Growing Cyclamen
This poor man's orchid will bloom from the middle of fall, right through the depths of our winter and comes in a variety of colours from pinks and whites to reds and purples. There are even a few fragrant varieties.
The real trick to keeping cyclamen flowering all winter is to keep them cool. They love temperatures of 55-60 F. and anything hotter than that will reduce the bloom time.
Keep them constantly damp
In contrast to this love of cool temperatures, they also like to be kept constantly damp, (not swampy) but never dried out either.
Try watering them thoroughly so the water runs out the bottom of the pot and then feeling the soil every day. When the soil is damp, but does not leave moisture on your finger, it is perfect. If the top of the soil starts to feel dry, water again thoroughly. Extra water going out the bottom of the pot is not a problem if you try the following tip.
High humidity is required
To keep them flowering heavily, a high humidity is required. Now our houses in winter tend to be quite dry because of our central heating so an indoor gardener can either mist the plant several times daily, never getting the flowers damp, or they can construct this automatic humidity system. (I note there is some research that suggests this system does not work very well but something is better than nothing when it comes to saving our flowering plants.)
Obtain a large clay saucer, large enough to comfortable fit under the plant pot and have several inches of free saucer space sticking out the sides. Fill this saucer with marbles or small rocks of 1/2" in diameter, and level them so the cyclamen pot sits comfortably and level on the rocks.
Now to get the humidity, simply fill the saucer with water. The pot is standing on the rocks and is not soaking up moisture (you didn't fill the saucer too deep did you?) and with a larger saucer below the pot, the excess water will constantly evaporate up into the leaf surface. This will keep cyclamen and any other houseplant that wants high humidity quite happy with a minimum of work. Simply fill the saucer whenever it gets a bit low on water, excess water from the plant pot can be left in the saucer to evaporate.
Gardeners with a few plants in a confined space can construct trays lined with plastic to hold moisture and create humidity around the plant leaves rather than use bulky saucers under each plant.
You have to feed the plant
If you want flowers, you have to feed the plant. Use a regular liquid houseplant food every two weeks while the plant is in flower. Remember, if you don't feed it, you don't get to complain when it stops blooming.
This feeding will also help the tuber to grow and as larger tubers give more flowers, feeding is a good habit to get into. Most stores carrying plants or plant supplies will have a general purpose liquid plant food that will do the job.
When it stops blooming
At some point next spring, the cyclamen is going to stop blooming. This means the plant is ready to go dormant.
Move the entire pot to a cool, dark spot but keep the soil slightly damp. Again, do not turn it into a swamp or a desert. The tuber will happily sleep until late next summer. It will not have any leaves on it, but neither is it dead.
Simply have patience and during the summer keep checking the tuber; when you see a shoot starting to develop, take the pot out and put it into a bright light with no direct sun. An east or west window is ideal.
When the tuber starts to grow again, it is an ideal time to repot it into a container that is only one size larger than its current container. If on inspection the tuber is quite large, it can be split and several cyclamen obtained. These can be added to the collection or used as presents at Christmas time.
Use a regular potting soil, if you are feeling benevolent, you can add 1 part of vermiculite to 2 parts potting soil to loosen up the soil mix but this is not necessary.
Having gone through the cycle once, it is easy to repeat it and amaze all your friends and neighbours with your very obvious green thumb. They all think cyclamen are hard to grow but we know differently, don't we?
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