Cyclamen are wonderful winter blooming plants that are popular around the holidays. But indoor cyclamen plant care is different than it is for other houseplants. Don’t worry, this detailed guide will give you everything you need to know about how to care for cyclamen indoors.
Like I mentioned above, cyclamen are popular winter flowering plants, and for this reason they make very popular gift plants around the holidays. The flowers last for a long time, and they are gorgeous!
Unfortunately, most people throw their cyclamen away once it’s done blooming because the plant will go into it’s normal dormancy state, and people think that it’s dying, or that they killed it. But, with the right cyclamen plant care, you can keep your plant for years, and get it to bloom over and over again!
In this detailed cyclamen plant care guide you will find…
- Information About Cyclamen Plants
- Cyclamen Plants Growing Season
- Cyclamen Temperature Tolerance & Location
- Watering Cyclamen Plants
- Cyclamen Humidity Requirements
- How Much Light Do Cyclamen Plants Need?
- Repotting Cyclamen Plants
- What Fertilizer To Use For Cyclamen
- Cyclamen Flowering Season and Dormancy
- What To Do With Cyclamen After Flowering
- Cyclamen Propagation Methods
- Controlling Houseplant Pests On Cyclamen
- Troubleshooting Common Problems
Information About Cyclamen Plants
There are tons of beautiful cyclamen varieties to choose from, some of them have ruffled flowers and others are rounded. You can even get an adorable miniature cyclamen plant.
Whatever variety you choose, you can’t go wrong. All of them have large bright flowers which appear to float above the gorgeous heart shaped foliage.
A common question I get asked about them is: “is a cyclamen plant poisonous?”. The short answer is yes. Cyclamen plants can be toxic to cats, dogs and humans. So, if you have any fur babies or littles running around, it’s best to keep this one out of reach.
Adorable miniature cyclamen plants
Cyclamen Plants Growing Season
Cyclamen plants have an opposite growing season than most indoor plants. Since they are a winter flowering plant, it means that they grow and bloom during the cooler winter months, and go dormant during the heat of the summer.
That’s why they’re such popular gift plants around the holidays, and throughout the winter. It’s also why they made my list of the top flowering houseplants!
This is perfect for those of us who live in a cold climate, because cyclamen plants bloom just when we need them the most – during the dark dreary winter months!
Caring for cyclamen indoors isn’t difficult, but since the growing season is opposite, it’s very different than other houseplants. Use this as your cyclamen plant care guide, and you’ll be good to go!
Potted cyclamen houseplant
Indoor Cyclamen Plant Care Instructions
The biggest mistake people make with cyclamen plant care is trying to force their plant to grow year round. Most people don’t realize that cyclamen plants need a period of rest, or dormancy, in order to survive.
When the plant begins to go dormant, the leaves will start to turn yellow and die, and this is completely normal.
But most people think they’re doing something wrong, so they try to save the plant by giving it more water or light or heat… only to end up killing it for realsies (not that I would know anything about that… grumble, grumble)!
Once you understand how cyclamen plants grow, caring for them will be so much easier!
Growing cyclamen outdoors
Cyclamen Temperature Tolerance & Location
Cyclamen houseplants are super fussy about the temperature, and if they get too hot, it will force an early dormancy.
They like to be kept cool, but they’re not frost hardy. It’s best to keep indoor cyclamen plants growing in a room where the temperature is kept between 50-70F. The cooler they’re kept, the longer the flowers will last too.
They’re also very sensitive to drafts, so avoid hot or cold drafty air (like heat vents or drafty windows). Providing the ideal cyclamen growing conditions is pretty easy during the winter, simply put them in the coolest room of your house.
But again, make sure they stay away from any heat sources (heat vents, fireplaces, space heaters…etc).
Gorgeous red cyclamen plant
Watering Cyclamen Plants
Cyclamen watering is another thing that is a bit different than most houseplants. Like African violets, cyclamen plants don’t like getting their leaves and stems wet. So it’s best to water a cyclamen plant from the bottom rather than from the top.
To bottom water plants, fill the plant tray or cache pot with water, and allow the plant to soak up the water through the holes in the bottom of the pot.
Once the soil is wet, dump out any water that’s left in the tray, and allow the excess water to drain completely from the pot. But never allow the plant to sit in water for an extended period of time.
Cyclamen plants like to have their soil kept evenly moist during their active growing period. Be careful though, consistent overwatering is a cyclamen killer!
Allow your cyclamen to dry out slightly between waterings, just so the soil is dry to the touch. But don’t allow it to dry out completely, or to stay dry for too long. Check the soil each time you water, and only water the plant if the soil is dry.
