Since I can't find any breeders of pendulous Cymbidium, I have started breeding some myself. In this post, I will share how I am treating the seedlings, and how they are coming along.
I made multiple crosses in the 2018/2019 season. 3 pods made it to maturity and were sent to the lab in August/September 2019.
I received 400 seedlings in
November 2020. The majority went into community flats (10x20"), and a few into community pots (5" bulb pans). In both cases, with about 1/2" of cedar mulch in the bottom, and about 1.1/2" of spaghnum moss on top.
- To protect them against hungry rodents, I covered them with clear plastic domes, which kept the humidity very high.
- The temperature in the greenhouse can drop to 52-55F at night, and can easily reach 80F on sunny days.
- I kept the trays well watered (same as I do for adult Cymbidiums).
In late May, I received some plug size Cymbidiums from Hawaii, and noticed that my own seedlings were larger. Thus, in
June 2021 I split up the community flats & pots. Most seedlings went into 2.1/2" pots; those that had too long roots went into 4" pots (20-30 plants).
I used my terrestrial mix, consisting of:
3-4 parts cedar mulch
2-3 parts composted cow manure
1 part perlite
1 part seedling size bark
In addition to the manure in the mix, I gave them a few grains of NutriCote, and then they get the same biweekly fertilizer as the rest of the greenhouse. By July the larger plants were 6-9" tall, so I started to sell some of them on Ebay. One buyer subsequently bought 100 at wholesale prices.
The remaining 250 plants are now 12-17" tall. Most are breaking new growths, some of which are already 3-6" long. With the thick roots of Cymbidiums, many plants have been pushed about 1" out of the mix (see photos), so I have started to repot the larger plants into deep 4" pots, using the same mix - except that the bark is now 'Cattleya size'. The goal is to have all but the smallest seedlings in the deep 4" pots by the end of March. One plant is so large, that I elected to put it into the 6" pot I use for larger plants.
I have reserved about 20 of the largest remaining plants, so I can track how long it will take for the first plants to spike. Devonianum hybrids (2 of the crosses) often bloom early on relatively small growths; it will be interesting to see whether I will get any blooms in 2 years, or whether I will have to wait till they are 3 years old.
This post will be updated from time to time.
Cymbidium seedlings from flask
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