Cyclamen Care
Cyclamen are traditionally sold during the winter as a florist plant. Most will bloom from mid-November until spring, provided conditions are satisfactory. Blooms are white, red, pink or lavender and appear to hang upside down over the heart-shaped mottled green/gray foliage.
LIGHT
Cyclamen prefer cool temperatures and bright indirect light. An east window provides adequate light.
TEMPERATURE
Ideal daytime temperatures are 60-65 degrees F. with night temperatures around 50 degrees.
HUMIDITY
High humidity during the winter indoors is also crucial. To maintain humidity, fill a large plate or broad, shallow pan or tray with water. Set the cyclamen on an inverted dish, just out of the water. Pebbles could be placed on a plate, pan or tray with the pot setting on the pebbles.
WATERING REQUIREMENTS
Plants prefer to be kept moist. Most are planted in a peat moss soil that dries quickly. Plants can wilt quickly. Make sure pots have drainage holes. Repot if drainage holes are not present. Avoid watering the crown or center of the plant.
FERTILIZE
Use 20-20-20, half strength while flowering.
AFTER FLOWERING
Feed full strength every 2 weeks while new leaves form. Reduce water as leaves die. Do not feed then. Replant dry corm into new soil and keep corm showing above the soil. Begin watering again and feeding every 2 weeks. After flowers start fading, gradually withhold water. When the foliage is withered, remove the “bulb” (actually a tuber) from the soil, clean off all soil from it and store it in unmoistened peat moss or vermiculite in a plastic bag at 50 degrees F. Replant in good potting soil in May or June, keeping the upper half of the tuber above the surface. Grow that plant in a cool, bright, protected spot outside, with a partial shade during the hottest part of the day, and with the pot sunk in a bed of moist peat moss. Water adequately and feed about twice a month with a complete liquid fertilizer. Bring indoors before cold weather, and provide full sun and the temperature suggested above.
SIGNS OF DISTRESS
Bud blasting or aborting as well as yellowing leaves result from hot and dry conditions, lack of water or insufficient light.