If you’re not sure how to keep the soil properly watered, I recommend getting a soil moisture gauge to help you out. Using an African violet pot would be perfect for growing cyclamen plants, and would be a great help to protect against overwatering.
Light pink cyclamen plant flowers
Cyclamen Humidity Requirements
Another important piece of successful cyclamen plant care is humidity. Humidity is especially important during the winter months, and cyclamen plants like a lot of humidity.
Heating our homes during the winter sucks the humidity out of the air, and that’s not just bad for our skin, it can be pretty tough on houseplants too.
To help increase the humidity level around your cyclamen, you can run a humidifier near the plant, put it on a pebble tray filled with water (don’t allow the plant to sit in the water though), or even grow your cyclamen in a small plant cloche or a mini indoor greenhouse.
To help you maintain the proper humidity level, you can keep an indoor humidity monitor near your cyclamen plants to make sure the air doesn’t get too dry for them.
I love this hot pink cyclamen plant!
How Much Light Do Cyclamen Plants Need?
Cyclamen plants like bright light, but they don’t like it hot so keep them out the sun. Direct sunlight is too intense for them anyway. In the house they will do just fine in a bright room, or near an east or west facing window.
Repotting Cyclamen Plants
If your potted cyclamen has outgrown it’s container, you can repot it into a larger one. The best time for repotting cyclamen plants is while the plant is dormant.
General purpose potting soil will usually work just fine for planting cyclamen. But if you tend to under water your plants, or the soil dries out too quickly, then I recommend adding in some peat moss or vermiculite to help the soil retain moisture. An African violet potting mix would work great for growing cyclamen in pots too.
Make sure to plant your cyclamen in the new pot at the same depth it was growing in the old pot. Don’t bury cyclamen tubers too deep, they should be kept slightly above the soil line.
Cyclamen has gorgeous foliage
What Fertilizer To Use For Cyclamen
You can feed your cyclamen houseplant using a weak half dose of liquid fertilizer every 2-4 weeks while it’s actively growing and blooming. Stop fertilizing once the flowers begin to fade, and never fertilize it when it’s dormant.
When you bring your cyclamen out of dormancy, you can start fertilizing again when the plant starts to put on new growth. A good rule of thumb is to only feed cyclamen plants while they have leaves growing.
I recommend using an organic compost fertilizer, which you can get in liquid form or buy compost tea bags and brew your own. An African violet organic plant fertilizer or a general purpose houseplant fertilizer would work great for fertilizing cyclamens too.
Miniature potted cyclamen plants
Cyclamen Flowering Season and Dormancy
In nature, cyclamen plants bloom during the winter, and go completely dormant during the summer. Cyclamen houseplants follow a similar pattern, and will go dormant shortly after they bloom.
After the flowers fade, the leaves will start to turn yellow and fall off. Eventually the plant will die all the way back to the soil, and officially begin it’s dormancy.
When this happens, most people think that they killed the plant so they’ll throw it out. But just like an amaryllis, cyclamen plants need this dormant period in order to bloom again.
So don’t toss it out! With the proper cyclamen plant care during dormancy, you will be able to get your plant to bloom again year after year! Read about bringing plants out of dormancy.
My cyclamen plant ready for dormancy
What To Do With Cyclamen After Flowering
Once the leaves begin turning yellow and the flowers start to fade, it’s time to prepare your cyclamen for dormancy. Follow these cyclamen growing tips to help your plant though dormancy, and get it to rebloom again next year.
- Once the leaves start to turn yellow, stop watering the plant and allow all of the leaves to die back
- Remove the dead leaves and place the pot in a cool, dark location for 2-3 months
- Allow the soil to dry out completely, and don’t water the plant during it’s dormancy
- After 2-3 months, bring the plant back out of dormancy and give it a good drink of water, make sure to soak the soil and allow all the excess water to drain away
New cyclamen flower buds starting to open
Wait until you see new growth before you water the plant again. Once you start to see new leaves growing out of the soil, you can begin watering and fertilizing it regularly again. Shortly after the leaves grow, the plant will start to bloom. Woohoo!
You can store your dormant cyclamen plants outside during the summer in a shady spot where they will stay dry if you prefer, but make sure to move them back inside before it gets below 50F.
Growing a cyclamen plant in water
Cyclamen Propagation Methods
Cyclamen plants can easily be propagated by dividing cyclamen tubers and potting each one into it’s own container. Each individual tuber will grow into a new plant.
