Help me save my cyclamen!!
Hello all, If someone can help/advise I would be incredibly grateful. Two years ago my dearest auntie passed away and while she was at home, I would visit and water the cyclamen she had been given as a 'get well' gift. When she passed away, I took it home with me, popped it on a windowsill and just watered it periodically and took off dead leaves/flowers. However in the past few months, the cyclamen has started looking unhappy and I do not know how to save it! I'm a complete novice at this, so if anyone can offer help, i'd be grateful. I can provide pictures but to describe it to you... It is sitting in a flowerpot inside a bigger pot, suspended in water that it drinks from the bottom. The top of the pot around the tuber is covered in a thick moss; i'm not sure if this was decorative but it has gone from green to having a crusty white substance on it. The roots are coming through the bottom of the pot so should i re-pot it? I'm not dure it can make it to August which is apparently the ideal time for this? Will I damage it by doing this and how does one re-pot a live tuber/plant?! It is still attempting to bud, but thru fail to flower fully and has two very lacklustre yellowy leaves. Would baby bio help? Please help me save it!
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I don't think many plants like to be suspended in water, let it dry out a bit between waterings. They don't like warm rooms and sunny windowsills. The green stuff says it's too wet.
In the sticks near Peterborough
I agree with Nutcutlet, let it dry out and put it on a cool shady windowsill. Then only water it occasionally from the bottom. With any luck it'll survive even if it doesn't flower much, and then die down in the summer - that'll be the time to repot it.
And don't give it any more Baby Bio at the moment - that's the equivalent of given a poorly invalid a big Christmas dinner.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I agree with nutcutlet, the corms rot if they are too wet. Best not to water until compost is dry. Check for vine weevils too.
In addition to the advice above Potentially it's too warm? By this time of the year they are expecting quite cool or even cold temperatures... http://www.ourhouseplants.com/plants/cyclamen-persicum#temperature
The soil is pretty dry and cracking away from the edge so i reckon i should water it a little again. It has never had baby bio but i get what you are saying and it makes sense. If it has never had any, is it sensible to give it a snifter?
With the moss, i believe it came with the pot but i don't know if it just leeching the soil and killing the tuber? If i should leave it or pick it off
I guess it isn't safe to re-pot at this time of year?
The key thing here is the health of the tuber. Sometimes the plant looks really thirsty so you water it and it doesn't improve so you water it again.... but in fact, the tuber is rotting, not thirsty. If it were mine, given what you say, I would gently lift the moss and look for dead or moldy stems at the tuber level. If you find these, your chances are very poor. However, if all is well there, water the plant by standing the pot in water until the compost relaxes then drain it well. Stand it in a cool, bright but not sunny place and cross your fingers. If new leaves begin to grow you can repot the whole thing if you wish but don't disturb the roots more than you have to. Good luck!.