Monday, January 28

Unexpected survival

Do you remember my cyclamen seedlings - the ones where I had to prick out about 4 dozen of them. (PS A few commenters seem to think these seedlings are from my outdoor cyclamen but they are seeds taken from my house plants).

I have been able to keep an eye on the ones living under the growing light in an upstairs room and knew that they were just fine. Growing slowly but surely.
I hadn't expected the ones left in our cold greenhouse to survive the recent cold period so once the snow had receded I decided to pop up to the greenhouse to see what sort of state things were in.

The cyclamen seeds are protected in an unheated propagator which in effect gives very little additional protection so I was surprised to find that the seedlings were just fine.
In fact there is very little difference between those in the house and those roughing it in the greenhouse. Maybe this will change later.

The cyclamen coum that I sowed last year are still flowering and I have ended up with at least two different flower colours. You may just be able to spot that the flower on the far left is a lighter shade.
Once these plants have bulked up a little I'll have to decided where in the garden will be a permanent home for them.

In case you were wondering the cyclamen don't have the grow light all to themselves as I've sown some leftover Little Gem lettuce seeds in a trough. The seeds germinated very quickly and will hopefully soon produce some fresh salad leaves.
I sowed some Saladin seeds in the 'empty' tray that you can just see but these haven't germinated so I'll sow a different variety to use the space until we need the grow light for some early seeds.




Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

25 comments:

  1. I'm thinking of getting one of those Indoor Grow-Houses. Would you recommend the one you have? Who did you buy it from?

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    1. We like it Mark. We also bought an optional water tray so it self waters too. The water lasts about. I've written more about it here on my website We bought ours from Harrod Horticultural but they no longer offer this set up and offer a different model. I have to admit to the links being affiliated so I do get a little commission for any sales generated them. A cheaper option would be just to set up your own lighting.

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  2. Those in the greenhouse must be tough little things, I wouldn't fancy those conditions.

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  3. So nice to have fresh greens this time of year. I really need to get some more sprouting seeds...I just haven't go around to getting to the store that sells them. The cyclamen all look very healthy. I am thinking of getting some..it's so nice to see cheery colour this time of year!!

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    1. Mum and dad cyclamen are on our windowsill at the moment Tanya

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  4. They look so cool with their one big leaf on the stem! Really hoping that the ones from the greenhouse will do as well as the pampered ones. Your indoor set-up sounds fab!

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    1. That leaf shrivels up Anna when the new true leaves start to grow

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  5. They are hardy things aren't they. Thats great that you have grown cyclamen coum from seed, I love that plant. I might give that a go, you've inspired me. I've got a small patch in the garden would love it to spread out more. Did you collect the seed for these from your own plants in the garden, will have to look back through your blogs.

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    1. I have hardy cyclamen hederifolia in the garden Annie and it just spreads its own seed. These are indoor ones

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  6. The cyclamen look in excellent condition, they are doing far better than if we'd managed to meet and I'd taken any of them :}

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    1. These are seeds from my indoor plants Bilbo - yours are outside in trays and are much more advanced.

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  7. This plant is really hardy! Tehy really look good even in winter with little care!

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    1. Just hope they survive right through winter Malar

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  8. I have a load of cyclamen seedlings too that I lifted from around the mother plants some weeks ago. I just left them in pots out in the snow and they are still fine now that the snow and frost is gone. I don't intend to take them indoors at any point, hopefully they will be fine, although it migh take a bit longer :-)

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    1. These are from house plants Helen - I just leave the hardy ones outside to get on with spreading their own seed which they are really good at

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  9. So much money you will have saved by sowing your own cyclamen seeds! The salad is coming along nicely too.

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    1. I don't know whether I'll have saved any money Kelli as I just sowed then to see what would happen. Although the original 8 plants came from a packet of seed so I guess I saved something there.

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  10. Nice to see your salad leaves - I am thinking of sowing some more this weekend - although I'm not quite in the mood for salads just yet.

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  11. I loved this Sue - we can never underestimate a plants determination to grow. I'm enjoying following the story here. I keep meaning to add this plant to my garden but fear I would dig it up forgetting it was there. I'm very guilty of doing that.

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    1. The seedlings are house plant cyclamen Shirl.

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  12. What a fabulous "crop" of cyclamen seedlings. Interesting that the greenhouse batch are doing so well, makes you wonder what else would survive quite happily. Lovely to see the lettuce seedlings, looks as if you will soon have fresh salad to munch on.

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    1. I was surprised that they have survived in the greenhouse being indoor plants, Janet

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  13. A lot of people now bed out the florist cyclamen(C.persicum} like yours - but in late summer and autumn and it takes 4 degree centigrade of frost and lasts quite well until about late November. Seedlings like yours in the greenhouse have rather more protection and seedlings being small are not always more vunerable to cold than large plants. My florist cyclamen left in my own unheated greenhouse has survived even though it was recently minus 10 outside.
    Last week I read a post on a blog about the writer bedding on out last week. Optimistic or what.
    I know you have seen my cyclamen coum on my own latest post

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