cyclamen question

2 of the 4 I have produced seed pods this year. I am going to try and sprout some. I waited until the pod started looking soft. I thought it would burst open, but never did. Then I let them dry for a few days (they turned brown and shriveled a little) and then put them in some potting soil and put in the sun room. I covered them partially also. Then I took some from another pod, broke this one open and put them on a wet paper towel, covered and put in the cabinet in a dark place. These seeds were white and plump.(I also put some dried seeds in there too) I had read somewhere a couple of different methods and that it wasn't that easy. Thought I'd try. Any suggestions? Am I in the right place?
Thanks,
Dawn

Hi Dawn! There may have been a reason for the pods not opening. Seed not ripe, perhaps? Some cyclamen delay ripening their seed until the next "growing season", as the wild species experience long, dry summers. I have had little success with dry seed. Fresh seed from a naturally opened pod seems to germinate best. I just press it into the soil surface and sprinkle sand on top, then put the pot on the windowsill and keep the soil moist. They germinate pretty quickly.

Wow, OK. I have more pods that I have left on the plant. I will keep watching them to see if they open. Should I keep watering the plants? I have read that once the leaves start yellowing to quit watering because it is going dormant. Wont this cause the seed pods and the stems to die? What should the seeds look like? This would so cool to see these germinate. Thanks for the information!

When the plant does into dormancy and the leaves die down, the roots can be active, so although the plant will not need much water, give it a little now and then (like infrequent summer showers), letting the soil dry out between waterings. The stem carrying the seed pod should not die off like the leaves, but it may twist around and carry the seed pod down to soil level.

Yes, they are doing that. Curling towards the pot. Thanks, Do they take a long time to "ripen"? Could I possibly have these towards the fall before they "pop"? Last year they started growing again at the end of summer. I started watering on a regular basis. One (a pink) started blooming in November and bloomed all the way through to mid April.

I've always started my cyclamen seed by sowing them in a pot and putting it in a dark
place for ~6-8wks. Just can't forget to check for germination - I did that once and
lost a nice batch!

Tam

I'm not sure how long it will take for the cyclamen seeds to ripen. It seems to vary from plant to plant. Most of the cyclamen coming from nurseries have very mixed parentage. I bought from a nursery catalog six cyclamen that all had species names on the labels, but none of them match up with their descriptions in the reference books! Where did you get your cyclamen? Are they named?

I got them from Lowe's. They have standard plastic thingy's in them. I'm gonna try differnt ways I guess. I have enough seeds to do so. Thanks for all you info. I may have to call on you again sometime.
Dawn