Got this new cymbidium. Thoughts on root condition?

[Irisha99]

Hi. As some of you may know, I had some bad luck buying orchids from eBay. Well, I decided to give a try to orchids limited and see the condition of their plants. I received my cymbidium royal flame today. A lot of roots look parchment dry and some are wet to the core and a few white ones that feel hard. . Take a look and let me know please how you feel about its condition. Should I complain or it's ok. I paid 40$ for it so I want something decent. You know... thanks!

[Irisha99]

I cut away most dead roots. This is what I am left with. I think I could cut more as they feel dead

[rbarata]

I wouldn't cut anything more.
Put it in bark as it is, in a clay pot and don't worry.
It will grow fine.

[Fairorchids]

Cymbidiums should not be grown in bark.

They are predominantly terrestial plants, and need a light terrestrial mix with lots of nutrients. And, they should never be allowed to dry out during spring, summer & fall. In the winter, just barely.

I use a mix consisting of:

• 3 parts chunky peat (1/2" to 1.1/2" nuggets)
• 2 parts composted manure (available at Home Depot garden center)
• 1 part bark
• 1 part perlite

In early spring, top dress with slow release fertilizer (Nutricote).

We water twice a week, and add fertilizer at half strength once very 2 weeks. We use Peters 20:20:20 most of the year, but switch to a flower booster in mid July through November.

With this regimen, I can grow seedlings from 3" pot to blooming size with 2-4 spikes in 2 years.

And, I put my Cymbidiums outside into full sun, as early as I possibly can (in NJ, on 4/22 in 2017). I leave then outside till the first real frost is forecast.

[Irisha99]

Originally Posted by Fairorchids

Cymbidiums should not be grown in bark.

They are predominantly terrestial plants, and need a light terrestrial mix with lots of nutrients. And, they should never be allowed to dry out during spring, summer & fall. In the winter, just barely.

I use a mix consisting of:

• 3 parts chunky peat (1/2" to 1.1/2" nuggets)
• 2 parts composted manure (available at Home Depot garden center)
• 1 part bark
• 1 part perlite

In early spring, top dress with slow release fertilizer (Nutricote).

We water twice a week, and add fertilizer at half strength once very 2 weeks. We use Peters 20:20:20 most of the year, but switch to a flower booster in mid July through November.

With this regimen, I can grow seedlings from 3" pot to blooming size with 2-4 spikes in 2 years.

And, I put my Cymbidiums outside into full sun, as early as I possibly can (in NJ, on 4/22 in 2017). I leave then outside till the first real frost is forecast.

I got a potting mix from better-gro. It has fir bark, charcoal and perlite. The label Says it's for potting cymbidiums. Hope it's going to do well in it?🤔 Water it 2x a week? Should I let water run through the media or water lightly? Thanks guys!

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by Fairorchids

Cymbidiums should not be grown in bark.

Don't tell my Cymbidiums!!! They grow in bark with a little perlite just fine. I do use small (seedling) bark. I find them to be not fussy at all... they like to stay damp but not soggy. Ideal potting time is more like February and later when they are putting out new growth. The remaining roots look OK. At this point, pot it up and let it do its thing. Whenever you water any orchid, water should run through the pot - it flushes out salts and other crud, pulls air into the root zone. Watering frequency depends on temperature/humidity - you don't want them to go dry, but not soggy either. If the mix is fresh, and it's winter, 2 x per week is probably sufficient. Irisha99, I don't know where you live, so advice has to be pretty general. If you live where there is frost, you can leave Cyms outside until night temps are close to frost (get them as much sunlight as you can before you have to protect them) If you live in a (mostly) frost free area, no need to protect them at all. (They'll tolerate down to about 29 deg F with no damage) In mid-summer they'd like a little mid-day shading, but not much. I grow mine under 45 percent shade cloth in a yard that gets summer sun from about half hour after sunrise to half hour before sunset. If there are shade trees or shadow from surrounding buildings, no need for shading at all unless it's REALLY toasty. In winter, as bright as you can manage.

[stonedragonfarms]

I'm with you Roberta; in my experience, there's not much that you can't grow cymbidiums in (the caveat being know what works for you); that said, to the questions at hand:
1. Enzan Shining 'Royal Flame' is one of the "warmth tolerant" hybrids; you should be able to flower it given enough light and cool-intermediate temps, treating it to the traditional standard cymbidium growing should result in more saturated color, but most of these are grown more for the cut flower/pot plant industry I believe than the show bench.
2. Watering: again, where and how you are growing will determine the regime to use, I can tell you what works for me; I grow in a greenhouse during the winter months, the rest of the year my plants are outside. When out, plants get watered every day, aside from days that we have rain--I don't water then. I fertilize every time that I water when the plants are outdoors, using 3-4 different fertilizers in rotation (ie week 1 it's a fish emulsion based fertilizer, week 2 general purpose 20-20-20, week 3 10-54-10, week 4 kelp based fertilizer); I have a few plants that I use a different regime on, but I find that those which are fed often flower & grow best. When plants are in the greenhouse during the winter they are watered about twice a week on average; if we have a run of sunny days, they will get watered more; if it's cloudy and ugh, they get watered maybe every 10 days--I don't fertilize during this time, though I will hit them with a weak kelp based solution about once a month.
3. As to the quality of the plant; cymbidiums are pretty forgiving and relatively easy to grow, provided you educate yourself on their requirements--that said, I would have been disappointed with this plant for $40. The plant itself looks fine, but you hit the nail on the head with the quality (or lack thereof) of the roots--we are coming off of what was prime root growth season for cymbidiums; I'd have expected the pot to be full up with healthy roots.
Just my $.02,
Adam

