Cymbidium Ensifolium- sticky stuff in roots

[Roberta]

Welcome, Conjuration!

Jack Zhu, who has many AOS awards on his Chinese Cyms, uses a mix that contains kanuma, akadama, pumice, and small bark (Kiwi or Orchiata - hard, high quality) in equal proportions. He uses a top dressing of kanuma which looks nice, and also changes color with moisture content - when very light tan, it is time to water again. The tall form pots also are very helpful, these Cyms, especially, seem to like to be able to grow their roots straight down, and the tall narrow pots also let one have larger surface area for the plants to grow, while adding less volume. (I use the larger sizes of that pot style for the smaller regular Cyms for that reason)

Kanuma and akadama are easily obtained on Amazon, I am sure that equivalent online sources in China would have them too. Same for the Asian Cymbidium tall-form pots.

[Conjuration]

Originally Posted by Roberta

Welcome, Conjuration!

Thanks! I'm a long time lurker actually, surreptitiously here since last year.

I chose the leca/semihydro combo for convenience -- leca's much easier to wash than rocks for an apartment dweller, and I happen to have a big bag of it sitting there. A special tall pot is a good idea. Terrestrial cymbidiums' roots do seem very stiff and prefer to go straight down instead of twisting around like phal roots. My orchid's roots are already attempting prison break down the bottom of the apparently too short net pot.

As far as I'm aware, C. ensifolium, in its natural habitat, grows in wooded area alongside bushes and trees and whatnots.

Chinese growers have historically used two kinds of medium for Asian cymbidiums -- the 'soft' medium and the 'hard' medium. Soft medium includes regular potting soil, peat, clay, coconut coir, bark, moss, and even pine leaves. Hard medium includes every kind of rock, volcanic rock, and, of course, leca. Some growers advocate using only soft medium; some advocate hard medium; others advocate using a mixture of both at a certain ratio (the ratio varies from person to person). The same varied recommendations can also be found in historical texts on Asian cymbidium cultivation.

I can't speak about experts, but home growers have recorded success (and failure) for all types of medium mixtures on Chinese forums.