Rookie Cymbidium Owner needs knowledge from veterans!

[Chiefster]

Hello to all. I bought a new Cymbidium Orchid for my wife last Valentine's Day and have somehow become the caretaker of this beauty! I am totally orchid illiterate, so I don't even know the proper name for this other than it is a Cymbidium. Here comes the first of many questions:

1) Can one of you look at my pics and tell what variety it is?
Here are some pics I took while re-potting it and of how it looks now.

2) If you will look at the pics, is all of the new growth leaves, or are there a couple of flower spikes in there?

3) How can I tell the difference?

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Don't have any from when it was blooming, but it had 3 big flower spikes with beautiful white colored blossoms. The plant is growing 4 or 5 spikes which started in April. I live in the Smoky Mountains of Western North Carolina with my front porch facing South. I mostly keep the plant outside on the porch where it can get some indirect sunlight during the days and usually bring it into the house at night. I just found out that I have been causing damage to the plant by watering it with our hard, high iron content well water as evidenced by the leaves dying back from the tips, sometimes the whole leaf turns brown down to the bulbs! I will start watering only with demineralized water until I can get my rain water barrel full enough to start using. I have been feeding the plant by watering with a mixture of high nitrogen content orchid food once every 1 week or so in between plain waterings of 2 to 3 times per week during the hot weather. (Better Gro 11-35-15), which I just found out may be preventing my plant from growing flower spikes that produce blooms! Anyway, as you can tell from what I have described here, I have a lot to learn and I am hoping the forum can guide me into growing a nice healthy cymbidium that produces lots of beautiful flowers like it had when I bought it!

3) So, what am I doing wrong and how can I get the flower spikes to grow and bloom?

4) What is the normal growth cycle for these plants?
Cheers Mates

[Chococatte]

I think your cymbidium could possible be one of these:

IOSPE PHOTOS
IOSPE PHOTOS
IOSPE PHOTOS
IOSPE PHOTOS
IOSPE PHOTOS
IOSPE PHOTOS

you water cymbidiums when the medium has dry to depth of 1-2 inches, they like bright to very bright (2000-4000 fc), humidity 50%-70%, someone with more experience will chime in.

[caseydoll]

Hello and welcome to the OB! I don't know that much about Cymbidiums but there is a culture sheet that may give you some extra info.

http://www.orchidboard.com/Cymbidium-Culture-Care-Sheet

The only thing I really know about cyms is that they need a lot of light. They can take almost full sun as long as you slowly get them used to it. Otherwise it will burn to a crisp! Moving it to a brighter location bit by bit will certainly help it bloom as will a temperature drop at night and especially in the fall. I think that is when they start to spike but I'm not positive. Hopefully some cym growers will respond because I can't offer much advice! But !

[Chiefster]

Thanks Choc! As I recall, the flower looked most like this one: IOSPE PHOTOS
or this one:
IOSPE PHOTOS

I will post pics when it finally does bloom again! THanks very much!!

[BikerDoc5968]

To respond to your question about growth vs spike....that is all new growth and congrats...good growing. Light is important to get them to spike in the fall/winter. And, as has been noted above, they really need that 15 - 20 deg day/nite difference in the fall. I've read, but have never done this with mine because I'm weak-hearted, they can tolerate low 40's to high 30's !!!! Then again I know a retailer in SE Florida that sells "warm growing" cymbidiums and would assume they can't handle the extreme temps....??? It's your dime...

[orchids3]

I would sure change the fertilizer to something with a
lower phosphorus content (Thats the middle number)
I use 17-5-17 Cal Mag on my cymbidiums at 125 ppm. The 5 is the phosphorus.
Tip die back may have something to do with pH, I like to have a pH of 7 for my cymbidiums. Plants take up nutrients best if the pH is in range. If it is too high or two low the fertilizer you put on the plant is not used effeciently. Cymbidiums are heavy feeders. Keep the media moist but not soggy.

[Chiefster]

Thanks very much! I appreciate all the advice I can get. I figured the food was too high in N2 but did not know about the phosphorus. How can I test the ph of the plant and/or it's media?

[orchids3]

You can invest in an expensive meter or buy a pH test kit from a hydroponics store. The kit costs around $3. When you are ready to test pH put your plant in a pan and water it, catching all the water that runs thru and leave the pot in the pan for and hour or more. Take the pot out and measure the pH of the water. That will give a pretty good indication of what the roots of the plants are experiencing. As potting media decays it drops the pH - thats a good case for repotting when the media begins to decay. The pH check gives a good indication of media condition as well as telling you what the pH of the fertilizer solution. Too many, cymbidiums are good Semi Hydroponic candidates. Having just been "sold" on the idea I wont comment too much but it does seem to be working well. I pour off some of the fluid from the resevoir in the bottom of the pot and check that for pH.
The best thing I have found to adjust the pH level with is Dolomite Lime. I put 1 tbl spoon per gallon pot twice a year as a top dressing. The pH does not drop. My media is differant than yours but the fir bark is ok. In addition to buffering pH, Dolomite lime adds a good source of calcium and magnesium -essential to cymbidium health. The Calcium levels in cymbidiums is almost twice what you will find in any other orchid I know of. Give the cymbidiums planty - in addition to the Dolomite lime I add gypsum to the mix when and crushed oyster shells.