Cyclamen
Also called Florist's cyclamen, Persian violet.
| Light | bright indirect light |
|---|---|
| Water | Every 21 days in the growing season, every 5 in winter |
| Pets | Cats toxic, dogs toxic |
Source: ASPCA Animal Poison Control, toxic and non-toxic plants, Cyclamen entry.
Toxic to cats and dogs if chewed. Toxic to cats, dogs and horses. The principle is terpenoid saponins, causing drooling, vomiting and diarrhoea, with heart rhythm problems and seizures possible after a large amount of the tuber. Keep it where an animal that eats houseplants cannot reach it, and speak to a vet if one does. In South Africa telephone the Poison Information Helpline on 0861 555 777; in the US, the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center on (888) 426-4435.
This is a winter grower, which is why it behaves so strangely in a centrally heated house. It comes from the eastern Mediterranean, where it grows in the cool wet season and sleeps through the hot dry summer, and it is doing exactly that on your windowsill. It wants a cool bright room, under fifteen degrees if you can manage it, water from below into a saucer rather than over the corm, and a high potash feed while it is in flower. Then in late spring the leaves yellow and it wants to be put somewhere dry and forgotten until autumn, which is the step almost nobody takes. A warm living room is the commonest reason one lasts three weeks.
Ailments observed
| Limp, drooping leaves | A room that is too warm, which is the usual reason and not thirst. Move it somewhere cool and bright, ideally under fifteen degrees. A hallway or a porch suits it far better than a living room. |
|---|---|
| A soft or mushy base to the stem | Water poured over the crown of the corm. Water from below only. Once the crown has gone soft there is usually nothing to be done. |
Filed underPlants for a bedroom
Neighbouring entries
African violet
Streptocarpus ionanthusAfrican violet care that keeps it flowering all year, with why you water from below, what makes the pale rings on the leaves, and how to root a single leaf.
Alocasia
Alocasia x amazonicaAlocasia care with the humidity and warmth it insists on, why it drops leaves in winter, and what the tuber is doing when the plant looks dead.
Asparagus fern
Asparagus densiflorusNot a fern at all but an asparagus, in soft green plumes that turn out to have thorns. Easy, fast, and toxic to cats and dogs.