How to Trim a Cyclamen Plant

The cyclamen’s heart-shaped, variegated leaves provide winter-long color. It also produces spikes of pink or red blooms in midwinter. Cyclamen goes through a period of summer dormancy when the plant dies back and the tuberous roots enter a rest period. It resumes growth in fall and repeats the growing cycle. After each year’s blooms begin to fade in spring, the plant requires trimming to prepare it for its dormant period.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You’ll Need:

• Shears

1. Remove the old flower stems as soon as the blossom begins to wilt, by grasping them near the base and pull them off the plant. Removal of old stems may encourage further flowering.

2. Prune away dead and yellow leaves throughout the growing period. Cut these off where they join the main plant, using clean shears, or give them a sharp tug to pull them from the plant.

3. Pull off any remaining yellowed leaves once the cyclamen has gone dormant, usually within a few weeks after flowering completes. Most of the leaves fall off on their own and don’t require manual removal.

Tips & Warnings

• Each cyclamen leaf grows on its own stem that emerges from the tuberous root system.

• If leaves don’t pull of easily, use shears. Otherwise you may damage the tuber when removing the leaves.