The difference between shop bought cyclamen ‘persicum’ and the hardy outdoor varieties

Gardening

[@edwardring9389]

I have had a cyclamen plant in my bathroom for the last 9 years Massachusetts USA. It blooms all year. With your help in videos I have successfully pollinated and seeds are growing and planted. They are so beautiful.

[@fazorboy]

This explains why my shop brought Cyclamen keep coming back white. When I planted them they were red.

[@5josullivan]

Thank you. Beautiful plants

[@stinkyditchnursery750]

Joquita Sullivan it’s my pleasure, thanks for watching Robbie 🌻

[@michelleforbes7520]

Great Video as usual. Sound much better too. Great....

[@stinkyditchnursery750]

Michelle Forbes thanks, finally got myself a half descent phone to do the vids!

[@hopefulsarah4045]

I bought one plant few years back (3 years) and they are still alive and flowering. In fact this winter I am having many flowers turning to buds with seeds😊 I will wait for summer and will try to grow the cyclamen from the seeds. By the way,I am in Canada.

[@stinkyditchnursery750]

Hopeful Sarah cool, get some babes going, they really are lovely plants to grow from seed. They may take a couple of years before they flower but well worth the wait. All the very best of luck Robbie

[@hopefulsarah4045]

@@stinkyditchnursery750 Thank you for the swift reply! When is the best time to sow the seeds? Thanks

[@stinkyditchnursery750]

Hopeful Sarah you can get cyclamen going at any time of year, best time is from September-February in the northern hemisphere but any time is ok, I get them going over the winter as that’s their growing season. Best of luck Robbie 🌱🌱🌻

[@hopefulsarah4045]

@@stinkyditchnursery750 Thank you so much ⚘🌷🌹🏵💮🌸💐💐🌻🌼🌺

[@raffaelahusner6922]

Ohhhh I didn't know that I always was thinking that I did something wrong 😬! Thank you!!!

[@stinkyditchnursery750]

Raffaela Husner lots of mass produced plants struggle when out in the real world, they are force grown to look good in the shop not to survive. I bet lots of people think that they have killed their plants when it’s actually the plants not them! Thanks for watching Robbie 🌱🍁🐞

[@18lettermoney]

Very informative as always

[@stinkyditchnursery750]

stephen quinn it’s my pleasure, thanks for watching Robbie 🌻🐞

[@angiem8434]

Thank you for this info! I've had mine from the shop for a week now..she still giving me new flowers..I will enjoy it as long as she allows since I can't put her in the garden. She is still very pretty 😍

[@stinkyditchnursery750]

Hi Angie M, the indoor variety of cyclamen are beautiful plants and can live for many years if happy but, inside not in the garden. My daughter had a couple from B&Q that lasted for years on her windowsill, she collected the seeds and grew many more but inside. Once she had run out of windowsill space they went out into a heated greenhouse. So long as they don’t get frosted they are happy, oh, they also go dormant at some point so don’t worry if your plant starts looking a bit sorry for itself in summer, just reduce watering until it perks up again in August. All the best Robbie 🌻

[@smk5pj]

@@stinkyditchnursery750 hi. I am new @ this. I find your videos extremely helpful. However, on this one can you clarify? Are you saying that a store brought cyclamen can revive although there is not a tuber? Are there seeds that allows it to revive many times? Your camera kids are also cute. Taking good footage 👍. Thank you...ta~ta

[@stinkyditchnursery750]

@@smk5pj hi there, the shop bought cyclamen will develop a tuber in time and they can live for quite a few years if happy. The seeds they produce can be grown from. My main problem with the mass production of them is that they are forced to grow too quickly to produce the flowers they need for a sale. However if looked after they will be ok so long as they don’t get frosted, I hope this helps, all the best Robbie 🌻

[@SV-cb6iy]

House plant part 2:47 so true .i have experienced it, its leaves got yellow and it died

[@akramabuf9224]

V nice flowers, i like their smell in the wild with pretty three colors

[@stinkyditchnursery750]

Akram Abuf where do you find them in the wild? Sounds beautiful

[@akramabuf9224]

Hi. I live in Jordan we have Mediterranean sea climate, there are three colors (white, light pink and dark pink)

[@dianarabbits7183]

Thank you for posting how to identify the cyclamen plant, I've been around and around the internet looking and yours is the only one I've found I wanted to know if mine was a hearty one or just the regular house plant and now I know it's just the regular house plant which really bums me out because I really wanted one for my flower garden but anyways thank you so much for posting that I've subscribed to your KZbin so I can see upcoming posts.

