Cymbidium Len Southward

[smweaver]

I got this plant as a sprouted backbulb three years ago, and it's finally flowering for the first time. It has a lot of madidum genes in its background, hence the long flowering spikes (three feet) of fragrant yellow-green blooms and large plant size. The flowers have a nice fragrance, kind of reminiscent of apricots.

Steve

[orchids3]

Thanks for sharing. Have a (Len Southward X Pepperpuss) which has not bloomed for me yet - anticipation is half the fun for me. I think it will do ok in Florida your plant is 1/4 madidum and 1/2 devonianum. Very interesting!

[smweaver]

I should have stated that the madidum genes appear to be dominant (as opposed to being "a lot" of them in this hybrid's background). Devonianum, from what I've read, tends to impart smaller stature to its hybrids, along with a tolerance for cold. But this plant, in spite of its half devonianum parentage, is definitely much larger than any devonianum plant (either the pure species or some of its other hybrids) that I've seen. Len Southward most definitely takes after its Fifi 'Harry' parent rather than the devonianum.

[orchids3]

Yes the Backbulbs on madidum can really be big. The one plant that got hurt by our recent cold snap in Florida was a madidum species - hope the devonianum does help my hybrids. Do you water you Len Southward less in the winter than some of your other cymbidiums?

[smweaver]

It gets watered maybe a little less than most of the other cymbidiums, but I don't think that it ever goes completely dry between waterings. I would imagine that your plants with devonianum "blood" would be able to handle the occasional cold snaps pretty well. How cold did it get for them? My cymbidiums all sat out on the front porch last fall when it got really cold (I was trying to make sure that all of them got the necessary cool nights in order to initiate spikes), and the only plant that showed any signs of damage was the Len Southward (some pitting along the edges of the leaves that's since become a bit discolored), which might also be from the dominance of the madidum genes (I don't grow the species madidum, but from what I've read it doesn't need--or like?--typically cool cymbidium growing conditions).

[orchids3]

To SMWeaver
It got down to 27 - The shade house is completely enclosed and I have a misting system that comes on at 33 degrees - It does keep the plants from freezing. Madidum and aloifolium dont like it that cold and canaliculatum doest like the water from the misters. The canaliculatum hybrids are inside but will put madidum and aloifolium inside during future cold snaps.
Have two opinions about watering devonianum in the winter months - both from real experts. One says water very little and the other says water away and both grow devonianum although on differant sides of the world.

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[smweaver]

Interesting to find out that you got two conflicting opinions regarding devonianum's winter water regimen. I also have a Cym. Dancing Mother, which (I think) is half devonianum. I watered it very infrequently last winter, grew it cool and gave it lots of sun. It flowered with eleven spikes last spring. This winter I decided to water it the same as the other cymbidiums and not let it go dry--and the plant responded by only producing six spikes even though it now has more growths. Next year I think I'll just go back to abusing it and withholding water. I have a canaliculatum hybrid too, but even though it's a good-sized plant, I've never been able to get it to bloom. Not sure what I'm doing wrong with it. It's a healthy plant, has got fat pseudobulbs, gets lots of sunlight, and I barely water it during the winter (have heard too many horror stories about the species canaliculatum being singularly intolerant of water during the winter in its native habitat). Have you had luck getting your canaliculatum hybrids to bloom? If so, I would be very much interested in learning what you're doing.

Steve