Beginner Cymbidium - when to repot?

[ajeatoo]

Hi,

I wasn't sure whether to put this thread here in the beginner forum or on the cymbidium forum... move it if it needs to be!

I purchased my first cymbidium several months ago while it was still in bloom (can't remember when, during the winter in any case). It stopped blooming a few months ago so I cut the bloom spike about 1' above the base. It's been doing fine from what I can tell and even weathered the tips of its leaves being chomped on by my naughty great dane!

Anyways, so I have it sitting a few feet away form a south facing window which is always open so it gets a nice breeze and that room is also cooler. I water it when it has just about dried out.

My question is how do I tell if it needs to be repotted? It's not too big so it's not like it needs to be divided. I have done some reading on them but I don't know how to tell if the medium is broken down or not. Within the last few months it has been putting out lots of new leaves and I noticed when I watered yesterday the pot is starting to be mis-shapen because the roots are pressing on the pot, you can feel them pushing on it.

I have attached a few pics. Should I leave it for another year?

Thanks!

[RandomGemini]

That medium looks really broken down. I don't know much about these, but I would repot, because the medium isn't recognizable anymore.

It looks like a very happy, healthy plant though. Hopefully someone else will chime in.

[judith_arquette]

I have no idea about your plant but as a fellow Great Dane owner I can sympathize...it's VERY difficult to put ANYTHING out of their reach

[ajeatoo]

It IS Judith!! I don't know what got into Guinness he usually leaves my plants alone, but came home that day to see a bunch of the leaves all chomped. He didn't show any remorse either. Naturally one day later I came home to find the eaten leaves deposited on the floor LOL.

I moved the CYM behind the side table now and he hasn't gone near it - he's petrified of knocking things over so it's been safe there so far lol.

As far as the medium, it does look broken down that's why I wonder if I should repot? But it seems to be just very fine bark. It still drains well. And if I do need to repot how much bigger should I love it into?




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[Optimist]

If it is trying to break the pot, it probably should be repotted.

[WhiteRabbit]

Fortunately, Cyms aren't too fussy about media, and being semi-terrestrial, broken down media isn't too problematic for them.
BUT, since there's no way to know just how old the media is, I'd repot.

I'd go for a slightly bigger pot.

Cyms like a pretty good amount of light while they are growing (spring - summer) - I'd recommend putting it outside if at all possible.

Links to Cymbidium care here
http://www.orchidboard.com/community...d.php?p=636559

[ajeatoo]

Hi Sonya,

I have read through the links posted on the Cymbidium alliance board and also read several of your posts (I was hoping you would reply to mine too, thank you! lol).

I do see that to leave them outside during the summer and into the fall up to before the first frost is perferrable. I am somewhat concerned about that because firstly my back deck and yard aread gets full sun. The deck area until about 3-4pm and the backyard even longer. And from what I've read it's good to have the cym in shade for the afternoon heat. It does get pretty hot here in the summers. So I'm not sure what to do about that since I don't have a location to put it where it will only get morning sun. Could I try moving it outside every morning? I will try to figure something out, but the afternoon sun is the stinger for me.

And secondly I just am worried at the idea of bugs etc when I go to bring it in in the fall lol.

[james mickelso]

Bug!!!! About the only thing that regularly attacks Cyms are scale and mites. The mites inhabit the pbulbs down in the sheaths and the scale attack randomly along the leaves. Other than that they are easy to grow successfully. I would repot this specimen. You can even use plain old garden potting soil if you want. These, as Sonya pointed out, are semi-terrestrial. They are grown in gardens here in SoCal through the coastal areas as far north as SF. I would be hesitant to put them out in full sun after 9-10 am and before 4-5 pm. Shade them some in the heat of the day. They will scorch. And that will affect the blooms in the winter/spring. They like to eat too. Just erect some shade cloth on sticks over the plant out in the yard. If you pot them in smallish, soil-like media water sparingly. The more coarse the media the more you can water. The roots resist rotting to a certain extent. HEY CYM LADY!!!!!!!!!! WHER ARE YA??!!!!!

---------- Post added at 07:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:45 PM ----------

Also, when you repot, don't mess with the roots. They hold a lot of the energy for the plant. They are huge as orchid roots go. I just wash the old media out of them with a hose and repot them as is. Just put them into another pot with about two inches of room around the root mass.

[WhiteRabbit]

Ah - I see.

Morning sun (as much of it as possible) is ideal - but, I do have one Cym growing where it gets sun from late morning til late afternoon. It does grow there year-round, so it is used to it, and acclimates gradually to the stronger and longer sun, and higher temps. The usually constant breeze here may help I do move it to shade during extreme heat (here, about 35C and higher), or when temps in spring jump significantly higher than it has been. I have at times, forgotten to move it, and folilage has gotten some burn, but the plant over-all has been ok.

You may also look for other places it can grow (most of my Cyms are out in front of my house, where they get sun all morning) - front or sides of house; a spot with several hours of dappled light ... A spot that gets sun part of the day, but shaded by house or a tree or something ...

Or inside, right up to a window that gets a whole lot of morning or afternoon sun; using supplemental grow lights ...

I have had a couple Cyms that bloomed in a less light (a little early morning AND a little in the evening sun), but still outside.

Also remember that most Cyms need a period of cool nights in late summer - fall to initiate spikes.

As for pests - I have only had issues with ants, aphids, snails while the plants are in bud or bloom (mine are always outside) - you could treat for these (and other unwanted critters) a bit ahead of bringing the plant inside.

I can't say personally, as I have always just had my Cyms outside, but I have read that it's generally difficult to get most to bloom if grown solely indoors without grow lights (or sunny solarium; green house window, or the like), a room where it can get the cool (< 13C) night temps in late summer-early fall.

If you do move it out into afternoon sun, do it before temps are getting high, and do so gradually. This time of year, I don't think a south facing window gets much (if any) direct sun (mine gets none this time of year; faces due south, small roof over-hang - but it will vary if there is a bit of east or west exposure, or no roof over-hang), so it will need to be started in a spot that gets just a little bit of sun, and then gradually moved into more.

[ajeatoo]

Ok we'll my yard is very small. The deck is as big as my yard lol. Bigger than a postage stamp but not at all huge lol. I do however have an irrigation system set up, so theoretically if I were to use bark media mix because it is so coarse I could put the CYM into the irrigation system with a mister nozzle pointed at the medium? Then I'd have to rig up some sort of shade that would withstand the windy afternoons... I could place the CYM up next to my house, it would get sun there till about lunch and shade after that?

As for the pot I am assuming a good plastic pot or whatever as long as it has lots of drainage on the bottom correct? Thanks for clarifying the pot size.

So slugs etc don't bother with them much? The only real pests I contend with in my garden are slugs, snails and whatever the bugs are than eat the leaves -looks like someone cut them with scissors.


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