Keep Cymbdium out of rain?

[Adrian]

Hi all,
I am a first time orchid owner and have bought a Cymbidium hybrid from a very reputable nursery over here in Western Australia.
At the moment its Autumn in W.A which means warm to cool days, relatively low rainfall and at times windy conditions. I have my orchid in full sun at the moment and seems to be happy. its is dry here so I am watering once a day depending on temps.
What I have been wondering - we get quite a bit of rainfall in WA in winter and as my plant is outside it may be too wet and the roots may rot if I leave it outside in the elements. its in a very free draining pine bark mix.
should I bring my orchid out of the elements to my sheltered patio when it rains?

thank you for your time

Adrian

[WhiteRabbit]

I leave my cyms out where they get rained on. No problems so long as the pot is not standing in water (puddle or saucer) for extended periods often. But also won't hurt the plant to be sheltered.
If there are larger buds or blooms I do try to shelter the plant. So at least a few of mine are on sheltered porch in winter. Light is significantly less and they're fine. High light is most important while they are growing - spring thru fall.

[Adrian]

Hi Sonya,

thanks for that. I figure that in the wild they get rained on all the time so your advice makes total sense.
Now to start building my collection. !

thanks again

Adrian

[WhiteRabbit]

Originally Posted by Adrian

Hi Sonya,

thanks for that. I figure that in the wild they get rained on all the time so your advice makes total sense.
Now to start building my collection. !

thanks again

Adrian

I have only ever had problems with 'too much' water when I didn't realize that where I had the plants, water was puddling up in that area, and when we had periods of a lot of rain, it wasn't drying/draining. Even then, none of the Cyms died, or even really looked worse for wear, it wasn't until I repotted one a bit later, and found lots of rotted roots that I figured that out.

Now, I don't know how 'wet' your winters are ? But mine have been ok over some pretty wet periods. We haven't had any of the El Nino seemingly non-stop rain winters since I have been growing orchids. But they have taken periods of a couple of weeks with a lot of rain, and then back to rain some days, with dry days inbetween.

If you have something like a monsoon season, might want to just play it safe, and give them a drier spot.

[Adrian]

Originally Posted by WhiteRabbit

I have only ever had problems with 'too much' water when I didn't realize that where I had the plants, water was puddling up in that area, and when we had periods of a lot of rain, it wasn't drying/draining. Even then, none of the Cyms died, or even really looked worse for wear, it wasn't until I repotted one a bit later, and found lots of rotted roots that I figured that out.

Now, I don't know how 'wet' your winters are ? But mine have been ok over some pretty wet periods. We haven't had any of the El Nino seemingly non-stop rain winters since I have been growing orchids. But they have taken periods of a couple of weeks with a lot of rain, and then back to rain some days, with dry days inbetween.

If you have something like a monsoon season, might want to just play it safe, and give them a drier spot.

Hi Sonya,
thanks again for being so helpful!

I live in a temperate climate with very hot, dry summers and mild winters with night time temps around 13 c and daytime temps of around 18-20 Celsius. We are well away from extreme rain events like monsoons.
the orchid is raised above the ground so drainage shouldn't be a problem.

cheers

Adrian

[WhiteRabbit]

Sounds good! I just felt I should clarify - what might be a lot of rain to me (also in a fairly dry climate), might be considered not a lot of rain by someone who lives in a very rainy climate