I was looking for a poinsettia for the Christmas season but this pretty cyclamen caught my eye and I bought it as well as a modest poinsettia. I love the leaf patterning and the blossoms are such a lovely shade of magenta.
I did some reading up on cyclamen care after I got it home. I have had cyclamen in the past but I haven't cared for them diligently and they have ended up in the garbage after their bloom cycle. This one I am going to try to keep going. I am thinking about the growing conditions of the outdoor hardy cylamen that has done well for a number of years. When the hardy cyclamen is dormant in the summer, it is in dry shade. When the fall rain comes, it starts to grow and it is happy with lots of moisture as it leafs out and blooms. So for my indoor cyclamen, I will give it moderate water (letting it soak up water from a saucer for 15 minutes) and some half-strength liquid fertilizer through its bloom cycle. I have it on the dining room table about 8' away from the south-facing window. With the low angle of the sun, it gets sun shining on it in the morning but the light is gentle. It will have steady temperature which will minimize stress.
After it stops blooming, the leaves will fall off and it will enter a necessary dormant period during which I will cut back on the watering and light. Two or three months of rest will allow it to renew itself and then I can start to encourage it to grow again by increasing the light. I will only increase the watering when active growth starts. Here's hoping it works.
Sounds like it should work OK. I used to keep a few plants for my mother and found that they thrived on the windowsill above her kitchen sink, I think they liked the humidity from the washing up! That was a north facing window. After flowering I used to keep them in the garden shed with very little water for a few months. Hope you have success!
ReplyDelete