Jorielle's Blog

Cyclamen
Apr 5, 2008 | 10:10 PM PST
Please note: These instructions are for our mild Californian temperate weather. It won't work in other areas so don't you dare try it if you live where it freezes.

Keep it cool.

Most folks put their cyclamen in the house and it is too hot!!! The leaves begin to droop and turn yellow and soon the plant looks so bad that if it isn't dead you wish it would hurry up and die.

We're going to talk about Southern California on this page and other temperate areas. First lets look at where cyclamen come from. The cyclamen is a semi-alpine plant. They are native to the mountains in the area of Turkey.

Again, Number one rule: Keep your cyclamen COOL. Here in S. Calif. or other temperate areas that means outdoors in a shady to semi-shady spot. If you have to put it indoors, pick the coldest spot. Give it some fresh cool air outdoors when ever you can.

Number two rule: Grow your cyclamen in the winter. In Southern California Cyclamen are one of the best winter blooming plants. You can use them in pots on tables, by the front door or planted in a nice shade bed. Great for atriums.

Even though you will see cyclamen all year round in nurseries and super markets, it is really a cool weather crop. Just remember that when the weather gets hot your cyclamen will get ready to go to down hill and will want to go dormant. This is a normal cycle.

Number three fact, not a rule. Cyclamen is a tuberous plant. A tuber is a storage organ and most tuberous plants have a rest period. Potatoes are tubers, onions are not. When your cyclamen has been blooming and growing for the winter, spring season and the weather warms up for the summer, then your plant begins to want to rest. At that time the leaves will fall over as if they were wilting and eventually fall off . The plant will stop blooming. Most people think that they have killed their cyclamen. They throw it away and feel a little guilty. Your cylamen is not dead. Just resting for the summer. If you leave it alone with out too much water many times your plant will start to grow again in the fall and give you another season. The miniature species is especially good about this.

Number Four rule: Don't bury your cylamen too deep. You need to be sure that the top of the little tuber is just above the soil level. Plant it too deep and it will soon get Crown Rot and do 'you know what'. In fact, if you cover up that crown area you might as well hold the funeral right away, because it will die soon!!

Don't put too much water right in the crown area.

Be sure you have good air circulation too.

Keep your plants well fed.

Pull out the stems that have gone to seed.

Hint! The seeds are hard, the new buds are soft. They look very much alike so this is an important little fact.

Pick a few flowers to go into a bud vase. They are so pretty and last quite well.

Watch out for cyclamen mites. They are too small for you to see but they do a huge amount of damage right in the crown/bud area. Cyclamen mites will give you a distorted and hard little non-growth right in the area where the buds and new growth come out. It is usually wiser and more economical to just throw the plant away. Your chances of cleaning it up are terrible. $20.00 worth of sprays, followed with failure and the infestation of other plants nearby. After all it's only a plant, not a person.