Bulb · Primulaceae
Florist's Cyclamen
Cyclamen persicum
Keep it cool, bright, and watered from below, and cyclamen blooms its heart out all winter.
Bright indirect
Every 5–10 days
50–64°F · 10–18°C
420–540 days
Overview
Cyclamen charges in with color right when most plants have clocked off for the year, throwing up upswept flowers from late fall into spring. It rides in the primrose family and grows from a flat tuber that perches at the soil surface, pushing out heart-shaped leaves marbled in silver and green. Most growers meet it first as the florist's cyclamen, the tender hybrid that lands in pots for the winter windowsill.
What it asks for flips the usual houseplant playbook, and that is half the fun. Cyclamen craves things cool and bright, not warm and cozy, and a heated room makes it sulk the way other plants sulk in a draft. Water it from below to keep the crown dry, hand it a chilly window seat, and it pays you back with weeks of bloom.
Come late spring the leaves yellow and fade, and many a new grower bins the plant, sure it is finished. Not so fast. The tuber is just dropping into dormancy for the summer, banking its energy until cooler days fire it back into growth.
Care
The short version: keep it cool and bright, water from below whenever the surface dries so the crown stays dry, feed lightly through the growing season, and let the tuber rest dry through its summer dormancy.
Light
Hand cyclamen bright, indirect light, the sort it would soak up near a window out of the midday glare. It shrugs off a bit of partial sun or shade, but harsh direct sun scorches the leaves while deep shade slams the flowering shut, so the in-between spot wins every time.
Water
Water only when the surface feels dry, every 5 to 10 days through the growing season, and always from below so the crown and tuber stay dry. Water sitting on the crown is what rots the plant, plain and simple. Once the leaves yellow for summer, slash the watering and let the tuber rest.
Soil
Plant it in a rich, light, well-drained loam that whisks water through fast instead of letting it pool around the tuber. A pH anywhere from 5.5 to 7.0 keeps it happy, so slightly acidic to neutral ground does the job.
Temperature
Here is where most people stumble. Cyclamen wants it cool, between 50°F and 64°F (10°C to 18°C), and a warm living room drives it into early decline. A bright, chilly windowsill is exactly the spot it is chasing.
Humidity
Aim for 40% to 60% humidity, the easy middle of an ordinary home. Skip the misting, which only soaks the crown and invites rot, and if the air runs bone dry, stand the pot on a tray of damp pebbles instead.
Feeding
Feed monthly from fall through spring while the plant powers through active growth, using a dilute balanced or low-nitrogen houseplant food. Cut the feeding once the leaves start to yellow and the tuber heads into its summer rest.
Pruning
No real pruning to wrangle here. Just twist off spent flowers and yellowing leaves at the base, pulling rather than cutting, which keeps stubs from rotting and freshens the plant as you go.
Repotting
Repot every 1 to 2 years after the summer dormancy, right as new growth wakes up. Roots crowding the pot, a tuber filling the surface, or smaller leaves and fewer flowers all shout that it is time to bump up a size.
Size & spacing
Cyclamen stays small and snappy, topping out at just 6 to 9 inches (15 to 23 cm) tall and about as wide. That tight, mounded shape is exactly why it drops so easily onto a windowsill or a tabletop.
When to plant
Cyclamen runs on a winter clock, flipping the script most plants follow. Seed sown in late summer bursts into bloom the following winter, and indoors the flowers carry from November into April before the tuber drops into its summer rest.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Sow: late summer
- Plant: after frost in zones 9-11 only
- Harvest: winter to spring (November to April)
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 9–11
Temperature: down to -7°C
Troubleshooting
Most cyclamen trouble tracks straight back to warmth, water on the crown, or a hidden mite. Get sharp at telling a rotting tuber from a plant simply dropping into dormancy, and you will know exactly when to jump in and when to stand back. Match what you see below, then move early.
Fresh leaves turning up puckered and buds twisting
Spot new leaves and buds opening cupped, curled, and stunted, and you have caught cyclamen mites at work, or the broad mites that run with them, both far too small to see. They burrow into the growth before it opens and feed there, so it pushes out already deformed. Pull the plant away from the rest of your collection the second you notice, and let a badly hit one go rather than hand the mites a path to everything else.
Fix:
- Discard heavily infested plants to prevent spread
- Isolate affected plants immediately
- Apply a miticide labeled for cyclamen mites if treating
A soft, sour tuber and a crown going down
Let water pool on the crown and tuber and crown rot moves right in, and once that base turns soft and smells sour the plant rarely climbs back. Overwatering drives it, usually a stream poured straight over the top. Flip to watering from below, scoop out and toss any tuber gone to mush, then hand the survivors sharper drainage and brisk airflow to set them right.
