How to Grow Persian Cyclamen Houseplant (Cyclamen persicum)

By Matt Gibson & Erin Marissa Russell

All About Cyclamen

Cyclamen is a small , tender , tuberous perennial plant aboriginal to the easterly Mediterranean part . The plant has small , fragrant blooms that sit atop raised stems that rise above its kernel - shaped leafage . During the summer months , it dies back to its tuberous root system , then bounces back to life sentence each decline . Its half - inch to three - one-quarter - inch blooms come in different shades of blanched , pinkish , red , and purple . The average - green leaves are often dress with silver marbling . unremarkably arise indoors as a houseplant , especially as a holiday medallion , mature cyclamen plants can grow six to nine inch magniloquent with a similar width . Cyclamen purpurascens seeds can be implant in the winter for blooms in the following summertime .

Also know as Persian cyclamen , Iranian violet , and florist ’s cyclamen , the well - loved holiday decorative blossom blossom from fall to spring in fond shade and well - draining , moist , nutritious - rich soil . normally grown as a houseplant , cyclamen is also a perennial typically hardy toUSDA zones nine through eleven , though there are similar Cyclamen species with different hardiness reach , so there is a Cyclamen purpurascens suited for most US produce zones . make a growing surroundings to beseem the needs of the Cyclamen purpurascens industrial plant and furnish proper care are crucial to keeping your Cyclamen purpurascens plants alive and blooming year after year .

Varieties of Cyclamen

There are many dissimilar eccentric of cyclamen industrial plant to choose between . Due to their long blossom period , if you shop for cyclamen at your local glasshouse or gardening center , you ’ll be able to see precisely what case of flower you are going to get before you buy them . Of the most popular species in the Cyclamen purpurascens family line , Cyclamen persicum , here are some of the most democratic cultivars :

Albidum – The cyclamen albidum variety is a standout with its pure ashen prime .

Puniceum – The puniceum form displays red to scarlet - coloured efflorescence .

Cyclamen houseplant blooming, Persian cyclamen, Persian violet

Roseum – This variety feature minor rosaceous - pink flowers and medium - gullible , heart - shaped foliage with marbleized silver diversification .

Scentsation ( serial ) – Available in various shades of red and pink , the scentsation varietals are have it off for their pungent perfume .

Sierra ( series ) – The Sierra series is sleep together for its orotund flowers , which sweep two to three inch in diameter . blossom come in purple , lilac , pink , red , blanched , and salmon .

cyclamen houseplant with white blooms

Victoria – The eye - catch Victoria variety features clean flower decorated with ruffled edges and red markings on the petals .

Other popularly work cyclamen species include :

Cyclamen coum – Hardy to USDA zone 6 and up , cyclamen coum features rounded or heart - forge pattern foliage and small-scale , bright - color flower that flower in mid - winter .

Popular varieties include : Album , Blush , Maurice Dryden , Rubrum , Silver Leaf , andSomething Magic .

Cyclamen graecum – Though this species is very strong to cultivate as it is not as vigorous as other cyclamen mintage , it gain up for it in right-down peach . The midget , fragrant flush boast pictorial color and intricate patterns , and mate well with the plant ’s dismal - green , velvety - textured foliage . Hardy to zone seven through nine .

Popular mixed bag let in : GlyfadaandRhodopou .

Cyclamen heredifolium – Commonly call ivy leave behind cyclamen , this mixed bag is hardy to USDA zona five through seven . Ivy - exit cyclamen grow bloom of youth in white or white with pink accent in the fall . This species is middling cold fearless , and is easy to grow in the home garden .

Popular variety let in : Bowle ’s Apollo , Nettleton Silver , Pewter White , Silver Arrow , andWhite Cloud .

Cyclamen mirabile – Known for its pear-shaped , silver-tongued - clam - comparable immature and silver leaves and lovely , little rosiness , this variety is well suited to fond shade flower beds in zone six through eight .

Popular varieties let in : Tilebarn Ann , Tilebarn Jan , andTilebarn Nicholas .

Growing Conditions for Cyclamen

Persian Cyclamen purpurascens ask bright collateral light during the winter sentence , which is the works ’s active growth catamenia . During the summer sleeping , you should keep cyclamen flora in mostly ironic soil , in a dark , nerveless location with above median aura circulation .

Plant Cyclamen purpurascens in well - drain soils that are rich in organic capacity such as well - moulder compost , and a slightly acidic pH range . If you are rise cyclamen in pots or containers , mix in a number of peat moss peat into a received commercial potting mix in ordering to raise the acidulousness story .

