A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2002 Cyclamen

I am trying to have some plants in my cube at work. One of them is a Cyclamen. I really don't want to kill it so i was wondering how best to take car of it and if i should take it home instead?

Hi Mimi,

If your office cube has a north-facing window, it will be OK. I know that is not likely, so it is best to take it home where you can keep it in bright indirect light on a cool north windowsill.

Don't make the mistake of repotting it. Allow the soil to dry down about an inch before watering thoroughly. If it wilts from being too dry, it will get some yellow leaves, but it will perk up. Overwatering will rot the corm and its roots, so that must be avoided.

Warm temps may cause it to get yellow leaves and go dormant. If that happens, cut off the yellow leaves, keep it drier than usual, and wait for new leaves to emerge before resuming normal care.

Watch carefully for spider mites.

Thanks for the Advice but there is one problem there as well. The house/room i live in doesn't have a window that gets much sunlight. it is also a very warm room. so i bought a plant light for my cyclamen would that do?

Mimi,

If the plant light is a fluorescent type bulb, then you can place the Cyclamen within 6 inches of the light and it should be OK. If it is an incandescent bulb, it will generate too much heat to be effective.

Do your bst to keep the room temps as cool as possible. It doesn't have to be cold, but below 70 degrees is best to keep it from going dormant. In addition, warm temperatures are conducive to spider mite proliferation, so be vigilant is checking regularly for these critters.

Do the best you can with the environment you have. It the Cyclamen doesn't make it, there are lots of other plant choices that are better suited for your particular environment.

P.S. You may be interested in my website at www.HorticulturalHelp.com and my Indoor plant Bulletins that I publish monthly.