Key Cultivation Techniques for Potted Cyclamen

Cultivation and Management Techniques

Preparation of Nutrient Soil

Before the New Year, you can dig up pond mud, or dig up surface loess from the mountains, place it outdoors in a shady spot to weather, then mix in about 1% decomposed rapeseed cake powder or manure, and blend in 10 granules of imported NPK compound fertilizer per kilogram of potting soil, to be used when repotting.

Selection of Flower Pots

The height of a cyclamen pot is generally more than 2/3 of the plant height. Large-flowered varieties mostly use pots with a diameter of 15-18 cm and a pot height of 20-30 cm; small and medium-flowered varieties mostly use pots with a diameter of 12-14 cm and a pot height of about 16 cm.

Potting and Repotting

Sowing is generally done from September to December. After the seedling-raising stage, the seedlings are potted and planted in March to April of the following year when they have grown 6-8 true leaves. When planting, the corm must be exposed above the soil surface by 1/3 to 1/2. Water thoroughly, then shade for 2-3 d, after which normal management can begin. Two weeks after potting, apply liquid fertilizer twice a month, or use some decomposed dilute farmyard manure water.

For seedlings, it is especially important to increase the supply of potassium to enhance disease resistance. By May to June, repotting can be carried out once. If you want to cultivate large plants, it should be done in August to September, and the pot size used for repotting should be somewhat larger than the original pot. The repotting operation is basically the same as potting.

Fertilizer and Water Management

Organic fertilizer is generally composted and then mixed into the nutrient soil as a base fertilizer, while inorganic fertilizer is formulated into liquid fertilizer for use as a top dressing.

Shaping

This mainly involves removing withered and yellow leaves and leggy, weak thin leaves in the early stage; in the later stage, pulling the central leaves outward; and during the flowering period, removing spent flowers and diseased or damaged leaves. When removing flowers, use your thumb and index finger to pinch the middle to lower part of the flower stalk, twist and rotate it left and right, so that the base of the flower stalk softens, loosens and separates from the plant.