A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The House Plant Forum Cyclamen Dormancy

I've had a cyclamen for a year that we got as a gift. From what I can tell, it's the standard greenhouse variety with large, deep green leaves and large, pink flowers. Not only has it never gone dormant, it has bloomed constantly to various degrees of glory. We live in SW Iowa (zone 4), so the summers are hot and the winters cold. I've had it in an east window where it has always demanded water at least every three days year-round. It has never been re-potted.

The leaves are starting to droop down and out, leaving the middle somewhat vacant of leaves. They are still green and vibrant, so I thought it might benefit from re-potting, but I'm not sure. This plant has never hinted very strongly that it would like to go dormant other than an occasional yellow leaf or two. I'm wondering if I should:

1) try to force dormancy now that it's winding down its most recent bloom at the end of April
2) continue as is, waiting for a strong dormancy signal
3) re-pot and continue as is
4) something else?

I would like to keep this plant as long as possible, so I don't want to burn it out; on the other hand, I don't want to force anything as long as it's happy.


Thanks in advance for any thoughts and suggestions.

Jon B

Here's a link that might help..

http://www.thegardenhelper.com/cyclamen.html