Cyclamen seed

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Salmo

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Cyclamen seed
« on: June 16, 2015, 22:41 »
A have a cyclamen that appeared in a border (perhaps from a discarded pot?) which has seed pods on the ends of curly stems.

How do I go about growing the seeds from these pods? I intend to leave some to seed themselves.

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New shoot

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Re: Cyclamen seed
« Reply #1 on: June 17, 2015, 07:13 »
I read about this in the RHS magazine years ago and as I had a few cyclamen in the garden, I went ahead and sucessfully grew quite a lot of plants.  Now I have loads and they self seed around, so it is well worth doing.  I found this, which is the same basic routine, except I'm sure I soaked the seeds for 24 hours.

The secret to getting plants up to flowering size quickly is to keep them in growth for as long as possible.  I moved my young plants to a semi shaded, sheltered spot and kept them well fed and watered.  It is surprising how fast they form corms and bulk up  :)

http://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/projects/seeds-and-bulbs/how-to-sow-cyclamen-seeds/97.html

I remember the RHS article went into more depth.  It was this that grabbed me and made me try, as I love details like this  :D

Cyclamen seeds are collected by ants who take them into their nests to eat the sugary coating off, then plant them by chucking them out of the nest.  That is what you are replicating by soaking, keeping them dark, then light.  Like most woodland plants, it is also important that the seeds are freshly formed, or they enter a dormant state.

Have fun  :)

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sunshineband

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Re: Cyclamen seed
« Reply #2 on: June 17, 2015, 09:29 »
That is fascinating information --- really interesting  :D
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New shoot

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Re: Cyclamen seed
« Reply #3 on: June 17, 2015, 11:03 »
Waves at fellow seed nerd  ;)  :lol:

I did visit the RHS gardens at Wisley some time later and they have a whole bank of cyclamen, under a hedge, at one end of the big rock gardens with all the waterfalls.  It was crawling with ants, which made me smile  :)

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Salmo

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Re: Cyclamen seed
« Reply #4 on: June 17, 2015, 18:21 »
The seed pods are sitting on the soil surface attached to the curly stalks. When do I sow them?

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New shoot

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Re: Cyclamen seed
« Reply #5 on: June 17, 2015, 20:49 »
Sounds like they are ready to go.

The stalks are very tightly curled when fresh, so as they relax and come down to soil level, they are getting ready to shed the seeds  :)

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sunshineband

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Re: Cyclamen seed
« Reply #6 on: June 18, 2015, 08:30 »
So when ours did not germinate in the garden, could that be due to lack of ants in the area then?

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New shoot

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Re: Cyclamen seed
« Reply #7 on: June 18, 2015, 09:33 »
Could be  :unsure:  I remember reading that you have to get the sugary coating off as it inhibits germination.

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Goosegirl

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Re: Cyclamen seed
« Reply #8 on: June 18, 2015, 13:05 »
Maybe they needed a little soak in water before sowing?
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sunshineband

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Re: Cyclamen seed
« Reply #9 on: June 18, 2015, 17:08 »
Maybe they needed a little soak in water before sowing?

They just came out of the case on the end of the curly stalk, into the ground au naturelle I didn't sow them as such



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