General id question on huge unknown orchid

[Jubilee]

My mom picked up a (now) very large orchid from Meijier some years ago. It has a tag, but Google seems to indicate that it's definitely the wrong tag. (All I get are cactus pictures when looking it up.) I know getting a specific id is dang near impossible, but I'm looking for a best guess on what it might possibly be so that I know what it actually prefers in regards to soil, watering, temperatures and etcetera. It really is quite huge. The pot is about 18" tall and the leaves come up to my shoulder (I'm 5'3"). There are also some long trailing leaves. It flowers with light purplish/lavender flowers in the spring (I don't have a picture, unfortunately). Any help at all would be great. Knowing Mom it's probably in regular potting soil and gets watered about once a week when it's inside for the winter. In the summer it's on a southern facing deck and gets watered daily.

[WhiteRabbit]

Looks like a Cymbidium

[Cym Ladye]

That is a standard Cymbidium but without a correct tag, you may never have a name on the actual cross. Because of its large size, it can be assumed it is a standard and the care for those is pretty generic.

To get you started, visit the Cymbidium alliance on the OB, go to the search menu at the top of the page, pull down "search" and type in Cymbidium care. This should give you many answers to questions you have on growing this genus. Just remember, everyone has an answer to a problem, and often it is not the same as someone else. Learn your growing conditions and temperature patterns so you can relate the answers to your own area and choose what you think will work best for you.

Good luck,

Cym Ladye

[dope.fatboy]

Hard to tell specifically, but it looks like a cymbidium to me. Any identification beyond that is practically impossible.

[Jubilee]

thanks, I appreciate the id. I'm new to the orchid growing realm and hadn't encountered a cymbidium before.

[Phalchid]

Looks like a nice cymbidium to me!