How to Water a Cyclamen?
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You were given a beautiful Cyclamen for the holidays, but a few weeks later, the stems are drooping and the leaves are turning yellow?
Don't feel guilty. The Cyclamen ( Cyclamen persicum ) is a robust plant, but it has an Achilles' heel: its bulb hates stagnant moisture.
Watering a cyclamen requires a specific technique to prevent rot. Here's the complete guide to keeping your plant flowering all winter and encouraging it to bloom again the following year.
1. The Golden Rule: Never get your heart wet!
To water properly, you need to understand the plant's anatomy. The cyclamen grows from a tuber (a kind of large, flat bulb) located on the surface of the soil.
The Danger: If you pour water directly onto the center of the leaves (on the tuber), the water will stagnate. This causes grey mold (Botrytis). The stems become soft at the base and detach.
2. How to water without killing the plant?
There are two schools of thought on how to hydrate a cyclamen without risking rot:
Method A: Basining (The safest method)
Fill a saucer or the bottom of the sink with water. Place your pot in it and let the plant absorb the water from the bottom for 15-20 minutes. Then, drain it well. The soil will be moist, but the bulb will remain dry.
Method B: Precision Irrigation (The fastest method)
If you don't want to move your pots, you can water from the top, on one strict condition: aim only at the edge of the pot , carefully going around the central bulb.
The surgical precision tool
To pour water around the edge of the pot without touching the central bulb or wetting the foliage, you need a long, thin spout. That's the specialty of our copper watering can.
- 🎯 Fine Beak: Allows you to slip under the leaves to aim for the ground.
- ✨ Copper-plated stainless steel: A healthy material that does not rust.
3. When should you water?
Cyclamen prefers cool temperatures (ideally 15-18°C). In our living rooms heated to 20°C, it gets thirsty more quickly.
- The finger test: Touch the soil. If it is dry on the surface, water it.
- The visual sign: If the flowers start to droop slightly, it's an emergency!
Caution: NEVER spray water on the leaves or flowers of the cyclamen. Unlike tropical plants, it hates this and it promotes disease.
4. Help, he dies in the spring!
That's normal! The cyclamen is a plant with a reversed cycle. It flowers in winter and rests in summer.
Starting in April/May, the leaves will turn yellow and fall off. Don't throw the plant away!
- Gradually stop watering.
- Cut the dried leaves.
- Place the pot (with the bare bulb) in a cool, dark place (garage, cellar) all summer, without water.
- In September: Repot the bulb in fresh potting soil and resume watering. It will bloom again!
5. And what about wild Cyclamen (from Naples)?
In the garden, cyclamens (often Cyclamen hederifolium or coum ) are much more self-sufficient. They grow in the shade of trees.
They generally do not need watering, except in cases of extreme drought in autumn when vegetation resumes growth.
Up to you
The secret of the cyclamen can be summed up in one sentence: Freshness, and water on the sides, never in the middle.
With the right precision watering can, you will keep your plant from one year to the next.
See the Designer Watering Cans collection