The Easy Guide to Keeping Cyclamen for People Who Hate Throwing Them Out

Each time I went to the grocery store I would eye the cyclamen plants. The beautiful colours: white, pink, salmon, and red, not to mention the variegated leaves were always calling. Cyclamen in the language of flowers is the flower of deep love.

Budget Friendly Cyclamen

The price for this festive season plant is usually reasonable. However, something always held me back. So when I saw that cyclamen, which were still in great shape, were fifty per cent off, you know I was there like a rabbit on a carrot. I admit it, I am cheap frugal.

Like most people I used to buy cyclamen every year, just to pretty up the place during the holidays, only to watch them gradually wither away a couple months later. Then, I discovered the secret. I am going to share that with you.

How do we keep it growing?

Well, This is how we do it. Cyclamen (Cyclamen persicus), or the hybrid usually sold as a houseplant, is also known as Florist cyclamen. It belongs to the Family: Primulaceae. Because this tuberous perennial is native to the Mediterranean, its temperature preferences reflect this. In ideal conditions, this plant could live for over 20yrs, but let’s be realistic and see if we can make it last ten.

Water

The first thing one should do when you bring it home is take off the pretty foil wrap around the pot. Cyclamen does not like soggy soil. Any water trapped in the pot will give it root rot, so bye bye foil. Once you have established it has well drained soil you are well on your way to success. I find bottom watering is best for this plant. Keep removing any dead leaves and blooms which will increase its vibrancy.

Keep it cool

Temperature plays a very important part in the longevity of this plant. It likes it cooler, like the region of the Mediterranean where they are found in the wild. So find the coolest place in your house to let it sit, like a window sill away from direct sunlight. It should bloom for around three months. Warm temperatures cause less blooms.

Dormant time

Like most indoor plants, bright indirect light is recommended when the cyclamen is growing. This plant is like the tuberous begonia. The difference is that its dormant season is from around March to September. It’s sleeping not dead. The flowers will disappear, then leaves will start to turn yellow, and drop off. This is when it usually gets thrown out. You think, there is no way its coming back from this.

It’s just its way. It is following nature. The change to shorter days triggers the tuber’s sleepy time. Don’t water in the summer and move it to basement or a garage. Bring it back out in September and watch it revive with the above mentioned care.

It will just get better each year if you take care of it, and it is definitely cheaper to keep it.

About the Pot

Synchronicity seemed to be working for me that day as I bought the pot first on the same day that I found the cyclamen on sale.

Thrift store prices tend to be higher in Canada so I did pay five dollars for it. As soon as I saw it I thought it would be perfect for any plant.

It turned out to be a vintage 1950s Old Foley, James Kent, Chinese Rose pattern planter.

It is teal on the inside with birds and flowers on a white background. Old Foley was manufactured by James Kent Ltd., at the Old Foley Factory, Longton, Staffordshire, England. A county famous for the potteries in the area. The pot is stamped James Kent, England on bottom, in addition to classic L/S, which I believe stands for Longton, Staffordshire. A beautiful pot for the flower of deep love.

Let me know in the comments if you have recently bought a cyclamen.

Note: This plant is toxic for both humans and animals if ingested.