Watering Cyclamen: Top Watering Is Fine

Watering Cyclamen: Top Watering Is Fine

A reader asks: should indoor potted cyclamen be watered from the top? They’ve been bottom-watering to avoid wetting the corm, but worry about yellowing leaves.

Advice

Top watering is perfectly fine. Use room-temperature water. Water when top half-inch of soil is dry OR leaves slightly wilt—whichever comes first.

Corm Rot Causes

• Very cold water.
• Top half-inch of soil never allowed to dry.

Both can happen with bottom watering too.

Yellow Leaves May Mean Heat

Cyclamen prefer cool temps (<70°F). Warm temps cause yellowing/dormancy. If all leaves die, the corm will resprout when cool again. Don’t overwater during dormancy.