Getting Real About the Caladium Pest Problem

So, after weeks and weeks of no improvement with my caladium pest problem, I decided to take a more aggressive approach.

To quickly recap, thus far I was combatting the aphids/mites/bugs/pests by rinsing the whole plant under the sink and wiping off whatever visible bugs I could find.  Then I'd douse the stems and top of the soil with a part-rubbing alcohol, part-water spray.  The stalks would remain relatively free of bugs for a couple days, but invariably after a week, they'd be coated with creepy crawlers all over again.

So, about a week ago, I put the caladium outside on my stoop (south-facing and mostly unshaded).  I don't know why, but I tend to think that houseplant bugs can't handle the outdoors (when my ivy got infested with what may have been spider mites, I shoved it outdoors for awhile too.  In that particular instance, the ivy died shortly after.).  This did manage to eliminate several of the bugs, to my relief (basically saved me the step of flooding the whole plant under the faucet).

Next, I did a little research and determined that keeping a shade-loving plant in direct sunlight all day was probably not a long-term solution.  I brought the caladium inside and decide to repot it.  When I started removing the soil and rinsing it in the sink, I noticed the "tubers" (like a bulb) were separating or separated.  I decided to use some more of my handy dandy baby food jars as pots and divvy those bad boys up.

Then I prepped 6 or 7 baby food jars.  I started by dropping in maybe a half scoop of river gravel.

The gravel is always dirty or dusty when you get it, so it's a good idea to give the stones a quick rinse in the jars.  Notice in the photo below the pre-rinse jar on the right with cloudy water, and the post-rinse jar on the left with clear water.

Then I prepped some soil.  I don't have a lot in stock, so I used about 5 parts African violet potting soil (which is sphangum peat moss and vermiculite) to 2 parts perlite.  This may have been too much perlite, but I did my best to eyeball the combination of the original potting soil that came with the plant.

Then I thoroughly rinsed off each leaf, stalk and tuber before dropping the little tubers into the jars.  Each tuber had one to three leaves.  Lastly, I packed the jars tightly with my soil concoction.  I'm not sure if packing in the soil tightly was a good idea or not.  I tend to think that a compacted soil is most reminiscent of soil conditions outside, but I guess sometimes houseplants don't always need the same conditions as the outdoors, particularly when things like drainage become a concern.  I guess we will see how these make out!

For now, the plants will sit in isolated areas near sunny windows, until a week or two has passed when I feel confident the bug problem has not returned.