Cyclamen is a brightly flowering, undeniably decorative indoor plant that is rich in a variety of colors, shapes and sizes. It is often called the alpine violet, less often the dryak. Cyclamen is native to Central Europe, the Mediterranean and Iran.
Description of the plant
The home flower of cyclamen (photo - a little lower in the text) is the owner of a capricious and demanding disposition, but for his magnificent and bright appearance, all the inconveniences of keeping him in an apartment are forgiven.
Effective favorite of women, delicate, abundant and long-blooming, fragrant cyclamen is a herbaceous tuberous perennial belonging to the myrsinaceae family. Its easily recognizable inflorescences, reminiscent of flying butterflies with raised wings, rise above the leaves on their long peduncles in numerous bright flocks.
And the basal leaves of the plant are in no way inferior in beauty and originality to butterflies-inflorescences. Their plates have a rounded shape with a heart-shaped base and a slight pattern of a lighter tone on the dark-colored surface.green leaf, which increases the decorativeness and attractiveness of the plant.
Cyclamen blooms mainly in winter and lasts about three months. However, there are currently some domestic species that bloom in the spring.
The genus of cyclamens is represented by 60 species. Of these, only about 20 are grown at home.
Requirements and preferences for maintenance and care
Further in the article - a few more photos of the cyclamen flower and how to care (recommendations) for one of the most capricious indoor plants. The fastidiousness of the alpine violet is known to all lovers of home flowers. But, armed with knowledge about the features of cyclamen care, you can successfully grow this magnificent plant at home.
Dryakva will feel most comfortable in a spacious and cool room, on a veranda or loggia, bright but protected from direct sun. In this case, the place of residence of cyclamen should be away from heating devices. The plant does not tolerate drafts, but loves well-ventilated areas.
Temperature conditions
Indoor cyclamen flowers home care prefer thorough, in compliance with the optimal temperature regime for them. In summer, it can be from 18 to 22 ° C, but in winter, when flowering occurs, the ambient temperature should be kept within 14-16 ° C, that is, to be much lower. At low temperatures, cyclamens bloom more abundantly and longer.
If in the summer heat it is not possible to provide the plant with cool air, thenit is necessary to put the pot with it in another larger container with wet peat inside or wet pebbles to prevent the tuber from overheating. Humidification of the air in the place where it is kept will help dryakva survive the hot period.
Irrigation and humidity levels
Cyclamen takes spraying well, but not on the plant itself, but in the air around it. At the same time, care must be taken so that moisture does not fall on the tuber. When watering the plant, do not allow water to get on the shoots and tubers. It is better to do this carefully, along the edge of the pot or into the pan, but an hour after watering, excess moisture must be removed from the pan to avoid root rot. When watering, the water should be 3-4 degrees below the air temperature.
After the cyclamen flower has faded, watering is reduced, and in summer, with the onset of a dormant period, it is reduced a little more. Water intended for cyclamen should be well settled. If suddenly the plant needs watering, and the water is not prepared, then you can get by with boiled and cooled water, but you can’t use it immediately from the water supply.
Cyclamen prefers well-humidified air. If the leaves begin to turn yellow, this means that the air around is too dry, and if brown spots appear on them, then perhaps the flower still got water and it rotted. You can humidify the air around cyclamen by placing a pot with it in a tray with wet pebbles or wet peat.
Ground
The soil for alpine violets should be both light and nutritious at the same time. A cyclamen flower will thrive in a soil composed of the same parts of leafy humus, peat, soddy soil, coarse sand, vermiculite and clay.
In order not to infect the plant with microbes and fungi, it is better to water the new soil with a weak solution of manganese or burn it in the oven. A layer of drainage must be placed at the bottom of the pot, which may consist of expanded clay, clay shards, pebbles or broken bricks.
For the convenience of flower growers, ready-made soil for cyclamen is sold in stores, but land for saintpaulias is also suitable.
Lighting
The cyclamen flower does not tolerate the direct rays of the sun, which easily burn delicate greens and flowers. It is better to slightly shade the plant or scatter the light falling on it.
Bright light is necessary for cyclamen only during the growing season. An excess of light leads to wilting of the leaves and the appearance of brown spots on them.
Feeding
What top dressing does the cyclamen indoor flower prefer and how to care for it without harming it with excessive care? It should be noted that it is better to underfeed this plant than to apply too much fertilizer. At the same time, it is necessary to prevent an excess of nitrogen.
Cyclamen is very responsive to liquid mineral supplements. However, the solution must be prepared strictly according to the instructions for its use, and it is even better to make the concentration of the substance in the water for irrigation slightly lower than recommended by the fertilizer manufacturer.
