Bulb · Primulaceae
Florist's Cyclamen
Cyclamen persicum
Keep it cool, bright, and watered from below, and cyclamen just keeps flowering all winter.
Bright indirect
Every 5–10 days
50–64°F · 10–18°C
420–540 days
Overview
Right when most plants have packed it in for the year, cyclamen shows up with color, sending out swept-back flowers from late fall into spring. It's part of the primrose family and grows from a flat tuber that sits right on top of the soil, pushing up heart-shaped leaves marbled in silver and green. Most people first meet it as a florist's cyclamen, the tender hybrid that turns up in pots for the winter windowsill.
Here's the thing: what it wants is the opposite of the usual houseplant routine. Cyclamen likes things cool and bright, not warm and cozy, so stick it in a heated room and it'll sulk the way other plants sulk in a cold draft. Water it from below to keep the crown dry, give it a chilly spot by a window, and you'll get weeks of bloom out of it.
Come late spring the leaves go yellow and fade, and plenty of first-timers chuck the plant out, figuring it's a goner. It isn't, though. The tuber's just heading into dormancy for the summer, taking a breather until cooler days wake it back up again.
Care
The short version: keep it cool and bright, water from below whenever the surface dries so the crown stays dry, feed it lightly through the growing season, and let the tuber rest dry while it's dormant over summer.
Light
Give cyclamen bright, indirect light, the kind it'd catch near a window but out of the harsh midday glare. It'll cope with a little partial sun or shade, but direct sun scorches the leaves and deep shade really knocks back the flowering, so somewhere in between is the sweet spot.
Water
Only water once the surface feels dry, which works out to about every 5 to 10 days while it's growing, and always from below so the crown and tuber stay dry. Water on the crown is the big thing that rots cyclamen. Once the leaves yellow for summer, ease right off and let the tuber rest.
Soil
Pop it in a rich, light, well-drained loam that lets water run straight through instead of pooling around the tuber. Any pH from 5.5 to 7.0 works fine, so slightly acidic to neutral soil is all you're after.
Temperature
This is the bit most people get wrong. Cyclamen wants it cool, between 50°F and 64°F (10°C to 18°C), and a warm living room sends it into an early slump. A bright, chilly windowsill is exactly what it's hoping for.
Humidity
Shoot for 40% to 60% humidity, which is the middle-of-the-road range in a normal home. Don't mist it, though, since that just wets the crown and invites rot. If your air's really dry, sit the pot on a tray of damp pebbles instead.
Feeding
Feed it monthly from fall through spring while it's actively growing, using a dilute balanced or low-nitrogen houseplant food. Once the leaves start yellowing and the tuber heads into its summer rest, stop feeding and leave it be.
Pruning
There's honestly no real pruning to do here. Just twist off spent flowers and yellowing leaves at the base, pulling them rather than cutting, which stops stubs rotting and keeps the plant looking tidy as you go.
Repotting
Repot it every 1 to 2 years after the summer dormancy, right as new growth starts stirring. Roots crowding the pot, a tuber filling the surface, or smaller leaves and fewer flowers are all the plant's way of telling you it's time to size up.
Size & spacing
Cyclamen stays small and neat, getting only 6 to 9 inches (15 to 23 cm) tall and about the same across. That tidy little mound is exactly why it slots so easily onto a windowsill or tabletop.
When to plant
Cyclamen runs on a winter clock, which is back to front compared with most plants. Seed sown in late summer comes into bloom the next winter, and indoors the flowers carry from November into April before the tuber settles 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 comes down to warmth, water sitting on the crown, or a sneaky mite. The trick is learning to tell a rotting tuber from a plant that's just going dormant, because then you'll know when to step in and when to leave well enough alone. Find what you're seeing below, and jump on it early.
New leaves coming in puckered and buds twisted
See young leaves and buds emerging cupped, curled, and oddly stunted? That's almost always cyclamen mites, or the broad mites that travel with them, and they're far too tiny to spot. They tuck into the growth before it opens and feed there, which is why it unfurls already deformed. Move the plant away from your others the moment you notice, and if it's badly overrun, it's honestly kinder to bin it than risk the mites hopping to everything close by.
