Quite rarely are people indifferent to indoor plants. Usually they attribute their indifference to excessive employment. However, among the majority of even very busy people there are avid flower growers who can boast of amazing collections of various plants, often grown with their own hands. And one of their favorite plants is cyclamen, numbering about 15 species in nature. Its homeland is central Europe and the Mediterranean.
Only two species are widely used in indoor floriculture: Persian cyclamen and European. The difference between them is the size of the flowers: in the Persian variety they are much larger than in the European one. A herbaceous perennial plant with a tuberous root is cyclamen, its reproduction is not difficult, but requires knowledge of some of the nuances that must be adhered to in order to succeed in growing this beautiful flower.
This compact plant is distinguished by dark green leaves with silver pearly stains in the shape of a heart, collected in a basal rosette, cyclamen blooms not very large flowers, reaching up to five centimeters in length, located on thin long peduncles and rising above the rosette of very attractive leaves. A variety of shades is striking: lilac, red, pink, white, lilac, moreover, each color is represented in a spectrum of different saturation tones. The flower is similar in structure to a butterfly, and since there are several of them rising above the leaves, the impression of a flock of butterflies fluttering over a bush is created. And when you consider that flowering occurs in the autumn-winter, poor period of paints, then this is truly a fascinating sight.
Cyclamen: care and reproduction
Cyclamen propagation is practiced in two ways: by seed and tuber division. But it should be noted right away that Persian cyclamen is not recommended to be propagated in the second way, since after dividing the tuber, the plant dies quite often. Therefore, it is often propagated by seeds, especially since cyclamen grown in this way are better acclimatized in room conditions than the “Dutch” greenhouse ones.
Seeds are sown at the end of the summer season, when the temperature regime is kept within 15-20 ° C and already after 15-18 months, most of the Persian varieties of cyclamen begin to delight with their abundant and long flowering.
Cyclamen. Breeding
To obtain seeds during the flowering period, artificial pollination of flowers is carried out, which is better to start on one of the sunny January days. And this is done like this: the fingers add up, as if preparing to make a click and make a click-like movement with the middle finger on the peduncle, it will be noticeable that the pollen will spill out in the form of a weightless cloud or shake the pollen from several flowers with a match on the nail and dip pestle in pollen so that it sticks to the stigma.
Pollination is carried out for five to seven days in a row. If the flower is fertilized - it quickly fades, bends and its stem hangs, a seed box appears in a few days. Cyclamen, the reproduction of which requires certain conditions (it must be kept in a well-lit place at a daytime temperature of 18 ° C, at night should not exceed 12-14 ° C) is very beautiful. The seed ripening period is from April to May. When the capsule begins to ripen, it fades and cracks, so as not to lose seeds, the capsules are removed a little earlier and left to ripen.
Cyclamen. Seed propagation
It is believed that seeds can be sown at any time, most importantly - the temperature should correspond to 15-18 degrees, but better in late summer.
- Seeds are pre-soaked for swelling in "Epin" or "Zircon".
- Sown in nutrient loose soil to a depth of 1 cm.
- The container is kept in a dark place until shoots appear, without excessively wetting the ground, only spraying as necessary.
- The temperature is maintained within the range of 18-20 ° C for a rather long period of time, approximately from one to six months.
- When shoots appear, the container is moved to a place that is bright, but protected from direct sunlight.
- In the phase of the first pair of leaves, seedlings dive into separate pots. Young seedlings grow nodules very quickly and continue to grow, and they need to be regularly sprayed with water and carefully, very moderately, fertilized.
Cyclamen, the cultivation of which is a rather painstaking affair, will begin to amaze in a year and a half with its unique flowering. As they grow, the plants are several times transferred into pots of slightly larger diameter, making sure that the tubers are not 1/3 buried in the ground, but rise above it.