Cyclamen Care Tips: How to Easily Care for a Cyclamen Plant

Wondering about the details of cyclamen care? If you’ve seen this beautiful plant in stores throughout the cooler months of the year and have fallen in love with its striking blooms and interesting foliage, you might be surprised to learn that cyclamen care is actually not complicated at all!

This means that even if you’re a beginner, you have a wonderful shot of keeping this plant beautiful under your care.

Personally, I LOVE cyclamen and I look forward to its arrival in garden centers every year – they’re gorgeous!!

Cyclamen thrives as an indoor plant but it can also be grown outdoors in certain climates. It’s why you often see them planted outdoors in people’s landscapes.

Learn how to care for your beautiful cyclamen plant with this helpful guide!
Pink Cyclamen plant being growin indoors

During the late fall and winter months, I think garden lovers feel a little lonely without flowering plants. That’s why cyclamen is so special.

Getting to see such beautiful blooms when the weather is so cold truly does feel like a special treat from mother nature.

That’s right – cyclamen grows during the fall and winter and goes dormant during the warmer months so it can rest and gain the strength it needs to start reblooming in the fall.

Believe it or not – cyclamen can rebloom every year and can live for many years, even decades if properly cared for. That’s what we’re going to cover here – so let’s get started!

Basic Cyclamen Care Needs

Cyclamen (Cyclamen persicum) is a short, flowering plant and is a tuberous perennial, meaning it grows from a tuber and comes back year after year.

It thrives in cooler temperatures which is why it does so well as an indoor plant, and then goes dormant for a few months once the weather starts to warm around summertime.

Growing it in an ideal climate makes cyclamen care easier so try to keep it in an area that reaches about 60 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit during the day.

Learn how to care for cyclamen!
Root system of a cyclamen plant

This plant does not like dry air, high temperatures, or drafts from windows or doors, so be careful not to place it near your front door when growing it as an indoor plant.

Cyclamen plants also appreciate a humid environment because it mimics their natural habitat.

If your home is on the dry side, here’s a simple trick you can use in your cyclamen care routine:

– Place your cyclamen pot on top of a shallow tray that’s filled with small pebbles.

– Every now and then, fill the tray with water. Doing this increases water in the air around your plant and thus gives it the humidity levels it craves (you can also use this trick for your other houseplants that love humidity, like the anthurium and peace lily).

– Another trick if you don’t have a humidifier in your home is to place your indoor plants in the same area because doing so actually helps to increase the humidity within that area. Pretty neat, right?

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Red cyclamen blooms and glossy green leaves

Cyclamen Care: How to Water Cyclamen

Watering is one of the most important things you need to get right if you want your plant to live and thrive year after year.

Cyclamen care is very similar to succulent care when it comes to watering: they both prefer their soil to dry out a little between waterings. Aim to water the soil directly and try not to get the leaves or blooms wet.

You’ll know when it’s time to water by using the touch test: stick your finger into the soil to test for dryness: is the soil dry about an inch or two into the pot?

If yes, then it’s time to water generously until water seeps from the bottom of the pot!

Then, let the soil dry out a little (never completely) before your next watering.

It’s pretty easy to spot an under-watered cyclamen: all of the stems and blooms will droop and it’ll look like the plant is dying but it’s actually craving water. Once you give it a good watering, the plant will perk back up in a few hours.

Learn how to care for cyclamen with this simple guide!
Tiny cyclamen flower buds

How to Get Clycamen to Keep Blooming

Getting your cyclamen to keep producing blooms during its active period is not hard at all!

All you have to do is pinch or cut off the dead blooms where the soil meets the stem. Doing so will help the plant redirect its energy into creating more buds.

Cyclamen is a profuse bloomer and loves to keep producing beautiful flowers during the cooler months – it’s as if they love to show off their color!

How to Get Your Clycamen to Rebloom after Dormancy

Proper cyclamen care during dormancy is very important to get it to rebloom in the fall.

As stated above, cyclamen plants are perennials that can rebloom year after year. The way your care for your plant during dormancy makes all the difference.

Learn how to take care for cyclamen!
Red and white cyclamen flowers in nursery pots

Here’s what you need to do during the summer:

Stop watering your cyclamen plant when it stops blooming towards the end of spring. Let the leaves yellow and die back down on their own.

Take your plant and place it in a dark and cool room and keep it there until the beginning of fall, when you start to see new growth.

Once you start seeing leaves pop out of the soil, you can move your plant into the light and start watering on a regular basis.

Is Cyclamen Toxic to Animals?

The answer is yes – cyclamen IS toxic to animals if ingested. Keep this plant out of reach and away from pets and small children.

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A trio of blooming cyclamen plants

Many plants are toxic to animals if ingested, so it’s always best to keep them high above the ground where you know your pets won’t be able to reach. If that’s not an option, then it’s best to skip this plant altogether.

Signs of poisoning might include, vomiting, diarrhea, and drooling.