Baby cyclamen

LG_

Hello,
Both my Cyclamen hederifolium and
C. coum are surrounded by dozens and dozens of tiny seedlings. I'm delighted - I do want them to spread, hence leaving them to it until now. However, there are so many that I wonder if it might be beneficial to thin them out and pot up the thinnings? What would you do? 

punkdoc

I regularly pot on Cyclamen seedlings, grow them on in pots and then plant them out when they are bigger.

Fairygirl

I've certainly potted up seedlings, but they take a while to get to any size, and I'm not sure they always transplant very well.
I don't think I do it at this time of year though - but that's possibly because  any gardening doesn't really happen at this time of year so I don't look.
They do have quite long roots too, so that can make it tricky. A wee fork is probably easier for getting them out. 

LG_

There's this x 10 or more for the C. coum, then about 5 times this many C. hederifolium.

@punkdoc would you leave some and pot others, or pot them all? And @Fairygirl I'm wondering whether to do them now, leave them for a bit (but try not to leave them until they've completely disappeared!) or leave them another year to get bigger.

LG_

I have a little mini thingummy (widger?) from the front of a magazine years ago which I use for pricking out.

Fairygirl

You might struggle to separate them completely, but that wouldn't matter - just put a wee clump into a pot, and the whole thing can be planted out later. I keep some in pots permanently 

Dovefromabove

Fairygirl said:

You might struggle to separate them completely, but that wouldn't matter - just put a wee clump into a pot, and the whole thing can be planted out later. I keep some in pots permanently 

I do the same 😊 

BobTheGardener

I agree, transplanting small clumps of seedling is the way to go.  One thing to remember is that  C. hederifolium are more vigorous than C. coum, so best not to mix them when planting out, and keep them in separate clumps in the garden.

LG_

Yes, I heard that too, @BobTheGardener. They are quite near each other but the C. coum are much much more prolific than the C. hederifolium at the moment, so I hope they'll continue to hold their own. I've actually got several more mature potted C. hederifolium that someone gave me and I'll make sure to plant those somewhere completely different!

BobTheGardener

I also have C. cicilium which seems to have a growth/spreading rate similar to C. coum, but flowers at a similar time to C. hederifolium (cicilium leaves are more rounded and like those of coum) so I'm hoping that combination stays more balanced.

I don't honestly think many folk have an issue with any of them taking dominance to the detriment of the other, but the hederifoilium absolutely love it in the shadier areas of my garden and appear everywhere, thanks to the ants!

LG_

You've made me wonder about C. cicilium now - I've definitely got C. coum, but I have a feeling I was also given an unnamed one which I assumed was C. coum due to the round leaves when compared with C. hederifolium. I'm going to have to have another proper look.