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Did you know there is a foolproof way to rebloom your cyclamen? It sounds a little crazy, but cyclamen are usually treated as disposable holiday plants. People buy them for the holiday season and enjoy them for two or three months and as soon as the leaves start to turn yellow, they toss them into the garbage. Well, let me tell you, it is not necessary. Cyclamen go through a period of dormancy just like clockwork, much like anything that blooms. So, when you see the leaves start to yellow, it simply means it’s time for your plant to take a nap. When cared for properly, cyclamen can last for many years.

Choosing Your Cyclamen

When starting your search for the perfect cyclamen, you want to look for dark green healthy heart-shaped foliage. Preferably, you want to try to find one that has lots of buds that haven’t opened yet. Don’t forget to look under the foliage for more immature buds as well. Their brightly colored blooms come in shades of red, pink, violet, and white.

Lighting

Once you get your new cyclamen home, you want to be sure to put it in a location where it will receive sunlight, such as an eastern-facing window. If you want your cyclamen to survive worry-free, proper lighting is absolutely necessary.

Temperature

it will need daytime temps of around 65-70 degrees and nighttime temps around 50 to 55 degrees. In your home, it may be warmer than that. If it is, you need to locate your plant in the coolest area possible. If it is too hot, then you will not have beautiful flowers for your holiday. Your plant’s leaves will begin to yellow and fall off. You definitely do not want that before the holidays even get started.

Watering

It is the best practice to water your cyclamen from the bottom. Simply place a saucer under your plant and fill it with water. Let it stand for 5 to 10 minutes, until it has soaked the soil well, or you may let it sit in a sink of water until it is wet. Never leave it standing in water as this will cause the tuber to begin to rot.

Fertilizer

Use a water-soluble fertilizer at half-strength. If you over-fertilize you may find that your cyclamen isn’t producing very many new flowers. Fertilize like this every two weeks for as long as the plant has new blooms until it is no longer producing blooms.

Fading Blooms

As your blooms begin to fade, be sure to keep the bloom and stem plucked off of the plant down next to the soil. This will promote new blooms.

Dormancy

Your cyclamen will bloom until spring when it begins to enter its normal dormancy stage. Gradually reduce water as it uses less and less, usually around June. Pick off dead blooms and stalks all the way back to the dirt. Around mid-June, set the pot outside in partial shade and stop watering or leave it inside, where it is cooler. Gradually expose the pot to more sunlight, usually around the end of July or early August, and begin to water again. As it begins to form young leaves you should replant it into a slightly larger pot. Don’t forget to bring your cyclamen back inside in the early fall. You should begin to see new foliage and buds forming.

Congratulations, you just recycled a cyclamen!