Evening star., 1948-11-21
Cyclamens Love Chilly Rooms
Water Snowy Flowers With Great Care;
Corms Bloom Again After Resting
by W. H, Younomon

Many Americans visiting Europe
are impressed with the lovely cycla-
mems to be seen there. Compared to
them in numbers, our much loved
Christmas flowers seem pitifully
inadequate.
Why do we not make greater use
of these long Towering plantsP
The answer is not hard TO find.
Cyclamens do best in cool, almost
cold, humid atmosphere, something
which is a bit difficult to provide
here but which is the normal condi-
ton over much of Europe. That is
to say, the flowers continue over a
period of two or three months in a
suitable temperature, and under so
degrees or so degrees is not too low.
This is not to imply that amateurs
cannot grow the cyclamen. How
ever, few of US have homes where
the temperatures are kept low.
Some have a porch, an unheated
sunroom or an unheated bedroom
where the temperature remains well
ABOVE freezing but cool enough for
these plants.
Steam-And q Wooden Block.
To provide moisture, one amateur
cultivator places the potted cycla-
men on a wooden block in shallow
vessel. Hot water is poured into the
vessel each day, the steam imme-
diately increases the humidity and
the wood block aids in supplying
the needed moisture. The combina-
ton has been successful over a
period of years.
Resting the pot on a layer of
gravel or sand in shallow tray Is
good for the cyclamen as it is for
most other house plants. The
moisture evaporates with sufficient
rapidity from the gravel to keep
the air about the plants moist. And,
when the pots are in need OF moiS-
ture the water level in the tray may
be raised to the bottom of the pot.
Too much moisture, especially
around the CORN, can be as injuri-
Gus as too little. If sufficient water
is added to keep the plant vigorous
one can usually assume that the job
is being well done. This is especially
true if the buds develop normally
and the blooms last long time.
The cyclamenS are notorious fol
their disease and pest difficulties
The cyclamen mite seems to attack
the plants wherever they are. 1t car
be controlled by busting with sui
phur placing balls of paradichloro.
benzine in the soil of the pots, OF
immersing the pots and plants ir
hot water, Ill degrees Farenheit, fol
IS minutes. Some growers spray
with bordeaux mixture and avoic
disease. Usually keeping the foliage
clean through spraying only In the
morning, avoiding too much moist
ure at the crown of the plant ano
adequate ventilation, are sufflcien,
to avoid disease. Should a plant de-
velop a gray mold or a Shiny bac-
terial rot, it should be discarded.
How to Obtain Plants.
Most gardeners start their gar
dening experience with purchased
plants, generally discarding the ole
plant as soon as the Towering sea-
son is past. However, the plants may
be raised from seed in IS to 1e
months, by division Of the corms
which are then rooted in sand, or by
the purchase of corrns (seldom pos
sible in this country.
The raising of cyclamens from seed
is only practicable when one has the
time and patience to carry the tiny
plants through their various stages
of growth into blooming size. The
seed may be soWn from late July