[Roberta]

Since Cyms are relatively heavy feeders, I give them some time-release fertilizer (such as Nutricote), that is a little higher in nitrogen than the other "majors", in the spring - 9 month is best though 6 month will do if you can't get the former. These are the only orchid group that I use time-release on, but it it guarantees that they'll get fed. When I do everybody else, I give the Cyms an extra shot, but with the time-release. if I slack off for a week or two, they're not getting deprived.

[Irisha99]

Originally Posted by Roberta

Don't tell my Cymbidiums!!! They grow in bark with a little perlite just fine. I do use small (seedling) bark. I find them to be not fussy at all... they like to stay damp but not soggy. Ideal potting time is more like February and later when they are putting out new growth. The remaining roots look OK. At this point, pot it up and let it do its thing. Whenever you water any orchid, water should run through the pot - it flushes out salts and other crud, pulls air into the root zone. Watering frequency depends on temperature/humidity - you don't want them to go dry, but not soggy either. If the mix is fresh, and it's winter, 2 x per week is probably sufficient. Irisha99, I don't know where you live, so advice has to be pretty general. If you live where there is frost, you can leave Cyms outside until night temps are close to frost (get them as much sunlight as you can before you have to protect them) If you live in a (mostly) frost free area, no need to protect them at all. (They'll tolerate down to about 29 deg F with no damage) In mid-summer they'd like a little mid-day shading, but not much. I grow mine under 45 percent shade cloth in a yard that gets summer sun from about half hour after sunrise to half hour before sunset. If there are shade trees or shadow from surrounding buildings, no need for shading at all unless it's REALLY toasty. In winter, as bright as you can manage.

I live in NYC. Winters are usually cold and windy with some snow. In either case, I would never leave any plants outside in our weather. I bring whatever I have potted outside, inside. This year, fall is very mild, temperatures are in the 70s. I could probably bring it outside for now. Thanks for your advice

---------- Post added at 10:26 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:16 AM ----------

Originally Posted by stonedragonfarms

I'm with you Roberta; in my experience, there's not much that you can't grow cymbidiums in (the caveat being know what works for you); that said, to the questions at hand:
1. Enzan Shining 'Royal Flame' is one of the "warmth tolerant" hybrids; you should be able to flower it given enough light and cool-intermediate temps, treating it to the traditional standard cymbidium growing should result in more saturated color, but most of these are grown more for the cut flower/pot plant industry I believe than the show bench.
2. Watering: again, where and how you are growing will determine the regime to use, I can tell you what works for me; I grow in a greenhouse during the winter months, the rest of the year my plants are outside. When out, plants get watered every day, aside from days that we have rain--I don't water then. I fertilize every time that I water when the plants are outdoors, using 3-4 different fertilizers in rotation (ie week 1 it's a fish emulsion based fertilizer, week 2 general purpose 20-20-20, week 3 10-54-10, week 4 kelp based fertilizer); I have a few plants that I use a different regime on, but I find that those which are fed often flower & grow best. When plants are in the greenhouse during the winter they are watered about twice a week on average; if we have a run of sunny days, they will get watered more; if it's cloudy and ugh, they get watered maybe every 10 days--I don't fertilize during this time, though I will hit them with a weak kelp based solution about once a month.
3. As to the quality of the plant; cymbidiums are pretty forgiving and relatively easy to grow, provided you educate yourself on their requirements--that said, I would have been disappointed with this plant for $40. The plant itself looks fine, but you hit the nail on the head with the quality (or lack thereof) of the roots--we are coming off of what was prime root growth season for cymbidiums; I'd have expected the pot to be full up with healthy roots.
Just my $.02,
Adam

Thanks, Adam! I am new to owning orchids and am learning every day. I had horrible luck with ebay sellers, though the prices I paid where a lot lower than $40, the quality of plants was beyond poor, they had mostly dead roots. Here, I was hoping for a better condition and kind of got the same deal, maybe a little better. I don't even know where to buy anymore. To be honest, I ordered three plants (cattleyas) from Home Depot for $15 each and they are in a great condition, all green roots and healthy leaves.
I will try my luck and see what works for my environment and lifestyle but I so appreciate all your guys' comments and suggestions.

[rbarata]

Cymbidiums should not be grown in bark.

I disagree with you, Kim. I guess it all depends on the environmental conditions. Mine are all in coarse bark, expect one of them which is the one that is having the slowest development of them all.

This photo was taken last April and it shows only some of my cymbs.