potting a cym question - Orchid Board

mattryan · #1 05-19-2011, 09:50 PM

everyone I am very new to cyms and have a question. I got this cym mid-april it had 2 spikes, I cut 1 off and the other is soon to go (flowers have died). Now I have not been watering it very much as it seems the medium is taking a long time to dry out (been using skewers)..even with putting it outside on nice days. I think that I have watered it 2x in a month. So today I was looking at bottom of the pot and the roots seem very wet and I think that they are rotting. And the roots at the top seem hollow. Should I being pro-active do a re-pot even though I've never done 1 before on a cym? Also can I use the same medium on a cym that I use on my phals (bark, char)? I don't want to end up disrupting it if I don't have to. Any advice would be great. Thankyou

this is what it looked like when i got it. Leaves still look the same nothing dying cept the flowers

Zoi2 · #2 05-20-2011, 01:03 AM

For my 2 cents: if you question anything about your roots... unpot it and check them.
Repotting a cym isn't that hard but you will probably have to cut the pot off the plant. Hose the roots to get all old potting media loose, chop the bottom 1/3-1/2 of the roots off and repot.
Joann

Cym Ladye · #3 05-20-2011, 12:27 PM

Zoi2 has it right. REPOT. I would allow the plant to dry, if possible, before attempting this and I would pick out the old mix with a skewer and not wash off the roots but otherwise, I agree with Zoi2.

There is more information under the Cymbidium Alliance part of this forum that you may consider reading.

CL

mattryan · #4 05-20-2011, 12:38 PM

Thankyou very much zio2 and lady was just hoping that unpotting wouldn't do harm. I'll re-pot today, I guess if I can see the roots at bottom of pot now is probably as good at time as any. Thanks again

mattryan · #5 05-20-2011, 10:08 PM

Just wanted to ask another question. I did the re-pot this afternoon. I took off all the rooted or hollow roots I was still left with atleast 1/2 of them alot of them had new growing grn tips. Now my question is this 1 of the pbulbs I think had gotten either water of wet bark down the leaf and I think maybe (crown rot) or some type of rot because several of the leaves came right off 1/2 the pbulb. Now I put some cinnamen on the rotted parts and left the part of the pbulb that was ok...should I have removed the entire pbulb? Thanks for the help

Cym Ladye · #6 05-21-2011, 12:33 PM

Mattryan,

Smell the bulb. If it smells fresh, then you can leave it on as treated.

However, if it smells rotten, you will need to remove it. (It usually appears at one end of the division or the other.) Take a new, single edge razor blade and cut through the attachment to the next bulb. If a dark area shows on the cut, you will then need to cut off that bulb too.

If you do have crown rot, this can be an insidious and rapidly spreading death blow to the plant. I hope it is not so in your case.

Can you send a photo?

CL

mattryan · #7 05-21-2011, 06:26 PM

Thankyou for the response cym Ladye. Unfortunately all I can smell now is cinnamen lol. I got all the mushy black gunk and the pbulb feels very firm. It was mostly the leaves that I got rid of, they basically fell off. Here are some pics and the pot is wayy lighter since the re-pot. The potting medium was too broken down for me here in canada. I used bigger chunks of bark because I want to have them outside for the summer and every 9 days watering will not work I think anywhere. I tried to situate them in the pot as I've read, but it was very difficult because I didn't want to divide them (too new to start that). Thanks again for all your help

Cym Ladye · #8 05-27-2011, 12:40 PM

Your plant looks as if it will survive. Next time, try to locate the newest growth in the center of the pot and the BB or oldest growth closest the edge of the pot. This allows more room for the new growths to emerge and expand.

I also would have buried the bulbs deeper in the pot. When the attachment of the root to the bulbs is above media level, the bulb is more unstable in the pot and the roots do not establish themselves as well. 1/3 the length of the green bulbs is a good marker. You had rot on a growth on this division, so I can understand your "potting high".

Good luck,

CL