Cymbidium care/culture

[Paul Mc]

While I'm not necessarily a complete newbie to orchids, I have never had any success with my Cymbidium. In fact, the one I've had for several years only has one leaf left, and two new growths that are turning brown and dying. Luckily, I picked up a mini one at the OS meeting two months ago - however, probably unlucky for the poor Cymbidium if I can't figure out how to grow it, lol...

A little background first. I've read the AOS sheet and a lot of posts here about Cymbidiums, think I've been following the advice fairly close to the letter, but no success. While I understand that not all people can grow all orchids, I'd still LOVE to figure this one out, lol... It may be too late to save my old one, but hope I can grow my new one.

So, I'd love to hear what care you guys give yours, from watering, fertilizing, medium, light, seasonal needs, etc... Anything and everything you can think of would be greatly appreciated. I would hope this could turn into something similar to the "Stop the Phal Abuse" thread as that has been a tremendous resource for people new to Phal's.

Help me learn everyone!!! And thank you in advance for your input!

[Bud]

I have a 5 year old large Cymbidium...it skipped a season this year even if I let it through the almost freezing nights of the fall, but it gave me two new growths...my mini which is even younger has bloomed...I followed the Baker culture to the letter. I fertilize alternating with seaweed/worm tea mix and chemical fertilizer...I let it dry before I water and chose the best Cymbidium mix that repotme.com can offer...

[Zoi2]

Paul, how are you growing yours?
Mine are grocery store noids that are in S/H. They go outside on the southeast side of the house after April 15 (frost) and come in usually by Nov 15. I water with the hose and use MSU for tap water. In the winter they are next to south windows until they bloom then I move them around to enjoy the flowers.
Joann

[WhiteRabbit]

They don't need to be babied - don't know that you are, but seems many people have the impression they are delicate. Lots of light, (I) don't allow media to dry out, but make sure pots are not left sitting in water. Media (and pot) should drain well. Mine take whatever the weather here (SF Bay area) throws at them, except for when they have buds/blooms, then I protect them from rain/hail/freezing.
Shade by mid-day during extremely hot weather.

Gl!

[silken]

I have one Walmart NOID standard cym and another NOID standard Cym (the one I posted blooms of today). I do similar to Joann. They go outside in spring and stay out all summer till close to frost in the fall. They are on the south side of our garage and get a bit of protection but not a lot. I water them when I think of it and if it didn't rain and give them MSU or later in the summer, some bloom booster fert. they are in mostly fir bark and a bit of perlite. This fall they were already showing bloom spikes before I even brought them in, but haven't in the past. In the winter I grow them in the greenhouse near the patio door so max 65 f in the day and 55F at night. Possibly a bit cooler being right by the door. They get whatever light gets thru the roof if no snow is on it and the west facing patio door until spring.

I think the miniatures are more warmth tolerant and have slightly different care requirements. More like catts and oncidiums I think.

[NYCorchidman]

so I can help better. I used to grow them. not here as I cannot provide right conditions for them.

First, you need to know what kind of cymbidiums you have. Most large ones and even smaller varieties can grow together, but there are some from Australia that require warm year round condition.

Second, how did it lose leaves? graudally turning brown and fall off? little spots or dark narrow lines along the vein? How does the surviving leaf look?
Any bugs infestation? Cymbidiums offer lots of rooms in between leaves where bugs can easily hide and thrive.

It could be just lack of water. The root of cymbidiums grow and fill up the pot fairly quickly and it's common that they don't get enough water from top watering. You want to immerse the entire pot in a bucket full of water. do this fairly often during summer growth period.

Again, hard to tell without pictures and information regarding how you've been taking care of it.

If it isn't disease and just underwatering issue, I think you can still save the back bulbs and start new plants off of them. This may take years before you see the flowers again though.
I would say, only try if you're very patient, or if you really really loved the flowers as these plants are common and not that expensive.

