Capricious handsome-flowers: Cyclamen Persian

Plants of the genus cyclamen, numbering several dozen species, are common in the Mediterranean and in the northeast of Africa. They were grown in flowerbeds in Ancient Rome, along with narcissus and violets. Like many other wild flowers, cyclamen, more precisely, its individual species, is cultivated as indoor plants.

Cyclamen has gained fame of a whimsical and capricious plant, susceptible to pests, susceptible to various diseases and rot. However, this is not entirely true. Just like other flowers, cyclamen, while observing certain rules of care, is growing rapidly and regularly pleases the surrounding people with bright flowering. This flower may require more attention than many habitual types of houseplants, but its cultivation is quite capable even of beginning florists.

Cyclamen loves bright diffused light and cool moist air. Most comfortable, he feels at a temperature of about +15 degrees. It is desirable that the air in the room where the flowers are kept does not heat above +17 and does not cool below +10 degrees Celsius. Heat and direct rays of the sun, just like many other flowers, cyclamen tolerates poorly. These factors together with insufficient watering lead to yellowing of its leaves.

Certain rules should be followed when watering these plants. To water a flowering cyclamen should be daily, it is better to do this through a pallet. Moisturizing the same soil in the pot, you need to try to ensure that the water does not fall on the leaves and tubers, that is, pour it not to the base of the flower, but to the edge of the pot. Spray the plant can not! These recommendations are related to the fact that the cyclamen tubers are easily rotten during overmoistening. The air around the plant should be moderately moist: for this you can put a small pallet with water next to it.

Cultivate cyclamens from seeds or multiply by dividing the tuber. The most commonly cultivated flowers in the premises are cyclamen Persian and cyclamen European, the rules of care for which are somewhat different.

Cyclamen Persian (Latin Cyclamen persicum) is a herbaceous plant with leaves of a heart-shaped form on long petioles. The diameter of its tubers can reach 15 cm. It blossoms from autumn to spring. The flowers of the cyclamen are Persian fragrant, large in size, with bent petals. They can be pink, white, lilac, burgundy, dark red. Violation of the conditions of the maintenance of this plant leads to the fact that the period of its flowering quickly ends.

Spring and summer in the cyclamen of Persia - a period of rest, leaves and flowers he dies. At this time, the plant must be taken to a room with an air temperature of + 12-14 degrees. Sprinkle Cyclamen Persian in spring and summer, sparingly, just enough to prevent the drying of the earthy coma. At the end of summer, the flower should be transplanted into a fresh soil mixture from leaf land, humus, sand and peat (3: 1: 1: 1). The pot should not be very large, otherwise the cyclamen will bloom badly and may bend.

Cyclamen Persian can be tried to grow independently from the seeds that ripen in it in April-May. The land before planting should be steamed, and seeds - soak in a weak solution of potassium permanganate for 12 hours. Plant them to a depth of 1 cm, at a distance of 2-3 cm from each other, then for the germination time taken out into a dark room. Will germinate in a month and a half. They are taken to a bright place, and after the appearance of two leaves, they are dived. Six months later the seedlings are transplanted into separate pots, the diameter of which should not exceed 6-7 cm. Nodules should never be completely covered with earth, they must rise above it by a third. The young cyclamen begin to blossom approximately two years after planting.

Evergreen Cyclamen European (Cyclamen europaeum) well feels both indoors and outdoors. The time of its flowering - from early spring to mid-autumn. Unlike the Persian cyclamen, this species reproduces and tubers, and the soil for its cultivation should be of the same composition. They transplant it in early March. Cyclamen blossoms European with small fragrant pinkish-purple flowers. His leaves do not die for the winter.

In addition to this species, the Neapolitan cyclamen, flowering in the early autumn, and the Cyclamen of the Cossacks, whose flowering time is April-May, are grown in the open ground. All these species can be grown from seeds at home. In addition to planting material of individual varieties, a mixture of seeds can be purchased in flower shops - in this case, the package will write "Cyclamen mix" ("Mix").