cycleman seeds

Any seeds produced should be in a pod that appears where the flowers were, but I have to say, the only time I've seen seeds on cyclamen is on the autumn flowering, hardy garden ones, where they're held on a stem like a corkscrew with the pod at the end.

After flowering the stem of the cyclamen curles up to the base of the plant. The seed pod forms in the centre of the spiral on the ground. BUT, the seed does not develope and ripen until next spring/summer. The spiralled stem will start to straighten out and push the, now full, seed capsule away from the plant and spill the seeds on the ground. This is the time to collect and sow the seed.

But, Bulbaholic, have you ever seen seeds on either the houseplant ones, or the little bedding ones available in the autumn?

Whilst we don't grow the houseplant cyclamen we do sometimes buy the mini-cylamen and, yes, they do set seed but I have never tried to grow them on. Could this be a pollination issue? Most of our mini cyclamen are planted in a trough outsde the back door and all the insects can get to them. Possibly the right sort of insects don't come into the house. I have a small collection of 'special' cyclamen in the greenhouse, well ventilated, and they often set seed.

Cyclamen persicum in all its forms do set seed, but they need a certain amount of warnth to do so.
Did you know that most Cyclamen seed is distributed by ants? The seed is covered in a sugar which the ants like. They remove the seeds and clean off the sugar and leave the seed to germinate. This is one reason why it is often recommended to wash the seeds before sowing them.

No I didn't know, Owdboggy and nor did I know, Bulbaholic, that the little bedding ones set seed outside. Well, I've learnt two things today, result!

I have just added three pics to my Photo page to illustrate cyclamen seed heads.
If the flower has been pollinated, when the dead flower falls off the stem will be held straight up in the air with a tiny seed head on top. This is not yet ripe and there is no pont n harvesting it. Within a few days the stem will curl downwards and so that the seed head snuggles in the centre of a tight spiral at soil level (pics 2 & 3). They will remain like this throughout the winter. In spring the seeheads will fatten up and the spiral stem start to straighten out pushing the ripe seed away from the parent. They are now ready to harvest and sow.
Picture 1 shows a trough planted with mini cyclamen which has sat outdoors since August. Some seed heads are still standing upright whilst others are just beginning their downwards spiral. If these corm survive the winter the seedheads will be viable next spring.

Fascinating stuff, so even those little bedders set seed, and I've been binning them, oh, I could kick myself. I see they do the same thing as the hardy outdoor autumn flowering ones, in that the seeds are held in that tight spiralled stem. Thanks for the pics and info, Bulbaholic.

Hi Bamboo, whilst I have germinated the mini cylamen I don't really think that it worth the effort. The seed take several years to reach flowering size, the flower colours will be of varying qualty, they are forms of Cyclamen persicum which is not hardy, and they are so cheap to buy. They are mass produced by Dutch growers using micro propagation techniques.

that's a relief, I'll stop feeling guilty then, I probably won't live long enough to see them flower from seed;-))

i have grwon the houseplants from seed. they took 3 years to flower. my mum had a white one. all the babies, 5 in total were all mid pink

There you go, Bamboo, you have plenty of time for a few generations of cyclamen yet!

Hee, hee Bulbaholic - think I'll give it a miss, with the tiny amount of growing space I currently have and no greenhouse;-)