Cym with impatiens in same pot...what to do??

[camille1585]

Hi everyone!
I got a pink flowered cym NOID a year and a half ago. It's doing great, having gone from 7 pseudobulbs to 14 since then.This thing is going to have mammoth proportions in a few years! Last summer (2006) I set it outside near a flower bed, and some of the impatiens self seeded into the cym's pot. They've grown and now look beautiful around the cym. My only concern is if this is a problem for the cym! Do I leave them or pull them out??
It didn't flower last year (had great flowers when I bought it!), but then I figured out that that it didn't get enough light! So this year it was in a nicer spot outside from may to october, with about 5 hours of direct sun per day. The leaves are now a nice light green. I also feed it a balanced fertilizer about every 1 to 2 weeks.

I brought it in now for the winter. Anything specific left to do now to try to get it to flower this year? I heard that they need to be in a cool spot until spikes appear. Is this true? and how cool is cool?

[Becca]

I am not sure if the impatiens would crowed out the cym or not, but it sure looks pretty that way!

[Leisurely]

Impatients transplant very easily. Pull them and plant them in their own container. They have a small root system but they can become very large. You want to grow and flower a cymbidium not impatients. Your cymbidium should not have to compete for nutrients. If it were my plant, I would not hesitate for one minute to remove them.

[20jlr]

Looks great but I would not want it to compete as well, especially as it did not bloom last year. Could youstand to miss another year?

[camille1585]

Hi
If the impatiens really are a problem for the cym, I'm guessing that it's too late to save this year's flowers since the growth/flower initiation period is over. I don't know if this was the cause of the lack of flowers last year since they seeded in july and by the time the supposed flowering time came around they were still little seedlings. I forgot to say there were 2 spikes growing last year. But as soon as they were about 2-3 inches long they turned brown and dried out.

The thing is, I made soooo many mistakes the first year so pinpointing the exact cause will be difficult! But I think/hope/pray that this year I did a better job...
But I will definately transplant the impatiens thought. Thanks for the input. Impatiens are nice, but I have tons in the garden anyhow and it would be even nicer to have cym flowers!

[cupcake]

You can always take cuttings from the impatiens, they root in water, and pull them out.

[stonedragonfarms]

I sort of like the look of the impatiens in the pot with the cymbidium...but in the end I'd just end up pulling them out
As to getting your plant to bloom again, a few things to keep in mind:
1. Moisture: cymbidiums need a lot of moisture, they should never completely dry out--in the summer I water mine every day. In the winter, when growing in the house, I would water every 5 to 10 days (depends on what the humidity is like in your house and what the lighting situation is like)
2. Light: lack of sufficient light is probably the #1 reason cymbidiums fail to rebloom; the foliage should be a light yellowish green (think somewhere along the color of chartreuse)
3. Temperature: cool temps are needed to initiate spiking; if you can provide nights that are in the 45~55F range for a few weeks in the spring, and again in the fall and winter, you should see generous spike formation
4. Fertiliser: cymbidiums are very heavy feeders; when they are in active growth (mine usually start new growths a few weeks after flowering and continue to make up bulbs until the following fall--I'd say Feb-October) they need regular heavy fertiliser doses... You should use a fertiliser with a higher nitrogen content (the first number in the fertiliser ratio listed will be greater than the other two, i.e. 7-5-3) I usually fertilise every time that I water, using clear water only once a week or so. About mid October, stop fertilising and use only clear water.

I'll post a couple of pics of spiking cymbids so you can see what I mean about foliage color... as to spike blasting or drying out, usually it seems to occur when the plants get too dry, when they are exposed to unvented natural gas/propane heat, or when they are grown too warm after initiating spike.

Good growing, hope this helps a bit...

These are all pics that were taken over the last week; I hope that you can get an idea of what the leaf color should be approaching. Bear in mind that if your plants are a deep green you will want to acclimate them gradually to higher light levels so as not to burn the leaves.

Adam

[camille1585]

Hi Adam, thanks for the info! I will definately write all of this down somewhere.
I think i did pretty much like you said, which is reassuring The pic I posted isn't very accurate with the leaf colors (worng camera mode and cloudy day!) They are actually pale green/yellow, although not as much as yours.

One thing I'm concerned about is the night temperature in fall and winter. The cym was at my country house in the beaujolais region from may to october, and got a good temperature differential. We had about 70-90°C day and 40-60°F night. However, the plant is back at the appartment in the city now and there is no way to get the indoor temperature down to 45-55°F, and it is getting too cold at night to leave it out (28-40°F)

Do you think that the 2 months (sept,oct) at 45-55°F it had are enough to get it to bloom? Also, I don't really know when to expect it to bloom. When I bought it it was in bloom, and it was april!

[stonedragonfarms]

Camille

Just try to keep it in the coolest brightest spot in the apartment that you have. If it was blooming in April, and it is going to spike for the coming season, I would expect to start to see spikes developing by the end of November (warmer night temps will speed this along)

I'm envious that you have access to Beaujolais in the Summer and Fall... makes me want to pack a basket of sausage and cheese and find some wine to sip for the afternoon...

Good growing,
Adam