Incorrect watering prime cause of cyclamen trouble

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32998, 18 August 1972, Page 21

Incorrect watering prime cause of cyclamen trouble

Probably one of the most popular of all house plants is the florist’s cyclamen. This very well known plant flowers continuously over the dull winter months and into spring. Frequently, however, the display is short lived or fails to maintain its standards. Frequently the lovely display in the shop only lasts for a few days in the home,

and once the flowers already there have faded there may be few if any more, despite the presence of many buds. Perhaps the leaves become leaden in colour or turn yellow, even though the flowers remain in good condition.

Or it may be that the flower stems become very long, the flowers and leaves becoming very much smaller than originally and much paler in colour. These are but some of the likely troubles that beset cyclamen. The reasons for these occurrences, and remedial measures, will be discussed in this article.

As with nearly all pot plants, watering is a prime cause of trouble. The pots in which the cyclamen are growing are filled with roots and so the plants need plenty ;of water. When there is insufficient for their needs the leaves will begin to turn yellow. Always give enough water so that the surplus will run out of the drainage hole(s) at the base of the pot. Add it slowly allowing it to seep through before giving more. Frequency of watering will depend much on the room temperature in which the plant is kept. Water when the plant requires it—not at regular intervals. “Every Monday morning” is a common enough assertion to this question but when you think lit over it is a quite absurd I routine.

The colour of the rooting medium can be a good guide to moisture requirements; if

it is light it needs water, if dark it usually means that it is still moist enough. Weight is another indicator; a dry pot is much lighter. Finally the degree of dryness can be tested by feel. The need for careful watering hag been mentioned already. Water should not be poured over the budding corm. Such treatment can lead to rot developing. To avoid this it is common to stand the pot to its rim in water to ensure thorough penetration of moisture. Pots are often stood in saucers which take up surplus water. These saucers nearly always contain some water, and it is not uncommon to find them kept deliberately filled, with the intention of providing a continuous supply of moisture in order to save having to attend to this aspect at all. As drainage material is rarely added inside the bottom of the pot before topping up with compost, it thus means that the medium in this region is kept permanently saturated if not waterlogged. The result is that the roots begin to die off, the leaves may turn yellow and the flowers fail to develop. Excess water should always be poured out of the saucer or better still it should be filled with coarse sand or gravel and the pot stood on top of this. The sand will take up the excess water and remain permanently damp which will not harm the plant. Remember that your cycla-

men was glasshouse-grown, where humidity is relatively high and it may not have been acclimatised at time of purchase to other conditions. It is taken into the living room of your home where the humidity is low especially when there is any form of heating in use. These drastic changes can be very upsetting to the plant and can even cause failure of further development. Increase the humidity around the plant by spraying a fine mist of water on to it —an old scent spray syringe will do the trick. Alternatively, similar conditions can be induced by following the earlier suggestion, of filling the saucer with sand.

Flowers will eventually die whilst leaves will turn-yellow and die. When this happens carefully remove the flower and leaf so that the stems come away cleanly from the corm. Do not leave any stem snags for these can become infected with botrytis (grey mould) which spreads to the undeveloped flower buds. Whilst these may not show any obvious symptoms they will fail to develop further. Light is essential but direct sunlight, particularly when the plant is in close proximity to glass, should be avoided. A plant in a dark comer will bend its leaves towards the light and flower leaf stems will become etiolated. Apart from these symptoms size is reduced and there will be a decline in colour. Electric light is not an adequate substitute for natural light.