They can also be grown from seed, but it can take a year or so before cyclamen seedlings will start to bloom so this method of propagation is definitely much slower.
Controlling Houseplant Pests On Cyclamen
Pests are rarely an issue with healthy cyclamen plants, but spider mites and fungus gnats can become an issue.
Spider mites thrive in dry environments, and won’t survive if it’s too humid. So get rid of them by raising the humidity level around the plant. You can gently wipe the leaves with a damp cloth the help control spider mites, but don’t spray anything on your cyclamen plant or you could damage the leaves.
Fungus gnats on the other hand live and bread in wet soil. They are just a nuisance and rarely do damage to a plant. If you see gnats flying around your cyclamen houseplant, allow the soil to dry out a bit more between waterings. You can use a yellow sticky trap to help control fungus gnats. Learn how to get rid of houseplant bugs here.
Cyclamen leaves turning yellow means dormancy is starting
Troubleshooting Common Cyclamen Plant Care Problems
- Cyclamen yellow leaves – Yellow leaves on indoor flowering plants can mean that the plant is getting too hot and is starting to go into dormancy. Move the plant to a cooler location, and keep it out of the direct sunlight. Yellow leaves on a cyclamen plant that has just finished flowering is a sign that the plant is going into it’s dormancy period, and it’s totally normal! See the section above about cyclamen dormancy.
- Cyclamen flowers drooping – Droopy cyclamen leaves and flowers are usually caused by improper watering. Check the soil level to make sure it’s not too wet or too dry. See the section above to learn how to water cyclamen plants.
- Cyclamen leaves look dirty and deformed – If the leaves or flowers look like they’re dirty or faded, take a closer look at the plant. Check the undersides of the leaves for signs of spider mites, you might notice their webbing before you see any bugs (spider mites are teeny-tiny). See the houseplant pests section above for more details. Learn more about how to get rid of spider mites on houseplants.
Where To Buy Cyclamen Plants
Since they are winter blooming plants, you probably won’t be able to find cyclamen for sale during the summer. But it’s usually easy to find cyclamen plants for sale at your local garden center during the winter, especially around the holidays.
Otherwise you can buy cyclamen plants online, or order seeds if you want to try your hand at growing them from seed.
With proper cyclamen plant care, these beautiful plants will bloom year after year during the holidays, or shortly after! Perfect timing for winter! And now that you know how to care for cyclamen plants indoors, you’ll be able to enjoy the flowers year after year!
If you struggle with indoor plant care and keeping your houseplants thriving through the cold winter months, then my Winter Houseplant Care eBook is perfect for you! It will show you exactly how to care for your houseplants through the long winter months, and give you tips for growing even more indoor flowering plants. Buy your copy today!
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- How To Care For A Voodoo Lily Plant
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Do you grow cyclamen indoors? Share you cyclamen plant care tips in the comments below!
Ivory says
These cyclamen flowers of yours are very beautiful, but I don’t buy these, because I always killed them no matter what. My thumb for sure is NOT green when it comes to growing cyclamen plants. Thanks for the tips.
Amy Andrychowicz says
LOL! Yes, it can take a bit of time to get the hang of caring for cyclamen plants. 🙂
Carol ("Mimi") says
This is timely. A friend just gave me a cyclamen plant for Valentine’s Day. Thanks for the information.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Awesome! Enjoy your cyclamen plant. 🙂
Pat says
My ‘friend’ gave me a cyclamen plant for my birthday in June. Amazingly, it is still blooming. After your great advice, it might make it through to next year, even tho it’s flowering cycle seems to be back to front
Amy Andrychowicz says
How fun, what a great gift! Yes, it’s very common for blooming gift plants like cyclamen to be forced to bloom at abnormal times. It may take a year or two before the plant recovers from being forced, and gets back into a normal lifecycle. 🙂 Good luck, I hope your cyclamen will grow and bloom for years to come!
Ivanka Di Felice says
Hi, thanks for all the info. I live in Tuscany and usually cyclamen stay outside all winter then go dormant (though I thought mine died hence chucked them, oops) will they rebloom in the spring or do they only bloom once a year?
thanks.
Amy Andrychowicz says
They will bloom continuously when they aren’t dormant. So, if yours have survived, then I would expect that they will rebloom again once they come out of dormancy, and continue blooming until they are ready for dormancy again.
Irene says
Thanks for the advice on how to look after cyclamens it was very helpful
Amy Andrychowicz says
You’re welcome! 🙂
Cyndee Ament says
My flowers on the plant look shriveled or like something is eating it what could be wrong?
