Yellow or curled leaves on cyclamen – that helps!

As a rule, the flowers and leaves of the graceful plant are tight and very upright. The colors of the flowers and leaves are glowing and even. However, if the cyclamen shows yellow or curled leaves, then it has been cared for incorrectly. The yellow leaves can arise because the plant is too warm or too sunny or because the tubers are constantly exposed to water and thus waterlogging, and so the roots rot. If the care and location tips below are heeded, yellow and curled leaves should not appear. If it does happen, you should proceed as follows:

• check whether the plant is too warm
• if this is the case, move it to another location immediately
• Briefly dip the bulb in water
• Let it soak up without waterlogging
• remove all yellow and curled leaves
• pull out the leaves with one jerk
• remove harmful leaves and thus prevent rot formation
• Even spider mites then have no chance of attaching themselves to the damaged leaves
• check whether the plant has received too much water
• in this case, take the water-filled planter from the cyclamen
• Let the earth dry off
• Do not give water again until the soil is completely dry
• to do this, dip the tuber in water at room temperature
• Here too, remove all harmful leaves and possibly also the flower stalks
• if the roots have not yet rotted, the plant will recover
• if the putrefaction has progressed too far, the cyclamen can usually not be saved

Location in winter

In winter, the popular houseplant spreads its full splendor in the apartment, because it blooms from August to April and brings a little color to the window or a corner of the room. Since the plant likes neither direct sunlight nor direct heating, it is ideally placed in a light-flooded corner or in a light-flooded place on a shelf or on a cupboard. The temperature should not be more than 20 ° Celsius even in winter during flowering; high humidity is also an advantage. Therefore, the ideal location in winter looks like this:

• on a bright window sill on a north window, without heating
• otherwise every bright location in the apartment
• Place a bowl of water on the heater for the desired humidity
• or use a humidifier
• Place the plant on a container filled with granules and water
• If the room becomes too warm due to heating, it is better to change location
• A continuously cool room such as a bedroom or a stairwell is ideal

Location in summer

Cyclamen bloom in winter, they bloom from August to April. But so that they can form new flowers over the summer, they should move to a shady location outdoors as soon as they have faded. Low temperatures do not harm the plant, on the contrary, the cyclamen, due to its origin in the higher mountain regions, wants cooler temperatures. Therefore, the location in summer should look like this:

• shady, bright, no direct sunlight
• protected from excessively high temperatures
• high temperatures between 20 ° and 30 ° Celsius are not tolerated
• then choose a cool, bright location
• for example in a stairwell or basement entrance
• Temperatures should only be between 10 ° and 16 ° Celsius
• a shady corner on the balcony or terrace is therefore ideal
• A vat with water placed in the immediate vicinity offers sufficient humidity

Care tips

The cyclamen is a plant with very high demands, so extensive care is important in order to enjoy the graceful plant for many years. This care begins with the right watering and ends with fertilization. If something is done wrong here as well as with the wrong choice of location, the graceful cyclamen gets sick and yellow leaves or leaves that are rolled up by spider mite infestation develop very quickly.

Since the plant does not tolerate waterlogging, the cyclamen should not be poured into the soil from above. For the correct water supply, the flowering plant is regularly dipped into a bowl filled with water. The water must not be too cold, but rather be at room temperature. After about 20 minutes the tuber has soaked up and can be removed again. It is also important that the soil should not dry out completely during the flowering phase.

During the flowering period until the end of April, the plant must also be fertilized regularly every two weeks. For this purpose, flowering plant fertilizer from the trade can be used. After the flowering period, the fertilization is complete and the watering is stopped to a minimum. You should only give enough water to prevent the tuber from shrinking. This must therefore be checked regularly. Now, in addition to the flowers, the leaves also dry up, which is completely normal and does not represent a disease. You should cut back the leaves of the cyclamen so that the plant does not have to put unnecessary strength into these wilting parts of the plant.

If late summer and the plant comes back to its place in the house, it makes sense to repot the cyclamen in fresh substrate, increase the water supply again and start fertilizing again. The substrate should look like this:

• Use potting soil from the trade
• Mix with sand and small pebbles for better permeability
• In addition, create a drainage in the cachepot
• lay thick stones on the ground for this purpose
• place the plant pot on it

Conclusion
Cyclamen are plants for advanced growers or those hobby gardeners who have a lot of time to care for them. Because even a small mistake in care can damage the graceful plant. In this case, the leaves will turn yellow. You may also be attacked by spider mites, which are mainly found on damaged plants. In such a case, the leaves will curl up. But if all care instructions are followed exactly, the cyclamen will delight you with abundant blooms in winter for several years.