Cyclamens cyclamens are small perennial bulbous plants. Their adorable butterfly-wing-like flowers bloom in late winter or late summer depending on the variety. They come in shades of pink, magenta or white.
Low-maintenance plants, they adapt well to flower beds, rockeries or container planting. Cyclamens thrive in shaded or semi-shaded spots that are often tricky to plant, where they can naturalise easily. To learn more, check out our dedicated guide "Cyclamen: planting, growing and care".
Cyclamens are not propagated by bulb division, but only by seed. They spread naturally this way and can form large floral carpets over a few years.
Persian cyclamen (florist's cyclamen), Cos cyclamen (Cyclamen coum) or Naples cyclamen (Cyclamen hederifolium): here are our tips for successful sowing and achieving beautiful blooms.
How to harvest and store cyclamen seeds?
You can either buy cyclamen seeds from garden centres or online, or collect them directly from flowers in your garden to propagate them. To do this, simply let the flowers wither on the plant and wait for the seed pods to open to harvest the seeds.
To store the seeds until sowing time, lay them flat to dry in a dry, airy place out of direct sunlight for a few days. Then store them in envelopes, small kraft bags or sachets and remember to note the harvest date, variety and colour of the cyclamen.
Seed pod containing cyclamen seeds
When to sow cyclamens?
Indoors, sowing can theoretically be done almost year-round, avoiding extremes (mid-summer or mid-winter) when temperature control is more difficult.
Cyclamen seeds are ideally sown from late winter to early spring, between February and May depending on the region. However, autumn sowing is also possible, for example with Persian cyclamen.
Note that cyclamen sowing requires some patience: while seedlings germinate relatively quickly, it generally takes at least 2 years (sometimes 3 or 4) before the first flowers appear.
Cyclamen seeds
Sowing cyclamens
Equipment needed
- Pots in plastic, terracotta or biodegradable materials, which must have drainage holes to allow excess water to escape (or a soil blocker for zero-waste sowing)
- Seed compost to promote germination (or soil sieve)
- Vermiculite to improve drainage and root development (optional)
- Spray bottle and watering can
- Labels (paper, plastic, metal, slate, wood...)
Sowing method
- Soak cyclamen seeds in lukewarm water for a few hours before sowing to encourage germination
- Fill pots with compost without compacting
- Place one seed per pot on the surface
- Cover with a thin layer of compost about 0.5 cm deep, using a sieve if needed. You can mix the compost with vermiculite if desired
- Water lightly with a spray bottle to moisten the growing medium
- Label the pots with sowing date, cyclamen variety and colour
You can also sow directly in seed trays with or without lids, or in boxes/crates. In this case, space the seeds about 5 cm apart.
The surface of the pots should remain moist until germination. Spray almost daily if needed.
Choose a location with moderate or cool temperatures, around 12-18°C.
Germination typically takes about 20 days at 18°C, sometimes up to 30 days.
Young cyclamen seedlings (photo Erutuon - Flickr)
Aftercare
When the first seedlings appear, water ensuring the growing medium never dries out completely but isn't waterlogged (wait until the surface is dry before watering again). Avoid watering the leaves to prevent diseases and preferably use rainwater, which is less chalky than tap water.
Keep the pots in partial shade.
If you sowed in trays, an additional step will be needed: potting on. This should be done once seedlings are large enough to handle (usually when they have several leaves). Carefully remove the strongest seedlings and transplant them into individual pots filled with compost. Make a planting hole beforehand with a pencil or stick to avoid damaging the fragile stem and roots during transplanting.
Comments