[Cym Ladye]

It sounds as if your mix has totally broken down and the roots are rotten. Remove the plant from the pot and look at it. If the above is true and if there are new growths, cut off 3/4 of the rotten roots, cut the remaining soggy ones to 2", strip the velamin off and repot. If there are no viable new growths, separate the bulbs (if they are still firm), cut all the rotten roots off, and place with a large handful of damp potting mix into ZipLoc quart freezer bags no more than 2 to a bag. Seal. Place in well lit place and be patient.

The fact that you say the new growths are turning brown indicates you may be better off by just tossing the plant and starting fresh. Pulling the plant out of the pot will give you your answer.

CL

[orchids3]

This site contains one of the best cymbidium culture and information sheets I have ever read. The title is for tropical cymbidiums but you will find to apply almost anywhere .

BlogGang.com : : ? :

[Paul Mc]

Zoi2, I grow mine pretty much exactly as you do, however I did notice that the leaves were getting extremely hot when we had a major heat wave so I moved it back and made sure the leaves were not getting so hot. I water with tap water which is somewhere between a 7 and 7.5 ph. I use a balanced slow release fertilizer on it. It sits under a pin oak tree when it's outside so it's somewhat shaded in the afternoon, but lots of morning and evening light. Right now, it's in the basement which gets down to maybe around 55F at night and up to about 65 or 70 during the daytime. It's under 2 T8 light fixtures, maybe 1.5 to 2 feet away from the light source

Bud, I used RePotme.com's mix as well, in fact I repotted it late spring and it seemed to be doing just fine until it got brought in. I've checked the mix and it doesn't appear to be breaking down.

WhiteRabbit, I understand what you are saying. In fact, I had read that you should water them with about the same frequency as you would a regular house plant. So, that is pretty much what I've done. I check to see how moist it is down below and then water if need be. It does not sit in any water and is in a clay pot.

NYCOrchidMan, the one in question is a Rosanna (Pinkie). Beyond that, I know nothing about it. It lost it's leaves just about one at a time, turning brown and then drying up and falling off, no spotting or anything else that I thought I should be concerned about. Thus far, the surviving leaf looks good - surprisingly. Unfortunately, all of the backbulbs are dead except for the one that has the single leaf. Even the backbulbs that have the new growth are dead. While I'm extremely patient with all plants and have a hard time parting even with the sadest of them, I'm thinking this particular one might just be a lost cause for me, lol... Hoping the mini NOID won't be though.

Cym Ladye, I think a major part of the issue is that I don't know what healthy cymbidium roots look like. When I repotted this spring, I think I trimmed off a lot of healthy roots believing them to be dead. However, the growth was incredible this spring, summer and fall so I thought for sure it was doing just fine, especially in it's fresh potting mix.

Believe me guys, I'm considering everything you are saying so please keep the thoughts coming along. I want to learn what I might have done wrong so I can not kill my new mini NOID, lol... Thus far, I can see perhaps many things may have contributed to it's decline and eventual (gulp) tossing. Roots and watering are what is making the most sense to me.

However, I will say that I noticed this trend last year as well. All of the back bulbs died and I noticed that when I water it, the death of the leaves and the new growths seemed to occur more rapidly than before.

[orchids3]

Actually a pH of 7.5 may be a bit high but what is the pH of whats in the pot? Thats even more important than what goes in. To check in pot pH,
Place the pot in a pan of water. Leave it for an hour or two. Then take it out and catch the water that runs out of the pot. Catch and check the pH of what runs out.
The action of fertilizer mix, Potting media breakdown and your water will determine what your ph will be.I use a pH check kit from a store that sells aquarium supplies. I like a pH of 6.8 to 7 for cyms.

I actually get the most root loss at low pH. Dropping leaves are a sign of root loss. I regularly check my collection for excessive amount of browing and dropping leaves.

If you will top dress with a 1:1 mix of crushed Sea Shell (Egg shell is also good) and Dolomite lime you will be able to worry somewhat less about pH. The Calcium Carbonate in seashell and lime tend to buffer the pH. Rain water actually is often low pH (I have seen pH of 3)
I use a tbl spoon/ gal pot. Sea Shell/Lime actually does nothing if the pH is high.