Cyclamen Plant Division: How to divide cyclamen bulbs

Cyclamen are often given as Christmas gifts because of their winter flowers. Once these flowers wilt, unfortunately, many of these plants become waste because people don’t know how to care for them properly. Well cared for cyclamen plants can be grown for years and divided to create other Christmas gifts in the future. Read on to learn more about the distribution of cyclamen plants.

Cyclamen plant division

There are two types of cyclamen: the florist’s cyclamen, which is the common Christmas cyclamen grown as an indoor plant, and the hardy cyclamen, which can be grown outdoors in zones 5 to 9. Both plants can be divided in the same way, although the hardy variety has a better survival rate of divisions.
Cyclamen flowering plants need cool temperatures between 65 and 70 degrees F. (18-21 C.). Yellowing of the leaves or absence of flowers may be a sign that temperatures are unsatisfactory or that there is too little sunlight; but it may also be a sign that the plant needs to be divided and replanted. Cyclamen have tubers or bulbs that are shaped like corms. These bulbs can become so large that they choke each other.

How to split cyclamen bulbs

So, when can I divide the cyclamen, you ask? Dividing cyclamen bulbs in florists should only be done when the plant has fallen asleep, usually after April. Division of resistant cyclamen plants should be carried out in the autumn. Both types have similar bulbs and are divided in the same way.
It is fairly easy to divide cyclamen plants. When the cyclamen plants are dormant, cut the foliage. Dig up the cyclamen bulbs and clean the soil. At this stage the cyclamen bulbs will look like seed potatoes and divide in a similar way.
Using a clean, sharp knife, cut the cyclamen bulb, making sure that each cut piece has a knot in which the foliage grows. Roughly, like the eye of a potato.
After dividing your cyclamen bulbs, plant each piece in a mixed pot with the nodes, or eyes, glued slightly above the ground. When watering your newly planted cyclamen divisions, be careful not to water the bulbs themselves, as they are very susceptible to root rot at this stage. Only water the soil around the cyclamen plant divisions.