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Cyclamen
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The first requirement for growing cyclamen is to provide cool temperatures.
Cyclamen detest warm conditions.
Grown from a tuber, cyclamen do best outdoors and are a "cool weather"
plant, growing and blooming during the cool/cold months of the year. Like most
tubers and bulb plants, cyclamen need a rest period and will lose their
leaves and go dormant during the summer months.
Location _ Grown in pots, cyclamen make an excellent choice of flower color for
fall, winter and early spring. The best exposure is bright filtered light, or
partial shade. Along the coast, cyclamen will take early morning sun and
afternoon filtered light or shade.
Planting from a Tuber in the Fall _ Select a firm tuber and plant it concave side
up. Cyclamen do not need to be planted deeply, but quite the opposite;
with the tuber half in and half out of the soil. Cyclamen will
thrive in a rich, loose, fast draining soil but will rot in a heavy clay soil.
Use the following soil mixture:
1 part Roger's Potting Soil to 1 part peat moss.
Watering _ Cyclamen require regular moisture, but overly soggy soil will suffocate
the roots and cause the leaves to yellow. The soil mixture must drain well, but
hold enough moisture so that the plant will not dry out. A general rule is
thoroughly saturate your potted cyclamen once a week.
If the plant is allowed to dry out, it will wilt quickly with leaves and flowers
bending over the sides of the pot. If this happens, don't despair! Try the
following remedy but don't wait too long or the plant will die back and be forced
to grow new leaves, giving up flowering until the next cyclamen season.
Dry Cyclamen Remedy: Using newspaper, much in the same way the florist
wraps a bouquet of flowers, surround the pot and carefully prop the stems into an
upright position. Tape the newspaper to secure it in place. Put pot in a kitchen
sink and allow a very slow stream of water to thoroughly saturate the entire plant.
Before long, the stems will absorb enough water to hold themselves up, and the
newspaper can be removed.
Fertilizing _ Feed a mature plant every two weeks with Roger's Flower Food
at 1/2 strength. A newly planted tuber should not
be fertilized until at least 3 to 4 inches of new growth appears, then you can
begin feeding every two weeks.
Getting your Tuber to Bloom a Second Year _ In late April or early May your cyclamen
will show signs of being tired. On or before June 1 move your plant to a protected,
full shade area in your garden and stop fertilizing. Water your plant just a
little each week to give it some moisture — but keep the plant a bit
on the dry side. If your cyclamen is blooming up a storm by May and appears to
have NO intention of taking its summer nap, follow the above instructions anyway.
The tuber must have a rest period in order to bloom again.
In the Fall _ In late September or early October, when the days become short and
the nights are cool, move your plant back to a brighter area. Resume regular
watering and after 2 or 3 weeks start fertilizing with Roger's Flower Food
at 1/2 strength every 2 weeks.
Growing Cyclamen Indoors _ Although cyclamen do best outdoors, they can (under
the right conditions and with proper care), grow indoors. Keep the plant in an
area where daytime temperatures are 65 degrees and move to a location at night
where temperatures do not get above 50 degrees. They will grow best in a window
that is facing east or west. A south facing window will be too hot and a north
window too dark.
Proteas are shipped overnight to Roger's Gardens from our special grower in Hawaii.
8/98
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