Need help harvesting cyclamen seeds

14 years ago

Hi everyone,

I have a large cyclamen growing happily on a cold north-facing windowsill. It has set a few seed pods, but most of then begin to wilt and soften at the base of the stem right before the stage where the stem curls up close to the ground. The plant itself isn't rotting - the leaves are perfectly fine, aside from the occasional old yellow leaf. Any one what I'm doing wrong? Too cold? Too warm? Thanks in advance,

elbereth

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Comments (8)

remy_gw
14 years ago
Elbereth,
I have a feeling there's nothing wrong. I believe it to be from no fertilization of the flower. You will often see pods form on plants and then the pod falls off because the stem below had died. This happens when the flower was not pollinated.
For cyclamen inside, you need to pollinate using a small paint brush because there are no insects to do the job.
Hope this helps,
Remy
elbereth
Original Author
14 years ago
I think the flowers were pollinated because the seed pods formed and were getting fairly large before the stems rotted. I should also mention that the stems rotted right below the seed pods, not at their base as is usually the case.
Thanks for the tip though!
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remy_gw
14 years ago
Humm...well I'm not sure now. Though some plant pods can get quite large even if nothing viable is developing. Did you check to see if there were decent sized seed in pods?
I can also see a stress to the plant make pods fall off, but as you noted it seems nothing else seems odd about the plant. Where the stem dies below aborted pods seem to vary with types of plants also.
Remy
elbereth
Original Author
14 years ago
I'll just wait and see then. Thanks for your help, Remy!
jfguchi
14 years ago
I can say I have collected seed from my cyclamen plants not knowing if they were viable or not. I saved the round seed pods (1/4" - 1/2" across) and let them dry out. A couple opened up on their own - the others I had to open myself. The seeds are brown and sort of wrinkley.(I have more if you want to see).
Last February I planted some of the seeds to see if they would sprout (as I killed my plant and wanted more to replace it). I was suprized when most of the seeds sprouted and are still alive (no flowers yet - but plants are getting bigger :) ) They seem to do better in pots with no drainage holes to keep the soil moist, and plenty of sunshine.
Good luck and let me know if you want to see pictures or have more questions.
lindawolfe_live_com
12 years ago
I have a cyclamen and it is my first, I got it about a year ago and it has bloomed and bloomed, it is very healthy and big. I have noticed over the last couple weeks that I have pods growing on the plant. Now I know nothing about this sort of thing so I need some help. What do I do with them? Please help I dont want my beautiful plant to die....Thank you
tass50
10 years ago
how to take cyclamen seeds
floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
10 years ago
Is that a question tass50? Not sure what you mean. Do you mean harvest, sow or what?