How to store and plant cyclamen tubers?

Cyclamen is amazing in its beauty. When this flower is found in a store, it is difficult to resist buying. At the same time, few people think about the features of care that are characteristic of cyclamen. If they are not followed, the plant will disappear.

Cyclamen belongs to the primroses family. It is a perennial herb with a fleshy root in the form of a tuber, rounded, serrated leaves in the shape of a heart. The silvery pattern adorns the green leaves, which only enhances the spectacular look of the plant. The flower heads are drooping, located on long petioles, which can be colored pink or brown.

These plants are characterized by a wide range of colors. Most often, there are specimens with a simple flower shape, but there are varieties with corrugated and double petals. One plant can have up to 15 flowers at the same time.

Cyclamen tubers are poisonous to some animals. They do not pose any danger to humans, and the juice obtained from these bulbs is used to treat certain diseases. Pigs are happy to eat this product and feel great about it.

When planting a plant in open ground, care must be taken to ensure that its tubers are not accessible to pets.

It is important to plant the cyclamen correctly. The bulb has only one growth point. If it is damaged, then the plant will die, it will no longer be possible to save it. Cyclamen will not be able to develop, its tuber will rot without sprouting. Therefore, care must be taken when planting and during storage.

You need to choose a small pot for planting. It should be about 3 cm from the bulb to the edge of the pot. An opening for excess moisture should be required.

Usually, a third part is left outside, which allows you to maintain the growth point, as a result, the plant will be provided with the right amount of light and air.

It is necessary to plant or transplant tubers during the dormant period. Typically, this work is done between May and June. In the case of acquiring a flowering cyclamen, you must wait until the plant itself goes into hibernation. If a tuber is acquired, then it is considered that the plant has already entered a dormant period.

Cyclamen is very demanding on the ground. You can buy a ready-made substrate for such plants or saintpaulias.

If everything is done correctly, you will get a soil with an acidity in the range of 5.5-6.5. There is another recipe for preparing soil for cyclamen. Peat, sand, leafy soil and agroperlite are taken in equal quantities.

Planting a corm consists of the following stages:

1. the bottom of the tank is covered with a material that will perform drainage properties;
2. we place most of the soil in a pot, you cannot tamp it, you can only press it lightly, otherwise air permeability will decrease, the tuber will suffocate;
3. we put the bulb in the pot with the growth point up (if it is not possible to determine its location, then the tuber is located sideways);
4. we fill up the soil in such a way that it covers the bulb only 2/3, if you want to speed up the appearance of leaves, then the earth can cover it with a thin layer;
5. watering is not needed, it starts only after the first shoots appear.

There are two ways to grow a new plant: by dividing the tuber and planting seeds. Reproduction by dividing the bulb requires utmost care from the grower, because it is easy to damage the tuber, and it will be impossible to bring the plant back to life.

Seeds can also propagate this amazing flower. True, flowering will have to wait about 2 years, but how can such difficulties stop a true lover of cyclamen.

Only the Persian variety of plants can propagate by seeds. This process looks like this:

1. with the onset of spring, you need to fill a suitable box with nutritious soil and make a small groove in it;
2. the seeds of Persian cyclamen are sown in the groove and sprinkled with earth a little;
3. the box is exposed in a warm, but not hot room with a lot of light;
4. the soil must be periodically moistened, excess moisture is unacceptable, since rotting of the seed will occur;
5. it will take a month or even two to wait until the first shoots; some varieties are so tight that the seeds hatch after three or even four months;
6. we are waiting for the appearance of two leaves, after which you can plant small cyclamenchiks in separate pots in loose earth with the addition of river sand;
7. only six months later, the plants can move into open ground, if there is such a desire;
8. it is necessary to plant cyclamen in open ground in a shaded area, usually places under trees or shrubs are chosen.

After flowering, a dormant period begins, which is a feature of this plant. You do not need to put the bulbs in the refrigerator or take them out to the balcony with freezing temperatures.

After the end of the active period, the pot with the tuber is left in the same room, but removed from the windowsill to a darker place, which allows you to observe the behavior of the cyclamen and take care of it.

Resting care is carried out as follows:

1. a bare onion is watered once a week with a small amount of water along the edge of the pot; if there is a lot of water, then the plant will rot, and in dry soil the living roots will die;
2. if the plant has retained its foliage, then watering can be moderate, in this case the evaporation of moisture will be carried out through the leaves;
3. feeding are excluded until awakening

The main conditions for keeping cyclamen look like this:

• this plant is very fond of light, but the direct sun has a destructive effect on it, so you need to choose a bright place, but protection from the sun is required;
• cyclamen also loves water, but reacts negatively to the slightest stagnation of water and waterlogging; the tubers quickly begin to rot and saving the flower in this case becomes difficult;
• during watering, it is important not to get on the tuber, therefore, water must be poured along the edge of the pot or from the bottom, and the method of immersing the container in water is also used;
• the optimum temperature for growth, development and flowering is within + 6– + 12 degrees.

How to care for cyclamen during the rest period, see below.