Indoor flowers cyclamens, care of which is not very difficult, pleasing with its flowering from late autumn to spring. Its original flowers of various colors are similar to butterflies fluttering over the plant. Leaves in it are radical, on long petioles, green with various gray patterns, grow on top of a flattened tuber with a diameter of up to 15 centimeters.
There is an opinion that indoor cyclamen flowers are difficult to grow in a room. This is not quite true. With cyclamen, taken from a friend, there will be no big problems. But the plants bought in the store, live in the room with difficulty. This is due to the fact that before this the cyclamen flowers grew in the cool greenhouses. After buying, they get used to the dry warm air of our apartments and houses for a long time. But, if you put a little effort, with proper cultivation cyclamen can live up to 25 years! Two types of cyclamens are cultivated in the room: Cyclamen Persian and Cyclamen European. Despite the similar name, they sharply differ from each other in appearance and growing conditions.
European Cyclamen
From the Persian cyclamen the European differs in that it has a smaller tuber with outgrowths, the leaves are reddish below. It perfectly grows on the windowsills at a temperature of +18 - +20 degrees and dry air, in the penumbra. The best land mixture for it: sod, leafy earth, humus, peat, sand (2: 2: 2: 2: 1). Water this cyclamen from the tray with cool water (3-4 degrees below room temperature), in summer abundantly, in winter it is rare. This species does not have an expressed period of rest, in winter it can lose some of the leaves, but in spring new ones will grow - and the plant will blossom. Propagate it with tubers, which are easily separated during transplantation, or by the separation of aerial shoots. They fall asleep completely with the earth. Seeds are usually not propagated.
Cyclamen Persian
Indoor flower cyclamen Persian propagated by seeds. They are bought in the store or obtained by artificial pollination. To do this, transfer the pollen with a soft brush from the flower of one plant to the stigma of another, repeating this technique for reliability 2 to 3 times. The best time for pollination is the morning. Seeds will ripen in 3 - 4 months. They collect, clean and immediately sow, as they quickly lose their germination.
Seeds are sown in a bowl with a mixture of leaf earth with sand (4: 1), laying out in holes one by one. At the bottom of the bowl make holes for drainage - a drain of excess water. The seeding depth is 0.5 - 0.7 cm, the arrangement is 1x1 cm or 2x2, the top is covered with paper. Watered on paper, not allowing the drying of the soil. The paper protects the crop from compaction and the appearance of moss on it. Shoots appear on the 25th - 30th day at a temperature of +18 - +20 degrees (in the dark). When the sprouts appear, the plates are transferred to light, the paper is removed, but they are protected from direct sunlight. Pour carefully from the syringe, trying to water the ground, not plants. But in any case the leaves should dry by night. After two weeks, the plants are fed with a solution of ammonium sulfate (2 g per liter). And after 10 days - potassium nitrate (1 g per liter of water). After 1.5 months the seedlings already have 2 to 3 leaves. They are dived according to the scheme of 3x3 cm, the nodules are covered with earth.
Summer care for cyclamen
For the summer, indoor cyclamen flowers can be carried to the greenhouse. Care for them must be carried out according to certain rules. Earth during watering can not be waterlogged, otherwise the sprouts will rot and die. Cyclamens are regularly fed with infusion of mullein (1:20) or full mineral fertilizer (1 g per liter). In hot sunny weather, seedlings are sprayed 3 to 4 times a day with a syringe or spray, shade with cover material, and air. In September, the seedlings are brought into the room and dived for a longer distance (5 - 6 cm), by this time they should already have 5 to 6 leaves. Tables with seedlings can be installed on a suspended shelf near the window panes. In winter they are more comfortable at a temperature of +10 - +12 degrees. Poured neatly.
3-4 months after the second picking, the plants are transplanted into pots with a diameter of 9 cm into a mixture of peat, leaf land, humus, sand (2: 1: 1: 1), dipping the tuber not completely, but only 2/3 of its height. Cyclamens grow best in low pots (ratio of height to width 0.6: 1). For the summer, pots with young cyclamen should preferably be brought to the greenhouse. The last transshipment, in pots with a diameter of 15 - 17 cm, is done in July, dropping the tuber by half. The earlier to release the tuber from the ground, the faster it will grow lignified and blossom. If it is completely covered with earth, it will rot. In summer, cyclamens are fed with infusion of cow dung (1:10) or full mineral fertilizer (3 - 5 g per liter) every two weeks.
Care of cyclamens in the autumn period
In August, begin to temper the indoor flowers cyclamens, without closing the hotbed even at night. Low temperatures and morning dew strengthen the stem and tuber. Spraying of plants is no longer carried out: it can rotate a tuber. Remove yellow leaves and buds that may appear, and healthy leaves bend downward to the tuber was in the sun. In September-October (depending on the region), before the onset of frost, the cyclamen is brought into the room with a temperature of +10 - +12 degrees (can be put between the frames). The place should be light. Water it with water about 12 degrees. The water should not get to the core of the tuber, so that it does not rot. In November, the cyclamen blooms and blooms 2 - 2.5 months.
Components of success
The main condition for successful growth for the Persian cyclamen is a cool winter content (+10 - +15 degrees). The second condition is the watering regime. Cyclamen is watered only as the upper layer of the earth dries along the edge of the pot. Do this gently, with soft water, trying not to soak the buds and the tip of the stem where the growth point is located. Excess water from the pan is drained. Rotted rot and buds remove, pinching off the tuber itself. These places are sprinkled with coal powder. Among pests for cyclamen, aphids and cyclamen mites are dangerous. Against aphids processed with tobacco infusion (40 g of tobacco dust and 5 grams of laundry soap per 1 liter of water). And from the mite - infusion of peeled onions (20 g per 1 liter, insist 2 days).
Care of cyclamens after flowering
After flowering, watering is gradually reduced, but does not stop. In June, when the leaves dry up, the pots with the plants are placed on the barrel in a cool place. In August, when the tuber releases the first shoots, it is transplanted into a pot of fresh earth (leaf earth, humus, peat and sand 3: 1: 1: 1) with the addition of pieces of charcoal. When the transplant is cut off rotten roots, make a good drainage, the tubers are buried at 2/3 of the height. Such planting protects the growth point from decay and stimulates the laying of flower buds. Indoor flowers cyclamen care is vital. If you follow all the recommendations, these flowers will please long and long.