Cyclamen Caring For?

Hello Sieusie, and nice to have you on the forum. I'm no expert but you'll get plenty of help here. I have several which I've brought in for winter. They are looking fine. I don't fuss mine just a little feed (from the saucer not on top) and I don't put them where it's too hot. They are such nice flowers to cheer us up well into the winter. hope you have success with yours.

hi seusie i agree with Heron I find mine do well on the kitchen windowsill they seem to like it light but not warm. Also when the flowers are over and the seeds begin to form I gently pull out the whole stem do not leave any behind as it will start to rot -- the same with the leaves if they yellow or you could just remove the see head and see if it dries naturally but keep an eye down under the leaves towards the corm to be sure its clean with no sign of mildew or rotting off this can happen if its kept too damp this is all as a precaution I find they are generally easy and so pretty

Hi Sieusie and welcome if you have been given cyclamen hederifolium then they can be grown inside or out. We have a small trough of them by the back door right now and they will stay there until the weather gets too cold and frosty when they will come inside to our front porch. They can also be treated as house plants, they need somewhere cool and bright and whilst folk do put them on kitchen windowsills the air can get a little humid for them there. Dining room or bedroom would be better. Water from below and do not let them stand in water.

Pamg. the seed will only dry on the plant not if you remove it green.

Personally we don't bother about removing the seed heads on the outside ones as we like them. Bulbaholic has pictures of our trough of them on his pix. page. Indoor I would remove the seed heads to maintain flowering.

With care you should be able to keep the corms going for many years, just put them outside for the summer months.

i have an indoor plant that is well over 20 yrs old. I water it from the bottom and let it become all most dry before re watering. [truth -i often forget and when the leaves look a little wilted i do it] I have it initially in a cool bathroom and when the flower buds form i move it onto the kitchen window sill brighter more direct light. as flowers and leaves fade i nip them off close to the tuber. I feed it on baby bio once a month. when it is finished and it starts to lose its leaves i then reduce the watering until it is dormant.

if any of the flowers sets seed i leave them on until the pod splits and then i grow the seed.

when it is 'resting' it goes on a windowsill in the unheated downstairs loo until about august then i start the process all over again.then re pot in fresh multipurpose compost. the tuber is about 7" across now.

i bought the cyclamen for my mum's 75th birthday she died on her 79th 15 years ago. so yes you can keep them going for years.

sorry MG i meant that the stem can die back naturally and not rot near the base. Like you said it all depends on the humidity etc. at least thats what i.ve found havn't got one at the moment bur now we've got the dark nights I may treat myself :-)

gosh seaburngirl i've managed 2-3 years but thats great! well done

when it comes into flower there can be over 70 blooms. and there is one area of the tuber where the white flowers has a magenta stripe through it. the stripes are only in one area. very strange.
i have grown some of its seeds and they have all been a deep pink. some with frilly edges and some plain. all very different.

That sounds like a beauty seaburngirl do you have any photos.?

not of late but i will take them this year.