Fix:
- Discard heavily infested plants to prevent spread
- Isolate affected plants immediately
- Apply a miticide labeled for cyclamen mites if treating
A soft, smelly tuber and a crown caving in
Water that sits on the crown is what brings on tuber and crown rot, and once the base goes soft and starts to smell sour, there's usually no saving it. The cause is nearly always too much water, often tipped right over the top. So switch to watering from below, dig out and toss any tuber that's gone to mush, and give whatever's left better drainage and a bit more air moving around it.
Fix:
- Reduce watering and water from below
- Remove and discard severely rotted tubers
- Improve drainage and air circulation
Leaves going yellow and dropping
Leaves yellowing in late spring or summer? That's usually just natural dormancy, the tuber clocking off for its summer rest, and there's nothing to fix. But if the yellowing shows up mid-winter while it should be growing, the plant's probably too warm or too wet. Shift it somewhere cooler, around 65°F (18°C), and go easier on 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 it's not just the pets you need to think about. The whole plant carries terpenoid saponins, and the buried tuber holds by far the most, so eating it can cause vomiting and, in bigger amounts, heart-rhythm trouble and seizures. Keep it away from cats, dogs, horses, and little kids, and wash your hands after you've handled the root.
Toxic to
Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds · People
Cats Severe
Even one nibble can set a cat drooling, throwing up, and dealing with diarrhea. And if it gets into the tuber? That's when things turn serious, with the risk of an off-beat heart and seizures, and a big mouthful can be fatal.
Dogs Severe
A dog that has a go at cyclamen will usually drool a lot, vomit, and end up with a rough stomach. The tuber's where most of the toxin sits, so a dog chewing into the root risks heart-rhythm trouble, seizures, and in the worst case death.
Horses Severe
For a horse, the saponins bring on drooling, diarrhea, and colic, and since horses can't vomit, there's no way to clear what they've swallowed. A big helping of tuber can throw the heartbeat off and trigger seizures, so it's best kept well away.
Rabbits Toxic
Those same saponins make every bit of the plant unsafe for rabbits, and the tuber's by far the worst. Keep a potted cyclamen somewhere a rabbit can't get at, and don't ever let one nibble the leaves.
Livestock Toxic
Cattle, sheep, and goats that browse cyclamen take in the same gut-churning toxin, and the buried tuber holds the biggest dose of the lot. The simplest fix is keeping the plants well clear of anything that grazes.
Birds Toxic
Birds don't get a pass on the saponins either, so a pet parrot or finch should never get near the leaves or the tuber. Just move the plant somewhere a curious beak can't reach.
People Caution
Cyclamen isn't food, and swallowing any of it can leave you queasy and throwing up, with the tuber the riskiest part. Handling the tuber can irritate your skin too, so wash your hands after and keep it out of the way 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 runs the gamut from a delicate pot plant to a tough woodland groundcover. These two are the ones you're most likely to bump into.
Cyclamen persicum (florist cyclamen hybrids)
These are the tender hybrids you'll spot in shops over winter, with big swept-up blooms in violet, lavender, pink, rose, red, and white, and lots of them have a darker eye right in the middle.
Cyclamen hederifolium
Its leaves look a lot like ivy, and this tougher species takes real cold without flinching, so it'd rather live outside as groundcover than sit in a pot.
How to propagate
Cyclamen's slow to multiply and wants a bit of patience whichever way you go. Seed is what nearly everyone reaches for, while division's a long shot you'd only bother with if you're feeling stubborn.
SeedModerate
Late summer · About 12-18 months to first bloom
Seed's the steady, no-drama way to get more cyclamen. Sow fresh seed in late summer and the plants flower the next winter, though you're looking at 12 to 18 months from sowing to that first bloom, so a bit of patience comes with the territory.
DivisionDemanding
During dormancy · Variable
Sure, you can try splitting the tuber during summer dormancy, but don't get your hopes up. The cut pieces usually rot before they root, and how long any survivor takes to bounce back is all over the place, which is why most folks just stick with seed.
Myths
Cyclamen must be pet-safe since it turns up as a common houseplant.
Just because something's all over the shops doesn't mean a pet can chew it safely. Cyclamen's toxic to cats, dogs, and horses, and the tuber especially can cause an irregular heartbeat, seizures, and even death if an animal eats enough. So keep it well out of reach of pets and kids.