Miracle on the window - cyclamen mix

Cyclamen mix - a charming flower. Bright green leaves with additional ornaments, as well as charming beauty of the flowers drive many gardeners crazy. In relation to this flower, there is an opinion that it is impossible to grow it at home. This is not true.

Knowing the basic tricks of caring for him, you can get such an amazing plant in your home.

Botanical Description and History

CYCLAMEN MIX is a representative of the genus plants of the subfamily Mirsinovye family Primrose. This variety is a hybrid. It is bred from the Persian and European varieties. It is a perennial, herbaceous plant. Growth rate is average.

It is used in traditional medicine, as well as in the manufacture of pharmaceutical products.

ATTENTION! Tubers are poisonous. Be careful!

It is widely used both for indoor cultivation, and for cultivation in the open ground.

Cyclamen grows 10-15 years. Flowering - annual, occurs in the winter. It can produce up to 70 flowers per year.

The homeland of Cyclamen is the countries of Asia and the Mediterranean. Cyclamen has always been considered the patron saint of women, being a symbol of motherhood and love. Ancient priests claimed that the plant brings happiness to the house. Cyclamen flowers were used in magical rites and decorated wedding ceremonies with them. The properties of a love potion were also attributed to the cyclamen.

He was brought to Europe in the 17th century. But due to the fact that pigs were fed with tubers, he was nicknamed "pork turnip". Two centuries later, it began to be grown as a houseplant in England.

Description of appearance

The root of this flower is a thickened tuber. The leaves are basal, oblong in shape, green in color, with gray and golden patterns. Flowers are solitary, on powerful peduncles. The coloring of this species always goes smoothly from one color to another.

Popular varieties

Mini

If you are new to growing cyclamen, we recommend starting with cyclamen mini. is he less whimsical to care than other varieties. More compact. The height of its flowering stems grow up to 10-15 cm. They are ideal for growing in the house, on flower beds, in the garden, on the terraces.

Patio

This cyclamen variety is one of the smallest. Its height is about 10 cm. The flowers are small, bright colors, from white to carmine. With proper care, it blooms from late autumn and all winter.

Where and how to plant it?

Cyclamen mix should be planted in August-September. During this period, the phase of its active growth begins.

TIP. Pick up a small pot. Its size should be slightly larger than the tubers.

The procedure for landing cyclamen is as follows:

1. Put a layer of drainage in the selected pot at the bottom. It can be expanded clay or crushed stone.
2. Before planting, pour prepared soil with a solution of potassium permanganate. This must be done in advance so that it dries out a little.
3. Fill the pot with soil and plant the tubers.
4. Tubers do not need to be deepened much.
5. Water the flower. As the leaves appear, increase the volume of water.

Lighting and location

This flower is not a supporter of bright light. It feels great on the western and eastern windows. On the north window, we do not recommend placing it, as due to a lack of light, it may wither away. Direct sunlight is categorically unacceptable. Under their influence, burns form on the leaves. The plant dies.

Soil requirements

An important requirement for the soil is its acidity level. Cyclamen mix needs a neutral acidity medium (pH 5.5-6). This is determined using special strips that can be purchased at flower shops.

If there are none, the study can be done using table vinegar. So, a little vinegar spills onto a handful of earth: if nothing happens, then the environment is acidic; if there are a lot of bubbles, then the medium is alkaline; if there are few bubbles, then the medium is neutral. To prepare the soil, you need to take in different parts of the sheet and turf soil, sand and humus.

How to care?