Fix:
- Reduce watering and water from below
- Remove and discard severely rotted tubers
- Improve drainage and air circulation
Leaves going gold and letting go
Catch leaves yellowing in late spring or summer and you are watching natural dormancy, the tuber clocking out for its summer rest, with nothing to fix. Catch that same yellowing mid-winter, while the plant should be charging ahead, and the spot is running too warm or too wet. Whisk it to a cooler corner near 65°F (18°C) and back off the watering.
Fix:
- During dormancy, reduce watering and rest the tuber in a cool spot
- During active growth, move to a cooler location and correct watering
Toxicity
Cyclamen is toxic, and that warning reaches past pets. The whole plant packs terpenoid saponins, with the buried tuber loaded heaviest of all, so eating it can spark vomiting and, in quantity, heart-rhythm trouble and seizures. Keep it well out of reach of cats, dogs, horses, and small children, and scrub your hands after handling the root.
Toxic to
Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds · People
Cats Severe
One nibble can send a cat into drooling, vomiting, and diarrhea fast. Dig into the tuber and the stakes jump, with an irregular heartbeat and seizures on the table, and a large dose can kill, so park this plant somewhere a cat can never reach.
Dogs Severe
A dog that grabs a taste tends to drool hard, vomit, and ride out a churning stomach. The tuber packs the most toxin, so a dog chewing into the root courts heart-rhythm trouble, seizures, and at worst death, which makes a high shelf the smart move.
Horses Severe
Saponins push a horse straight into drooling, diarrhea, and colic, and since a horse cannot vomit, it has no route to flush the poison out. A big mouthful of tuber can throw the heartbeat off and spark seizures, so keep this plant nowhere near the barn.
Rabbits Toxic
Those same saponins flag every part as off-limits for a rabbit, and the tuber tops the danger list. Stash a potted cyclamen well out of reach and never let a rabbit get its teeth into the leaves.
Livestock Toxic
Cattle, sheep, and goats that browse cyclamen load up on the same gut-churning toxin, and the buried tuber hauls the biggest dose of all. Keep the plants clear of anything that grazes and you head off the whole problem.
Birds Toxic
Birds catch no break from the saponins either, so a pet parrot or finch should never tangle with the foliage or tuber. Shift the plant somewhere a curious beak just cannot reach.
People Caution
Cyclamen is not on the menu, and swallowing any of it can kick off vomiting and stomach upset, with the tuber the riskiest piece. Handling the tuber can sting the skin too, so scrub your hands after and keep it clear of kids.
The tuber/root is the most toxic part. Keep plants out of reach of pets and children, and wash hands after handling as the tuber can cause contact dermatitis.
Helpline numbers
United States
ASPCA Animal Poison Control: (888) 426-4435 (fee applies)
Poison Control: (800) 222-1222
Canada
Poison Centres: 1-844-764-7669
Varieties
Cyclamen sweeps from a tender pot plant all the way to a hardy woodland groundcover. These two are the ones you will run into first.
Cyclamen persicum (florist cyclamen hybrids)
These tender hybrids headline the winter shelves, throwing up big upswept blooms in violet, lavender, pink, rose, red, and white, plenty of them flashing a darker eye at the center.
Cyclamen hederifolium
Named for its ivy-shaped leaves, this hardy species laughs off real cold and stakes its claim outdoors as a groundcover rather than a pot plant.
How to propagate
Cyclamen takes its sweet time to multiply and asks for patience whichever path you pick. Seed is the route nearly everyone grabs, with division a long shot saved for the truly determined.
SeedModerate
Late summer · About 12-18 months to first bloom
Seed is the rewarding, reliable way to raise a whole batch of cyclamen. Sow fresh seed in late summer and the young plants burst into bloom the next winter, though they run 12 to 18 months from sowing to that first flower, so patience powers the payoff.
DivisionDemanding
During dormancy · Variable
Take a swing at splitting the tuber during summer dormancy if you like, but the odds run thin. Cut pieces tend to rot before they root, and recovery times bounce all over the place, which keeps most growers firmly on seed.
Myths
Cyclamen is safe around pets because it is sold as a common houseplant.
A spot on the shop shelf proves nothing about whether a pet can safely chew it. Cyclamen is toxic to cats, dogs, and horses, and the tuber especially can trigger an irregular heartbeat, seizures, and death if a pet eats enough. Park it well out of reach of animals and children.