[@stinkyditchnursery750]

Hi Diana Rabbits, for your garden have a look for cyclamen hederifolium (late summer/autumn flowers) or cyclamen coum (winter flowers) I hope this helps you find what you are looking for. All the best Robbie 🌻

[@dianarabbits7183]

@@stinkyditchnursery750 Hi Robbie, thanks for your reply, my cyclamen is in bloom now, does that mean its not just a house plant I wonder? 🫢

[@stinkyditchnursery750]

@@dianarabbits7183 where are you in the world? I get lots of messages from the Southern Hemisphere where the seasons are the other way round. If you are in the northern hemisphere and you have flowers at the moment I’d say you probably have the house plant variety, cyclamen persicum. They have been bred over many generations to flower for most of the year. If you have it indoors and it’s happy then it’s almost definitely the house plant variety as the outdoor ones don’t grow too well inside🌻

[@rickypartridge230]

I bought seven of those cyclamen to go outside by my front door. I even put them in 30L pots thinking they'll grow. Oh my days.

[@rickypartridge230]

I guess I should take my baby cyclamen out of the 30L pots and into smaller pots for the window ledge. Any ideas please what I can use my 30L pots for, something that'll last over winter? Sorry, I've only just got around to tidying my overgrown garden

[@stinkyditchnursery750]

@@rickypartridge230 sorry for the late reply, too much time getting my hands grubby and not enough time answering messages! If you have some shop bought cyclamen persicum they are great as house plants but can be tricky outdoors. 30L pots , love it! you can grow loads of great stuff over winter, the most important thing is to have good compost in them, I’ve done a couple of vids about compost mixes, you need a good topsoil based one in big pots. Hellebores are a good winter flower, outdoor (hardy) cyclamen, variegated ivy, winter pansies, or maybe some winter veg, winter cabbage or purple sprouting (very expensive in the shops) oh, Japanese winter onions work well in big pots. Or some interesting small conifers, bay trees are pretty good in pots if given a good trim every year. The main thing is good compost with topsoil and feeding them with a slow release fertiliser 3 or 4 times a year depending upon what you have in the pot. I hope this is of some help, any advice needed that you can’t find in my vids please feel free to message. All the very best of luck Robbie 🌻

[@LifeInABoxorigin]

Now that we know the difference, how do we save our indoor cyclamen? I'm pretty certain I'm up for the challenge.

[@stinkyditchnursery750]

Hi Life in a box, don’t get me wrong, the indoor cyclamen can live for many years, it’s more the industrialised, disposable way they are grown and bred that I disagree with. It’s a question of allowing the plant to rest over the summer months. The leaves may yellow and fall but the corm will be ok. Leave it in a shady spot and reduce the watering. Once rested it should start to put on new growth in autumn. They have been bred to grow and grow so it may not completely rest for the first year or so. Pot it on when it gets too large for the pot. If you can find a place where it’s happy, bit of sun in winter, bit of shade in summer it should grow for quite a few years, but not the 100 years that the wild ones do! All the very best of luck Robbie 🌻

[@mollymoppitt]

thankyou for clearing that up, ive spent so much moolah on these plants year after year and they never come back, I don't have them in my garden but I do have them in pots under my veranda,, even they don't comeback the following year? should they???

[@stinkyditchnursery750]

Rose The cyclamen sold everywhere over autumn and winter are the persicum variety, not hardy, the first bit of cold weather and they perish. There are so many hardy outdoor varieties of cyclamen but I think the big business of throwaway mass produced plants likes to keep this quiet! Cyclamen can live for many decades, you just need the right ones for outside. Cyclamen hederfolium flower in autumn followed by fantastically varied leaves until the start of summer. Cyclamen coum flower in winter working well with snowdrops in tubs, baskets or in the ground. They freeze solid, even the flowers thaw out as if nothing has happened. Seed are produced by each plant every year they self seed well under trees. They die back to the corm each summer and like to be kept relatively dry whilst dormant so don’t put them in with anything that likes a good soaking during the summer. I’ve got a few on my website but will have the full range on my new website in a week or so. Cyclamen hederfolium or coums are a good place to start, they come back each year almost becoming pets that turn up over winter! Hope this helps Robbie 🌻

[@mollymoppitt]

thanks Robbie, I will now look out for the right ones next year.. P.S. love your videos!

[@wallaceramon5122]

i know it is kinda randomly asking but does anyone know a good site to watch newly released series online ?

[@kendrickbode9189]

@Wallace Ramon Lately I have been using flixzone. Just google for it :)

[@trentrylan882]

@Kendrick Bode yea, been watching on flixzone for months myself :D

[@user-yx7dp2pl8t]

Almost like a geranium at the base the shop brought, if you were to cross it with a tuber would you get ‘best of both’ in terms of growth and foliage?

