The Cyclamen That Keeps on Growing...

by Maria D.
(Falmouth, Maine, U.S.A.)

Hello, I have an amazing beautiful cyclamen that has never once gone out of bloom! It is amazing. I keep it in a sun room, where there also happens to be a fireplace that we most definitely use. I have had this plant since 2008.

In fact, it has divided itself and has now multiplied into three plants in one huge clay pot.

I also have never used any types of fertilizer on it either. I couldn't tell you what I am doing, because even I don't really know. I let the plant mostly take care of itself. I have however, re-potted it at least three times so far.

Pretty soon it will be going on it's fourth re-pot. I work at a local greenhouse, where I take care of plants, and have never seen this before. I have only seen one other time a cyclamen divide and multiply itself.

It just blows my mind, it's amazing.

Comments for
The Cyclamen That Keeps on Growing...

Click here to add your own comments

Writer of Story
by: Maria D.

Continued...
However, if you leave too many or don't take the dead stems off at all it can affect the cyclamen as well, therefore doing a reverse effect, by not giving the plant or other stems enough energy to produce. There has to be a happy medium. As Irene mentioned a good point to water from the bottom up and most defiantly drain the excess water as well. Do not get water on the crown either like Irene mentioned. I however do water mine from the top but you must be very careful. Like for Irene if it has worked so far for her since 2007 then she defiantly doesn't want to change a single thing she is doing. This is very important for ALL houseplants, if your plant is doing well where it is do not move it period. We find where I work, that a lot of customers move their plant because they want to put another plant in it's place or because they just want to change it up. However, doing so causes stress and this can lead to sometimes permant damage to a plant. In any case if someone is moving, well that is a different story, this is something that has to be done, hopefully they can find an exact spot that the plant had been in previously before.
Hopefully I have answered all of your questions, don't hesitate to leave more, I will check periodically. Happy planting!

Writer of Story
by: Maria D.

Hello everyone,
Thank you for your comments they are all very interesting and lovely. To answer some of your questions, here goes: To anonymous, I have never divided a cyclamen; it is very unusual that cyclamens have more than one plant. Which makes me very excited that mine has two cyclamens coming off of the original "mother" plant. I can tell you that I know that I will not be dividing mine, I am just going to keep on putting it into a bigger pot as needed. However, if I had another cyclamen that had "babies" if you will, then I would give it a try and see what happens. I don't currently have a picture, but as soon as I get a chance I will try and see if I can post it on here.
To Jan, I water my cyclamen at least every other day, believe it or not. This is also because it is in a sunroom with a fireplace that usually reaches 80 at night to keep the house warm, so you can bet that here at home we keep an eye on this plant. The potting mix that I use is Pro Mix I believe it has either perlite or vermiculite in it or it could even have both, I cannot remember. The cyclamen believe it or not gives itself it's own energy so you don't have to add anything to it. It's kind of like bulbs, for example tulips give back their own strength. When they die back those stems give nutrients back to the plant this is why it is so important not to cut your tulips back, until they are very yellow/brown colored, then you may cut them off. I find that when a customer comes in and ask us why didn't my tulips come back up this year or why didn't it multiply; this is the reasoning, because the customer had cut back the dead stems before the plant in this case the tulips could put energy back into the bulb. This goes for a cyclamen I have found, recently I just cut mine back because there had been so many dead stems that had gone by, which was feeding nutrients back into the plant...

Cyclamen
by: Irene

I've had a cyclamen since 2007. it died back several times but then grew back up since I watered it regularly. Very Important: Always water from the bottom and dump the excess water, NEVER wet the crown. It doesn't need fertilizer. It prefers cool temperatures 50-60 degrees. I planned to re-pot it, but it's been blooming non-stop. I keep it on a cool window in the winter and outside in the shade in the summer.

cyclamen
by: Jan

Cool. I can't seem to keep mine watered. It goes through about twice as much water as my other houseplants. Is there fertilizer in the potting medium you use when re-potting? It seems something would have to be giving it enough energy besides window-filtered sun to keep blooming for multiple years.

Amazing Cyclamen
by: Anonymous

You must have a huge green thumb. I always seem to kill my cyclamen. Can you divide the plant or is it better to keep all the plants together? Do you have a picture? I would love to see it. Congratulations on your huge, blooming Cyclamen!

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How?
Simply click here to return to Garden Stories

Doug Green