Hi! Longtime lurker, coming out of lurkdom for a quick question:
Does anyone know what to do with cyclamen? I have a plant that was given to
me ten months ago. It has bloomed constantly and now I don't see anymore
buds developing so I am assuming it is going into a rest stage. I thought I
probably should repot it, but should I keep it out of the sun for a while
to rest it or should I leave it where it has been very happy? Any
information welcomed!
Thanks,
Barbara in CT, zone 6
"She was not quite what you would call refined. She was not quite what you
would call unrefined, She was the kind of person that keeps a parrot." -
Mark Twain, 1897
"There is a destiny that makes us brothers. No one goes his way alone. All
that we send into the lives of others, comes back into our own." -
Edwin Markham
Hi Barbara,
I'm in a different zone so bear that in mind. Also, all my cyclamen
have been outdoor plants, and it sounds like yours may be a
houseplant? Anyway, cyclamen bloom all winter here. A couple of years
ago when it started to get hot and they were looking worn out, I dug
all of them up and moved them to a very high raised bed that gets
filtered shade all day. They've come back every year and are blooming
like crazy now. Mine go completely dormant over the summer; no leaves
at all. I have planted them very shallowly, so that the top part of
the corm (I think it's a corm) is exposed. They get some water, but
not much and not regularly, though that bed is pretty well mulched so
the soil is probably barely damp most of the time. The corms will rot
easily if covered with soil or mulch, though mine accumulate a bit of
pine straw which I clean off when I remember to. If yours really is a
houseplant, my guess is that it needs a period of dormancy, but maybe
someone more knowledgeable can help you with that. Hope these
meanderings help!
Therese
Beautiful East Texas, zone 8b, where we're headed for an overnight low of 16!
Barbara, sounds like you've got one of the florist's cyclamen, a
variety of C. persicum. If it's been blooming solid for 10 months,
it is likely going into a resting stage. The best thing to do is
make sure you keep it in as cool a room as you can with bright light,
but not direct afternoon sun. East windows are good. Cyclamen do
not like heat. I used to keep mine in our bedroom, which we keep
around 60F in winter, in an east facing bay and they thrived there.
I summer them outside in the shade. Now, I winter them in my cool
greenhouse - where they are blooming their heads off as I type and
where they tolerate temperatures around 40F and sometimes a tad lower
with no ill effects.
Unless it's woefully underpotted, I'd leave it alone. Just keep the
soil moist but not soggy wet and let it rest. Cyclamen tolerate a
certain amount of dryness, but really what they want is very sharp
drainage and, while in leaf, soil that is moist but not wet. If the
tubers go completely dormant (no leaves), they prefer it a bit dryer,
but C. persicum does not want to dry out totally, I have found. If
kept too dry, they will go dormant.
Don't feed it for a while, if you've been feeding it. It may lose
some or all of its leaves or it may not. Some of the newer clones
never go entirely dormant and you don't want to force dormancy as it
may never wake up if you do.
If leaves yellow, remove them at the tuber - a sharp tug will do it
or cut them off. When you see signs of new growth, you can feed
lightly every week or so - something like Miracle Grow or Peters
diluted - and a month or so after that, they ought to start making
flower buds for you again.
Mine don't get repotted very often. These guys are very easy from
seed and very often set seed, even in the house, esp. if you end up
with any annoying flying insects in the house over winter. Seedpods
are round, pea sized affairs that curl back to the tuber and spill
their seed over the mother tuber....takes some time for seed to
ripen. Seed planted fresh germinates about 100%, I found. I started
out with a white and a dark red and now have more than a dozen with
some showing up bicolor white and red, and have given away at least
that many from my seed sowing experiment a few years ago.
Enjoy your cyclamen - they are lovely plants; one of my favorites.
Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@hort.net
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> From: Barbara
> Hi! Longtime lurker, coming out of lurkdom for a quick question:
> Does anyone know what to do with cyclamen? I have a plant that was
given to
> me ten months ago. It has bloomed constantly and now I don't see
anymore
> buds developing so I am assuming it is going into a rest stage. I
thought I
> probably should repot it, but should I keep it out of the sun for a
while
I want to send my thanks for the information I received on my cyclamen. It
is great to have such well informed people just a message away!
Barbara in CT - zone 6
"She was not quite what you would call refined. She was not quite what you
would call unrefined, She was the kind of person that keeps a parrot." -
Mark Twain, 1897
"There is a destiny that makes us brothers. No one goes his way alone. All
that we send into the lives of others, comes back into our own." -
Edwin Markham