Amy Andrychowicz says
If the flowers are shriveling and dying, that’s probably because your cyclamen plant is starting to go into it’s natural dormancy period. But, if the flowers look healthy, but are being eaten by something, then I would inspect the plant for bugs.
Hilda Campos says
I noticed a photo of the cyclamen in a vase in water. Is this another option? I like the idea to be able to see the water level, this is my first time with this beautiful plant.
Amy Andrychowicz says
I haven’t actually tried it myself, I took that photo when visiting a cyclamen plant breeder last year. But yes, he assured me that cyclamen are easy to grow in water. I would try using the same method as you would force bulbs like Amaryllis in water… by suspending the bulbs above the water, and allowing the roots to grow into the water. Don’t submerge the bulbs, or they will likely just rot. It would be a fun experiment, but I would only try it if you have an extra cyclamen plant to spare.
TJ says
Sorry if this information is available elsewhere, but I haven’t found it, so I thought I’d see if I get a response here. I’m a recent cyclamen addict. I’ve successfully grown some cyclamen persicum from seed (2 of over 100 seeds survived to bloom if you can call that success). Fresh from the excitement of seeing my 3 year endeavor finally bloom, I’ve become inspired to try my hand at hardier varieties of cyclamen so I can plant them outside eventually. I’ve orderd several tubers from Breck’s bulb company and so far, the C Hederifolium and C Coum seem to be showing signs of life. They are sprouting new roots and the Hederifolium even has some scraggly leaves on top, but in my order, I received far more C Cilicium which have yet to show any signs of breaking dormancy. I’m mildly annoyed at Brecks as they sent the tubers when they should have already been breaking dormancy and starting to send up leaves and or flowers according to everything I’ve read. Is there such a thing as too late to break dormancy for one year? Should I dry them back out and hope they survive in their dormant state until next fall? Should I leave them in the moistened soil with the Coum and Hederifolium and hope that they break dormancy soon?
Amy Andrychowicz says
I’m not familiar with each of those varieties that you mention, so I’m not sure if some are just slower to break dormancy than others. I would just keep them in the soil and hope they break dormancy. You could also try contacting Brecks and see if they can give you more details about the specific variety. Sorry I can’t be of much help.
Elizabeth Style says
Thank you for all the interesting info. I will try to rebloom my cyclamen. Our summer in my part of northern NSW Australia gets to 40+deg. Not sure how to keep them cool in dormancy! But I have had them flowering for months. I leave my cyclamens sitting in a few cm of water on a window sill facing east.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Awesome, good luck!
Shirleymorton says
Why are the leaves sticky
Amy Andrychowicz says
Sticky cyclamen leaves is usually a sign of some kind of pest infestation. Houseplant scale, mealybugs or aphids are usually the culprit. Take a close look at the leaves, stems and flowers, and under the leaves to see if you spot any bugs. If so, begin treatment immediately.
Hannah says
I just got around 13 cyclmen plants from work that we’re free! I was definitely unsure of what to do with them but they were just gonna throw them away and I thought they were way to pretty to waste so I found your article and I’m so glad I did! Thanks so much for all the info and help!
Amy Andrychowicz says
Wow, great score!! You’re welcome, and good luck caring for your new cyclamen plants! 🙂
Bryon Alex Espie says
Thank you for all the information on cyclamen care. I live in Auckland New Zealand, in Gov’t assisted housing. My house can get to temperatures indoors in the summer of anywhere from 25 degrees centigrade to 33 degrees centigrade and in winter drop to as low as 3 degrees centigrade. I also have an ongoing problem within my Lounge and Master Bedroom of a leaky roof syndrome, consequently my home suffers from mild dampness issues in winter and high humidity levels in summer. I had purchased a small indoor cyclamen a little over a year ago now. It flowered nicely for one season but then the leaves started to go yellow. I thought that perhaps I was over watering it so I backed off a little. That didn’t seem to make any difference, so I then thought that perhaps it was the location it was in as I had it sitting atop a 5 shelf bookcase, so I moved it to a lower level and placed it on a mantle. It didn’t seem to make any difference what ever I did. I now realise after reading other comments of yours that it had probably just entered into it’s dormant stage. The problem is that not having known that at the time, thought it was dead so unfortunately allowed it to dry out completely. I have attempted rewatering it since, trying to revive it but it appears to be a waste of time.
Do you think there would be any chance now of ever reviving it again or should I just throw it away and perhaps start again?
