Image - Flickr / Mauricio Mercadante
We are going to talk about one of the most popular plants in Europe for its winter flowering. It has great beauty, rusticity and many possibilities for ornamental use. Its about Cyclamen persicum. It belongs to the Primulaceae family and is native to the areas of Persia, the Middle East and Greece, hence it is known as Violet of Persia or Violet of the Alps.
Do you want to know more about this plant?
Main characteristics of Cyclamen persicum
Image - Wikimedia / Zeynel Cebeci
The growth of this plant is in the shape of a balloon and it has many varieties among which it can reach between 30 to 40 centimeters tall. Although sometimes categorized as an annual plant, Cyclamen is capable of staying lively for many years to the point of naturalizing in your garden.
It is a perennial plant that has a large tuber and a central upper part that emits heart-shaped, scalloped and speckled circular leaves with a silver marble appearance. As for the flowers, we can see that the petals have a very unique appearance since they fold on themselves, enhancing their beauty.
They are hermaphrodites, so they grow on their own and are lightly scented. The color of its flowers can be varied. We meet colors from white to pink, red, salmon, etc.
When the flowers are fertilized, they produce a capsule-shaped fruit that takes between 4 and 5 months to mature. Its flowering season is very long, beginning in early autumn and ending in late spring. It only paralyzes its flowering during the summer, when it goes into vegetative rest.
Cyclamen plant care
The care that you should give it is quite simple as you will be able to discover right now. In fact, it is a fantastic plant for beginners:
Is the cyclamen indoor or outdoor?
This plant can serve as an indoor and outdoor plant. If you want to use it as an indoor plant in your home, you can only do it for a period of two months since, even if it is given strict care, after that time in the home it can negatively affect the flowering and vigor of the plant.
If you decide to have it as an outdoor plant, it can help you so that the colder season does not make the garden so sad. He Cyclamen persicum It is capable of enduring the autumn and winter in bloom.
It is such a famous plant in Europe because it has wide range of colors, quite exotic appearance, long flowering period that allows us to have the garden colorful and its great resistance to cold that makes it possible to have it in winter and autumn. Because if we have the Cyclamen persicum Inside or outside their care is different, we are going to differentiate them into two sections:
Interior care
We cannot forget that it is really an outdoor plant, so we will have to place it in places with a lot of lighting. It is advisable to take them out to the balcony or terrace from time to time to keep them strong.
The plant needs a temperature between 12 and 15 degrees, so it should be avoided to place in places near stoves or radiators in winter.
To water it, we add the water directly to the pot without getting it flooded. We will place a plate underneath and when the water is drained, we will remove the rest. You need a subscriber every 15 or 20 days. The compost must be liquid and is incorporated into the water. The plant will need good aeration at all times.
Outdoor care
Outdoors it requires less care. We will choose a place with semi-shade and cool. It should be planted in very soft soil and be careful not to bury them beyond the level it had in the pot when we bought it.
How should the cyclamen be watered?
The irrigation of the cyclamen will be, in general, moderate. This means that you do not have to water too much or too little, but it is best to let the soil dry out a bit before adding water again. Since it does not support waterlogging, I advise you to check the humidity of the soil before watering.
Now, you also have to know that when it is thirsty, the flowers seem to "fall off" and the plant looks sad. If you water it at that time, after a while it returns to its normal, healthy shape.
When to pay it?
El Cyclamen persicum It can be fertilized from the first moment its leaves sprout until it finishes flowering. To do this, you can use a fertilizer or a universal fertilizer that is liquid, or in powder form if it is in the garden.
When is the cyclamen bulb planted?
Actually, cyclamen is not a bulbous plant, but a tubercular one. But it is true that their tubers are usually sold, which are planted in autumn, either in a pot or in the ground. It is important that it remains a little buried, so that the leaves and flowers can sprout without a problem.
How is cyclamen preserved in summer?
Image – Flickr/Romtomtom
During the summer the cyclamen is inactive. It is a plant that is affected by heat a lot, so we will only see it beautiful during the winter and part of the spring. However, In order to keep it year after year, you have to place it in a place where there is no light and, above all, where it is cool. Water it if you see that the soil is too dry so that the rhizome does not dehydrate, but do not fertilize it because it does not need it.
As you can see, this plant is well known throughout the Old Continent thanks to its great resistance to cold and can make our garden not so desolate in winter. In addition, it has a wide range of colors and little care abroad.
WHY DO SOME LEAVES TURN YELLOW?
Hi John.
The yellow leaves on plants It is a symptom that can be due to multiple causes: excess or lack of watering, or old age (the lower leaves die after a while).
In order to help you better, we need to know how often you water it and if you have it in a pot without holes or with a plate underneath.
Consult, I have the plant in a pot with holes, I water it when I see that its soil is not damp.
Lately, it has yellow leaves and when a new leaf or flower begins to emerge from its stem, the bottom part begins to thin and it is like it has rotted and withered.
I don't want the plant to die, please help me what should I do.
Thank you
Hello Natalia.
Do you have a plate under it? Is that when watering, the water remains stagnant in it, and this can rot the roots unless it is emptied after having watered. It is also necessary to take into account that the surface of the substrate (soil) dries more quickly, as it is more exposed, which can confuse us and believe that the earth is completely dry when it is not.
If you do not have a plate, check the humidity of the substrate, for example with a toothpick inserted all the way. If it comes out with a lot of soil attached, don't water; on the contrary, if it comes out practically clean, water.
The leaves that are yellow can be removed, since they will not turn green again.
If you have doubts, tell me.
Greetings.
I make a query, I have an alpine violet blooming in the middle of summer in Argentina, it catches my attention.
Hi Yolanda.
Weather often surprises us, as it can cause a plant to bloom early. Also the human being, in controlled crops, can advance or delay flowering.
Greetings.