[@stinkyditchnursery750]

. Cyclamen are difficult to cross breed as different species flower naturally at different times of the year. If the right conditions are made to get 2 different species to flower together cross pollination usually produces a plant with sterile seed, like a horse and donkey produce a mule that is sterile. The mass produced cyclamen persicum available everywhere at the moment have such a bush of leaves and flowers as a result of lots of chemicals, they are grown to make money, almost designed to die. I grow the natural cyclamen persicum and they do have large corms but do need a bit of protection from frosts as they are from a hotter climate. Bottom line is the mass produced, lots of flowers, lots of leaves are wholly unnatural like Frankenstein’s monster. Cross pollination and plant breeding is great fun and fantastically interesting but with cyclamen persicum it has been taken too far in my opinion with the natural beauty being forgotten and a plant produced that will die an early death. I’m quite passionate about these little plants, their natural beauty being ‘improved on’ is like gilding the lily I think, but that’s just me, hope this answers your question, all the best Robbie

[@user-yx7dp2pl8t]

stinky ditch nursery didnt know it was a chemical thing, sad really. I too agree with you, (just starting to get into wild flowers) and the shops bear no resemblence to the natural beauty nature provides. Sorry for all the comments on your vids btw, was hoping to try and get the ball rolling for your channel in view count and comments, sad too really. All the best, Dan

[@vinnyhowells8132]

Hi, I just watched your video explaining the difference in plants for the hardy garden varieties and the shop bought forced grown plants. To be honest, I feel so dissapointed and cheated by the plant I bought in Lidl's store knowing what you have just showed and claimed, My plant literally did exactly what you described and disintigrated at home 2 or 4 leaves at a time until nothing was left and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I have bought these before thinking I could grow these in the garden to the same result of having nothing to show for the money, feeling horrible in the process as if I had done something wrong and now I realise there is nothing or little that I can actually do to stop or prevent the plant from just rotting. I feel cheated because this information is not readily available normally for the general public to make their own minds over whether they wish to take the chance at home given mine has rotted within a week of purchase. it's sad to see, I had a feeling these were corms and I was going to repot it in a better soil and grit formula but now I know this, I will never purchase a supermarket plant again like this. thank you for the information. How do you know you are piurchasing a garden hardy outdoor plant and not one of these force grown fakes? I want some for the garden, a 6 foot long deep trough actually I am planting out with bulbs and corms like dahlias. any suggestions. I am choosing not to dig any of the corms out and dry over winter as I going to cover with fleece. Are cyclamen winter hardy or not, I would like some help before I make a purchase and do the wrong thing. All the bulbs and corms I have decided they take their chance in the trough as it will have well drained soil and horticulteral grit and perlite as drainage as they plants do not like waterlogged soils.

[@stinkyditchnursery750]

Hi Vinny Howells, sorry for the late reply. The outside varieties of cyclamen are not generally grown commercially. They take a few years to produce flowers from seed so not as profitable as the tender variety cyclamen persicum that have been bred to produce flowers after just 7 months. All the cyclamen sold in Lidl, B&Q, Homebase, etc, etc are about making money not making beautiful gardens. Yes I agree, it’s a bit of a con. For outdoor cyclamen that will take a -15c frost and live for 100 years you need cyclamen hederifolium for late summer flowers or cyclamen coum for winter flowers. The hederifolium have wonderfully patterned leaves that appear after the flowers and stay all winter and spring. Cyclamen are deciduous plants, retreating to the ground for summer. If planting with something to give some summer interest choose plants that are ok with dry conditions. Whilst the cyclamen are dormant they don’t like getting too wet. For example if planted under roses to brighten up the bare stalks for winter they will probably rot over the summer as the roses watered. Naturally many varieties of cyclamen grow under deciduous trees, in the winter when the cyclamen are active they get the soft winter sun through the bare trees, during the summer when dormant the trees protect them from the strong summer sun and keep the ground dry through ‘drinking’. Your trough of corms and bulbs is a great idea, good drainage is key and topsoil, NOT multipurpose compost (another commercial con) multipurpose compost is fine for baskets and tubs over the summer but not good for plants that come back year after year. I think I’ve done a vid about the compost mix for perennial plants in pots. The cyclamen will be active all winter so no need to fleece, you can have interest and flowers going on 12 months of the year. Starting in January you can have cyclamen coum with snow drops in flower (a pink and white combo) the cyclamen hederifolium will give good leaf interest. Then crocus in early spring, mini daffodils in late spring, tulips and iris and bluebells early summer, gladioli and dahlias for mid summer, cyclamen hederifolium for late summer and autumn. And back to the start of the year again! The cyclamen I grow (hederifolium and coum) will self seed over the years so the whole thing will be self sustaining. I just did a vid about the variety of leaf forms within the hederifolium if that’s any help. I sell on my website and eBay, search for stinky ditch nursery and you will find me. I hope this is all of some help, just keep in mind with your trough that a garden is not just for summer, it’s a 12 months a year thing. All the very best of luck with your project, Robbie 🌻

[@isadorafreespirit]

Why will the cyclamen bought from the shop I planted them in the garden and it lasted from November till March

[@kennethreister7619]

interesting. Well, you have to indicate where you planted them (latitude, climate region). How cold it gets where you planted. Planted in the UK? Also was there a nursery tag with a description about whether it was hardy or not hardy?