Colorful cyclamen brings a little spring inside the winter home. Easy to care for too!
Cool foggy morning on a San Francisco street in winter some years ago. Heading downhill, feet hitting a dry sidewalk, I see giant cement planters evenly spaced along the curb as I go.
Inside each planter surrounding a pale grey tree trunk, the deep pink flowers of cyclamen stand just above dark green leaves. So captivating!
Pink petals are open like butterflies poised for nectar. Layers of dark green, heart shaped leaves with pale green patterns, cluster in a circle below.
Cyclamen growing outdoors in winter surprises this Midwesterner. Blooms are for indoors.
Available during the holiday season, blooming cyclamen adds beauty indoors. The freshness of a living flowering plant lasts through weeks and weeks of cold grey days.
Flowers make you happy during winter but also growing in the right spot indoors they look happy!
How do you care for the one you were given or bought during the holidays? Let’s find out.
Features of Cyclamen persicum
This is the florist version of the hardy cyclamen which grows outdoors.
Native to: Algeria to eastern Mediterranean.
Name refers to: The round shape ot the tuber. The name is derived from the Greek word for circle.
Zones: 9-11
Leaves: Rounded, heart-shaped, deep green with pale green variegations.
Blooms: Pink to red to white, lavender to purple. Five petals loosely cluster together.
Height: 6-8 inches
Width: Depends upon the size pot you buy. The number of tubers in each pot varies. They come in pots from very small to large.
Grows from: Tuber.
Care
- Hopefully you got a plant that has a lot of buds about to bloom. Flowers last for several months.
- Sunlight: Keep it in a sunny but cool location. Heat sources like furnace vents, dryers and ovens create a too-hot environment.
- Soil: Average to slightly acidic.
- Water: Once a week water from the bottom of the plant. Place the pot in a tray of water. Check to see that the top of the soil is moist and then remove the pot.
Cyclamen likes moist but not wet soil. Overwatering rots the tubers.
- Fertilize: Not necessary for the indoor florist version.
Problems/Pests
Mites are parasites which are too small to see with the naked eye. They cause damage before you know they are there. The larvae feed on new plant growth.
The growth is stunted. For example, buds may form but wither before having a chance to bloom.
There are a couple of solutions.
You can throw it out so your other plants aren’t infected.
You can use an organic insecticidal spray and follow directions.
Prevent mites from developing by keeping the humidity low. Indoors in winter this should not be a problem as the air is dry.
Uses
Cyclamen is a seasonal indoor plant. Most people enjoy the blooms through the winter. The foliage is pretty even without flowers. Throw it out once it finishes blooming and loses its leaves.
Can‘t I grow it year round?
Sometimes it’s fun to see if you can grow a plant that others say probably won’t grow or rebloom. Cyclamen is one of those plants.
I tried regrowing the plant once and succeeded. However, it did not produce any blooms.
Maybe you’ll do better than I did. Give it a try! Here’s some tips:
1. When it stops blooming and the leaves die back, remove the leaves. Reduce watering gradually, then stop watering.
2. Put the pot in a cool spot and let the tubers dry. You can also take them out of the pot and pack them in dry peat moss. They are dormant just like summer bulbs that you save over winter.
3. Midsummer, repot in fresh soil and place in a sunny window or in partial shade outside.
4. Water the pot regularly from the bottom to keep the tubers from getting too wet.
5. When foliage begins to grow place the pot in a cool spot to encourage blooms.
Cyclamen is a beautiful and easy to maintain flowering plant for indoors. It’s hard to say goodbye to the butterfly blooms when the season is over. But by then it’s spring and new flowers outdoors will entrance you!
References
North Carolina State University Extension
USDA Resources Conservation Service
Copyright 2019 Juli Seyfried