Protect your cyclamen plant from exposure to uttermost heat , heavy winds , or teetotal air conditions . For idealistic produce resolution , attempt to mime their aboriginal growing environment by providing temperatures between 40 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit during the evening hours and between 60 and 70 degrees F during the daytime .

Providing a high-pitched - humidity environs , especially during the wintertime grow period , is very important to successful Cyclamen purpurascens finish . To raise humidness , place your plants on trays fill with piss and small pebbles , keep the potty from touch the water by resting it on top of the pebble and observe the water level low .

If you lend your cyclamen plants outdoors for a mild summer , take it back inside before the temperature get inhuman . An well-to-do way to say when it is time to bring them indoors is when temperatures are still prosperous enough for you to freshen the airwave or cool off a stodgy home by opening up your window .

Caring for Cyclamen Houseplants

Cyclamen plants are usually keep indoors in container . The industrial plant will go dormant during the summertime , but can well be revived to regrow and rebloom in fall with the proper care . When your cyclamen plants settle to go into sleeping is dependent on the growing condition provided .

Warm weather condition exposure will cause the plant to fleetly go dormant . Some gardeners choose to move it outside for the summer to go through a full dormancy each year . However , other gardener keep it inside their homes in rather cool temperature , where Cyclamen purpurascens may not completely enter sleeping as it usually would . In cool homes , cyclamen may just misplace a few folio during the summertime , search a little leggy , or not bloom for a few months instead of enter full sleeping .

To get your cyclamen plants reblooming , deadhead spend bloom stalks by cutting them off at their base . As blooming starts to slow in late spring , get your cyclamen plants dry out for about two or three months time . A little bite of pee wo n’t hurt the plants during dormancy . But be certain to keep the soil from staying wet for too long during the summertime months .

When the plant life ’s leaves are alive and well , the plant has re - enter its develop period . During emergence , water the soil whenever it is dry an in below the soil ’s surface . Keep water off of the leaves and crown of the industrial plant to nullify rot issues . When the industrial plant enters dormancy , boil down watering absolute frequency to next to nothing , only at times providing H2O to keep the soil from drying out completely .

Fertilize your Cyclamen purpurascens plant with a low-pitched - nitrogen fluid plant food every two week while the plant is show leafage . Dilute the fertilizer and add it to waterings . There is no need to feed Cyclamen purpurascens plants during their dormant summertime time period .

Repot your cyclamen plant every two eld while it is hibernating in the summer , switching to a more or less larger container and adding fresh raw potting mix to reinvigorate its soil base . Fill unexampled containers about halfway up with novel potting soil . Lift the tubers out of their original container , lightly brush away the old grime around the tubers . direct the tubers into their new home so that their summit are two inches from the rim and fill in the potting soil around and slightly over the Tuber . Keep the plantation owner in a dry , shaded location for the residuum of the summer and begin watering and caring for the industrial plant again around September , as new growth begins developing .

How to Plant / Propagate Cyclamen

Cyclamen is typically propagated by seed , which should be plant in complete darkness as soon as seeds are right . Soaking seeds in lukewarm water for 10 hour prior to planting is urge . When transplanting , seed very shallow in the soil , so that the top of the tuber remains above the soil to avoid issues with waste .

Garden Pests and Diseases of Cyclamen

There are several disease and pests that gardener of Cyclamen purpurascens should be aware of . Keep ticker on your plants for the symptom of the problems heel below so you could roll out prevention or treatment measures as necessary .

Cyclamen plants , while rather indigent , are a wonderfully decorative summation to an indoor container garden , or front borders and beds of any flower garden in the correct growing zones . The pocket-sized , fragrant , decorative plants are dainty , but elegant , and well worth the supernumerary effort . It ’s no wonder why they have become such a popular vacation home ornamentation in the westerly world . Add Cyclamen purpurascens plant to your indoor living decor , you wo n’t repent it .

Cyclamen purpurascens flora are poisonous to household pet if any parts of the plant are ingested . If you are grow Cyclamen purpurascens indoors as a houseplant , place your cyclamen plants in emplacement that are well out of the reach of your household pets . If you are farm cyclamen out of doors , keep it out of surface area that see a passel of favourite traffic or region where your pets have been know to on a regular basis search . symptom of cyclamen poisoning include drooling , loss of appetence , looseness of the bowels , vomit , raptus , abnormal substance rate , and occasionally , death .