Watering and caring for Persian cyclamen

First, a few words about the name. It might seem that this is such an obvious issue that it does not need to be devoted to it too much time and attention. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Cyclamen Persicum, also called the alpine violet, does not come from Persia or the Alps – although it is much closer to the latter region. It comes from the mountainous areas of Europe located on the Mediterranean Sea.

When I asked my colleagues what they thought was most beautiful about cyclamen, they answered in unison: the flowers. Some are delighted by their fabulous colours in shades from white, through red, pink, to purple. Others are delighted by the contrast between the delicate flowers and the rather thick, moss-covered leaves that grow directly from the tubers. Despite the fact that African violets bloom twice a year - in winter and spring, many of their owners do not manage to keep them for more than a few weeks. It happens that after a few days, the leaves of the plant turn yellow, and the flowers slowly start to fall off. This is because cyclamen need time to acclimatise. They will feel best in cooler places, where the air is high in humidity. After a few days of such "waiting" they can be moved to a room at room temperature.

If you too would like to have a cyclamen in your home, but sometimes forget to water your flowers - you have two options. Train your memory or... forget about cyclamen. However, we encourage you to do the first one. If you systematically remember to water and irrigate this plant, it will delight our eyes with its appearance for a long time.

The best and easiest way to water cyclamen is to pour a large amount of water into a saucer, wait 20-30 minutes and pour out the excess. High air humidity also works well for them, so a good way is to place the pot on pebbles that are immersed in water.

Cyclamen will need a bright spot for proper growth (the sun should not fall directly on it, however). It is recommended to place it on a northern exposure. The optimal temperature for flowering is around 15-18 degrees, and they will flower the longest when the room temperature is 10-12 degrees.

We can also fertilize cyclamen for better growth. It is enough to do this once every two weeks with special preparations intended for flowering plants. And what if the cyclamen fades? Most often, this is what happens, but we encourage you to try to continue growing them. How to do it? When we notice that our plant is entering a dormant period, let's limit its watering and place the pot in a cool place. Around June, we can transplant the tuber to a new substrate and plant it halfway up. After a few days, leaves should appear, which will mean that we can move the cyclamen to a bright place and gradually start watering it.

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