caladium?

Lift and divide every 3–4 years once clumps congest for caladium. Caladium is lifted and divided, not "repotted". Every 3–4 years, once the foliage has died back and it is dormant, lift the clump, separate the offsets, and replant at the correct depth in rich free-draining mix. Crowding, not pot size, is what reduces flowering over time.

What size pot does caladium need?

When is the best time of year to repot caladium?

Do you "repot" caladium, or lift and divide it?

You lift and divide it. Caladium grows from bulbs or tubers, so instead of repotting you wait for dormancy, lift the congested clump, separate the healthy offsets, and replant them at the right depth and spacing. Doing this every 3–4 years restores flowering.

Should you fertilise caladium after repotting?

Hold off feeding caladium until it is in active growth again. Fresh soil already carries enough nutrients to get it re-established, and feeding disturbed roots too soon does more harm than good.