Clarifying the Culture for Asian Cymbidiums

[alecStewart1]

Originally Posted by ndam

If you have a very tall cymbidium pot, using the Kanuma layer as an indication of the dryness of the pot mixture is misleading since the area in the center of the pot (majority of plant roots) could be still wet. This causes an increase of root rot problem if you are in hurry to water the plant. However, if the plant pot is kept airy with side holes, it may reduce the problem.

That makes sense. I watered the cymbidiums I have this morning and I'm probably going to wait before I water again. It's still getting as high as 90 degrees Fahrenheit here, but it gets cool enough in the evenings (sometimes below 70) that I want to make sure things are dried out before I water again.

[MRWPsyD]

I always hear these varieties (goeringii, tortisepalum, longibracteatum, kanran) described as difficult so haven't attempted to grow them yet, although I love tortisepalum 'Jian Yang Die'. Would you consider those other than ensifolium and sinense more difficult in terms of keeping them alive, or just in initiating a spike?

If I have a sense of whether I can keep it alive, I'd like to start growing one now. That way I'll have a bigger plant by the time I understand the culture better.

[Roberta]

The people who grow them well do use special mixes rather than plain old Cym mix. The most recent speaker at my local OS meeting was Jack Zhu, who has a bunch of AOS awards on his Chinese Cyms. I asked him about his mix, and he told me, Kanuma, akadama, pumice, and small Kiwi bark in equal proportions. He top-dresses with the kanuma, which is pale when dry and darkens when wet... when it turns light, time to water. Also, uses the tall-form pots. Kanuma and akadama can be obtained online from Amazon. I suspect that small Orchiata would work in place of Kiwi - both are hard, good-quality bark.

[MRWPsyD]

Originally Posted by Roberta

The people who grow them well do use special mixes rather than plain old Cym mix. The most recent speaker at my local OS meeting was Jack Zhu, who has a bunch of AOS awards on his Chinese Cyms. I asked him about his mix, and he told me, Kanuma, akadama, pumice, and small Kiwi bark in equal proportions. He top-dresses with the kanuma, which is pale when dry and darkens when wet... when it turns light, time to water. Also, uses the tall-form pots. Kanuma and akadama can be obtained online from Amazon. I suspect that small Orchiata would work in place of Kiwi - both are hard, good-quality bark.

Thank you so much! I have those materials but in a 50% bark mixture. I think I have some extra pumice/stone however. I may also switch to Orchiata, the bark in my premade mix is those flat chips that break down quickly. I actually messaged Jack on Facebook, he's a fantastic resource, but I was feeling impatient haha. Maybe I can get him to come to NCOS. I'm currently doing a side by side of equal size purple clay and plastic pots and thermometers to see if I can cool off the roots with evaporation. Not confident enough with these to do away with the transparent pot just yet.

Edit- just realized I was being unclear. I meant difficulty of those goeringii etc. compared to ensifolium or sinense.

[Roberta]

Kanuma and akadama are certainly more expensive than the usual media, but in modest quantities won't break the bank. Those tall form pots are pretty important - these tend to have long roots that appreciate the opportunity to grow straight, and the shape of the pot permits one to have width at the top without adding volume. I use that type of pot for most of my smaller Cyms in general and they really like them.