Just purchased fromthe store, the plant should not be fed for about three months, as it is oversaturated with nutrients - to maintain its attractiveness and presentation.
Fertilize better every 14 days, alternating mineral and organic top dressing. This should be done only during the period of active growth and flowering.
Features of boarding and transplanting
Cyclamen flower, like other indoor plants, needs regular transplants. In this case, you should choose the right pot, which should not be too spacious. A size is suitable in which there will be no more than 3 cm of distance from the cyclamen tuber to the walls of the pots. In slightly cramped conditions, the plant blooms better and more abundantly.
What else are the secrets of planting and care? Cyclamen flowers do not belong to fast-growing crops, this is always worth remembering. The alpine violet corm has been growing in volume for about two years. After this time, the plant should be transplanted into a larger flowerpot, changing the substrate to a fresh one in known proportions.
Transplantation is best done by transshipment. At the same time, an earthen ball with a tuber is carefully removed from the old pot and, without shaking off the earth, they are transferred to a new pot, a little more spacious, and the voids are covered with new soil, leaving the top of the tuber above the ground. Transshipment is carried out at the end of the dormant period, until the plant begins active growth.
If cyclamen has just been purchased or donated, then there is no need to rush with a transplant. It's better to wait aroundmonths to allow the plant to bloom and acclimate to the new location.
Resting period
Indoor cyclamen flowers when cared for at home need a dormant period, which occurs when the plant finishes flowering. At this time, its inflorescences begin to fade, then the leaves turn yellow, and the aerial part dies off, leaving only a tuber.
Inexperienced flower growers often decide that cyclamen is dead and throw it away. However, you should not worry and panic in this case. The plant is only preparing in this way for a dormant period.
Withered leaves can be removed without waiting for complete death by unscrewing the petioles clockwise without using scissors. Care during the rest period is necessary as follows:
- as soon as the leaves begin to turn yellow, it is necessary to reduce the frequency of watering;
- pot with a tuber should be rearranged to where there is less light and cool;
- it is necessary to water a sleeping plant, but very rarely, just to prevent the soil from drying out and support the corm.
Cyclamens sleep in winter, if the room is too warm and dry air, waiting for uncomfortable conditions. For flowering, they need coolness and humidity. In general, they should have a dormant period in the summer, when it is too hot and there is not enough humidity. Hibernation lasts about three months. Then, with the first awakened leaves, the cyclamens are transferred to a bright place and gradually resume watering.
Methods of reproduction
For reproduction of the cyclamen flower, care is requiredspecial. There are two ways:
- Dividing the tuber.
- Sprouting seeds.
It will be difficult to get a new plant by dividing the tuber, since basically the corm has only one growth point. Rarely there are plants with several tubers, then this method can be used. However, delenki root very poorly and often die.
The seed propagation method is more efficient. It is better to sow them in the spring, when the daylight hours become longer (small cyclamens will stretch less). Seeds are disinfected before sowing in a manganese solution or in a solution with a growth stimulator.
Nutritious soil is placed in a container for seedlings, grooves are made in it and seeds are planted at a distance of 2 cm, then sprinkled and covered with film or glass, creating greenhouse conditions, not forgetting to ventilate and spray the soil with a spray bottle.
In a couple of months or a little earlier shoots will appear. It is necessary to remove the film gradually, increasing the time spent without it. It is necessary to ensure that the temperature regime and the regime of air humidity are observed for seedlings, otherwise small plants will fall asleep.
If after a month shoots did not appear, then it's okay, you just have to wait. Some species can sit in the ground for up to 5 months. When the sprouts form a pair of leaves and small tubers are formed, they can be dived into separate containers. At the same time, young bulbs can be buried completely in the ground, and not like in adult plants. The first flowering will occur no earlier than in 18 months.
Diseases andpests
Improper care can provoke illness and pest infestation in cyclamen. If watering was too intense, and the plant was kept in a cold room, the tuber may rot. In this case, the tuber should be removed from the ground and cut off the rotten area. Then it is washed in a weak solution of manganese and planted in fresh soil, after drying the root.
If pests, such as aphids, thrips, mites, are found on the plant, then treatment with special products is necessary, which can always be purchased at flower shops.
The reasons for the withering of cyclamen may be violations in care. For example:
- too high air temperature;
- wrong pot;
- watering not in the pan, but on the tuber;
- feeding violations - either they haven't fed for a long time, or there is too much nitrogen in the fertilizer.
No matter how much effort was put into growing a flower. But when cyclamen begins to bloom as soon as it can - brightly, abundantly, exuding a unique pleasant aroma - then all difficulties fade into the background, leaving satisfaction and pleasure from observing the beauty of the process.