Amy Andrychowicz says
Some varieties take long than others to come out of dormancy, so sometimes you have to be very patient. But, one easy way to tell if your cyclamen tubers are still alive, or if it’s time to toss them out is to check the tubers. To do that, remove the rootball from the pot, and gently brush away the dirt until you see the tuber(s). If they are firm and look healthy, then keep trying to break dormancy. On the other hand, if the cyclamen tubers are completely dried out (or non-existent), then you know it’s a lost cause. Good luck!
Deb says
I received my plant as a gift at Easter. I am so amazed it was my center piece in all my holidays this year. It is beautiful. I can’t wait till the fall to buy all my friends one. Can you transpot a plant and share it.
Amy Andrychowicz says
If your cyclamen plant is large enough, you can divide the tubers (bulbs) and pot them up into new pots to share with your friends.
Tessa says
I was gifted a cyclamen plant about 3 years ago. During those 3 years I kept it directly in the window, as it loved the sun and it continuously grew flowers for those 3 years straight. I never looked into care guides for cyclamen plants because my plant never had any issues so I took care of it like any other common house plant and never had any concerns.
A couple months ago my cyclamen lost all it’s flowers. I figured it was a coincidence that the flowers all died at once and more would grow back, but they haven’t yet. However it’s growing new baby leaves every week and looks to be very healthy despite not having any flowers. I’ve never had any yellowing of the leaves and my cyclamen has never once went into dormancy out of the 3 years I’ve had it. Is it normal for a cyclamen not to go into dormancy? What are the chances that it’ll flower again?
Amy Andrychowicz says
Wow, that is fantastic that your cyclamen plant has grown and flowered for so long! Impressive. Yes, it is normal for cyclamens to go dormant and lose all of their leaves, and that usually happens every year. But since yours has new leaves growing, I would just prune out the dead flowers and keep doing what you’re doing to keep it growing!
Kathleen Bowers Pinette says
I did not know that the cyclamen needs a dormancy period and so have been keeping mine going for well over two years. The “stem: where the leaves are growing from has grown 3 inches high. If I stop watering her for now and allow that to die off, would that take care of the very high leaf stem. IT’s not the bulb itself, just where the leaves were growing out of. Thank you for any answers you can provide.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Sorry, but I’m not sure. Are you saying that your cyclamen is growing leggy? I’ve never kept mine growing for that long. But the plant should grow back full and thick, and also flower again after dormancy.
Nona Lindhorst says
Thank you for the information. I almost threw my cyclamen away, everything had shriveled away and I thought I had killed another one (first one died of over watering RIP), but I saw that I had one leaf that was still “healthy” so I came here to see what I had done wrong before I threw another one away, well needless to say my plant thanks you from being thrown out into the very cold, cold, cold pre-spring of WI
Amy Andrychowicz says
Wonderful, glad I could help! Hope your cyclamen will survive dormancy, and grow great for you again this year! 🙂
Barb Fournier says
I received a little cyclamen in a pot a pot a year ago. When the leaves died, I let it go dormant and, after about 3 months brought it up and started watering it. It has nice big leaves but no blooms. It’s been out of dormancy for several months now and seems healthy but no flowers. What will make it bloom?
Amy Andrychowicz says
Woohoo, congrats for getting your cyclamen out of dormancy, that’s so exciting!! Have you tried fertilizing it yet? You should start fertilizing regularly as soon as the leaves start growing, and your plant should start blooming shortly after. Read the section above titled “What Fertilizer To Use For Cyclamen” for more details. Good luck!
Barbara Iverson says
During dormancy you say to keep it dark and dry, does that mean absolutely no water at all, or should I give it a mist? What suggestion do you have for exactly where to keep it in the summer during dormancy? Is a refrigerator too cold? The dormant period has me baffled. Can it be in a warm room, somewhat dark and kept totally dry? During the summer the air conditioner is run when it’s very hot, otherwise it’s warm in the house.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Don’t water or mist your cyclamen at all during dormancy. If it’s kept too wet, the bulbs can rot. As for where to put it during dormancy, I keep mine in a dark storage area in my basement. You don’t need to put it into the fridge, it doesn’t need to be that cold. Just find the darkest, coolest spot in your house – like a closet, pantry, or maybe under the sink or in the linen closet in a spare bathroom. They grow in California, and it’s certainly not cold there during the summer, LOL! Hope that helps!
Katrina says
My cyclanem is sparse for leaves and those leaves are very long and leggy . What could be the problem and how do I get it looking normal again??
Amy Andrychowicz says
It sounds like your cyclamen may be getting ready to go into dormancy, which is normal for this plant. Read the section above titled “Cyclamen Flowering Season and Dormancy” for details about that.