Caring for this flower will give you enough worries. It is important to follow the rules of each stage of flower development:

• The temperature should be lower than for other indoor flowers. In the summer of 18-23 degrees Celsius, in the winter about 10 degrees Celsius.
• Watering during flowering should be frequent but moderate. After flowering, watering is reduced. During rest, it almost stops.
• Humidity should be controlled. Before the buds appear, the flower is sprayed. At the beginning of the flowering phase, spraying is prohibited. To control humidity, you can take a wider pan, fill it with pebbles and pour a little water there.
• Fertilizing with mineral fertilizers should be timely. During the period of flower growth, this should be done once every 14 days. You can not feed nitrogen fertilizers. They rot the tubers.
• Pruning the flower itself is not done. Only faded flowers are cut along with the stem. The yellowed leaves are pinched off, not reaching the base.
• It is very important to observe a period of rest. As a rule, he is in the summer.
• It is necessary to transplant at the end of summer and in the fall. They generally do not tolerate the transplant, so if you bought a flower in the store, postpone this procedure until the cyclamen rest period.
• For the best preservation of the tuber until the next vegetative period, you can lay the pot on its side.

IMPORTANT! In the summer months, do not fertilize, hardly water, and place in a cool, shady place.

Common problems

Like all plants, cyclamen mix is ​​also susceptible to attack by pests and diseases. Among them can be distinguished.

Pests

1. Spider mite (leaves are affected, discolored dry patches appear on them).
2. Aphid (leaves curl, turn yellow, sticky aphid secretions are observed).
3. Multi-claw ticks (young leaves are deformed, coarsened. White seals are observed on the flowers).

DISEASES

• Non-infectious rot (leaves wither and turn yellow, tubers are rotten and soft).
• Leaf Bronze Virus (brown pattern on the leaves, deformation, abnormal growth, necrosis of leaf veins).
• Ring Mosaic Virus (on the leaves there is a pattern similar to fingerprints).
• Anthracnose (neither new leaves nor new flowers grow anymore).
• Fusarium wilt (leaves fade, turn yellow, fall off. After the plant dies. The vessels of the root become brown).
• Gray rot (tissues become soft, covered with white rot).
• Root gall nematodes (on the roots there are swellings, similar to beads, the plant stops growing).

Propagation Features

Frankly, cyclamen is difficult to propagate at home. But this does not mean that it is impossible. Our plant can be propagated in 2 ways: seeds and tubers.

SEEDS

They can be bought at the store. At the same time, check the expiration date. They retain the properties of the shoot only 2 years. You can also collect the seeds yourself, but for this you will have to pollinate the flowers several times. To do this, use a cotton swab in the morning to spread the pollen from one flower to another. After collection, they need to be postponed for 2 months for their final ripening.

Before sowing, the seeds must be soaked in Zircon for 24 hours. The optimal time for sowing is August.

Peat is mixed with vermiculite or leaf soil in equal parts as a substrate. Seeds do not need to be deeply buried in the soil: having spread them on the surface, they sprinkle with a thin layer of soil. The optimum temperature for germination will be +20 degrees Celsius (at a higher value, the seeds will hibernate, and at less than +18 degrees Celsius they are more likely to rot). Landings must be periodically moistened and ventilated.

Shoots begin to appear after about 4-6 weeks. From this moment on, a bowl with seedlings is placed in a well-lit place (but without direct sun) with a temperature of +15 - +17 degrees Celsius.

When the seedlings appear small nodules and 2-3 leaves, they are dived into separate containers. A week after this, the plants are fed with mineral fertilizers (the dose is reduced by 2 times from that indicated on the package). Cyclamens grown from seeds bloom 12-18 months after planting. It happens that flowering begins even later (after 3-4 years).

REMEMBER! Cyclamen mix is ​​a hybrid, so the collected seeds themselves may not convey the characteristics of the mother bush.

TUBERS

This must be done during the resting period of the flower. In spring and summer, you can get tubers from the ground. The tubers are cut so that each part has roots and buds.

Required slices need to be treated with fungicide or crushed coal. After drying, the tubers can be planted in separate pots. The pot should be covered with a jar or a glass. It is important to create a greenhouse effect. If you buy tubers in a store, pay attention to their condition. They should be firm, not wrinkled, without stains and rot. Learn more about the propagation of cyclamen by tuber division here.

Although cyclamen mix and moody, he is very beautiful. Knowledgeable gardeners will always note the presence of such a flower in a house or flower bed, and appreciate your efforts. Moreover, having captured such a plant, your eyes will be provided with beauty even in the winter period of time.