Growing Cymbidiums in the house

[Brenda Aarts]

Originally Posted by orchids3

When they came out to sun themselves in the spring - it was time to put the orchids out.

Sounds reasonable to me Bob, however we obviously do not have the snake population you had. I live in the country on 20 acres and probably see 2 - 3 snakes all season (THANK GOD), so a good gauge for you at the time, here not so much, guess it depends where you are. Now a thought might be when the toads and frogs start appearing and disappearing here...will have to pay more attention to that.Thanks.

[bullsie]

I live in western PA and still have my Cyms outside. I put them out this May onto the back porch and covered them with a sheet when the temps got too cold. Presently I am doing the same. But soon they have to come in the house and I am pretty sure my indoor temps will undue all the influence of the outdoors. I have decided this time to try to 'seclude' them from the warmth of the house by taping plastic around them.

By that I mean 'insulating' them from the warmth of the house. They will be set on shelves I have attached to the window frame. I am going to use clear painters plastic to make a tent around those shelves (taping it to the window frame sides)leaving the Cyms on the inside were the temperature should be closer to that of the glass (leaving the tent opened at the top and bottom to try first).

I am hoping just this small environment change will be enough to keep them cool and hopefully happy. I'll try to monitor the temps to see if it does stay more to their needs. Hoping for success!

[orchids3]

Oh well -make it lizzards and frogs - the snakes in Florida like to overwinter in the pots - one of my cymbidiums was in a TV ad for our show - then taken to the show - when a snake crawled out of it during setup. The pile of used pots in the back - well be careful when you pick them up. Seriously I have carried plants in and out for years and a few of those were in connecticut. Whatever setup you use, make sure you get good airflow to the plants, dont coop them up without airflow and it is better to keep the temperature on the low side even inside. Just avoid freezing !

[Austin Powers]

Originally Posted by Bobfharris

The answer to this is that it depends on the cymbidium hybrid. Certain ones bloom from this years bulb and certain ones from last years. Typically for example those with lots of ensifolium in the background bloom from this years growth. Not true for insigne based ones. Etc.
What are the ones you have ordered? That might help.

Hello again, in response to Bob's post, I can say that the Cym I am currently looking after is NOID from a florist, seems to be standard size. Not very helpful I know.

The two I am expecting today, are Cym. Golden Elf 'Sundust' which is Cym. ensifolium X Cym. Enid Haupt, and Cym. Caitlain 'Pink Delight' which is Cym. Peter Pan x Cym. erythrostylum. I am not too worried about these two blooming since Santa Barbra OE describes them as easy blooming. Hope so. Oh, I am also getting another L. anceps with the order. Fun.

Cheers,
Stephen

[Bobfharris]

Originally Posted by Austin Powers

Hello again, ....

The two I am expecting today, are Cym. Golden Elf 'Sundust' which is Cym. ensifolium X Cym. Enid Haupt, and Cym. Caitlain 'Pink Delight' which is Cym. Peter Pan x Cym. erythrostylum. I am not too worried about these two blooming since Santa Barbra OE describes them as easy blooming. ...

I've grown both and they are nice mini/novelty orchids that are temp independent. They may even bloom twice a year for you.

Have fun

[DManley]

I just found this thread. I am looking at a couple of Cymbidiums. I have been considering Little Black Sambo, or Chen's Ruby. (Or maybe both if I get a couple of hours of overtime this week!) I also live in a harsh winter climate (Houghton Lake Michigan) My thoughts were to keep them outside until it got close to frosty, then toss them in a South window in a second floor unheated bedroom. (Emergency heater set to keep it about 50 to keep pipes from freezing) Would that work okay for these orchids? I am still trying to get information on the ruby. It is claimed to be a cold grower, but it blooms in the fall? Does it still get a winter rest? Are both of these orchids suited to windowsill growing by a ham fisted newbie. (I haven't killed one yet, but I've just gotten started) Right now, my main criteria are fragrant and easy to grow. (In my conditions) I have not tried cymbs yet, but I am interested because I keep hearing that they are good beginner's orchids for cool conditions.

Thanks,
Dave

[silken]

I'm not sure about your fall blooming Cym. But I have a NOID standard Cym. given to me by a friend who couldn't get it to bloom. The first year I kept it outside at night until near frost and then brought it into the greenhouse. It was getting fairly high light over the winter although snow piles up on the glass roof cutting the sunlight a lot. The night time temps were around 55 and daytime up to 65 degrees. I cut back on watering and feeding compared to summer and by March it was just lovely in bloom! Thru the next summer I gave it a fair bit of nitrogen in the fertilizer. They are known to like more than some orchids. It also likes quite high light or the leaves will get long and floppy and darker green. They should be a grassy green and not be flopping over too much. More water in warm weather and misting is much appreciated. My greenhouse can get quite warm in the summer even tho I do have a cooling system that cuts in. For some reason, this plant then bloomed much earlier (in the early winter as opposed to early spring. It makes me wonder if some of these have a 9 month cycle as I didn't think I changed its growing conditions much. Those are the conditions that seem to keep mine reasonably happy and it has bloomed twice in a bit less than two years. On that note, it won't be blooming in early winter this year as the new growths aren't showing spikes yet. I am willing to bet it is back to blooming in March!

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[Bobfharris]

Dave I would ignore the Little Black Sambo for now. It's tricky to grow. Requires a long dry spell in winter and is sometimes hard to flower. Chen's Ruby is easier and compact. Check our site for more compact growing windowsill types!!

[stonedragonfarms]

Originally Posted by silken

I'm not sure about your fall blooming Cym. But I have a NOID standard Cym. given to me by a friend who couldn't get it to bloom. The first year I kept it outside at night until near frost and then brought it into the greenhouse. It was getting fairly high light over the winter although snow piles up on the glass roof cutting the sunlight a lot. The night time temps were around 55 and daytime up to 65 degrees. I cut back on watering and feeding compared to summer and by March it was just lovely in bloom! Thru the next summer I gave it a fair bit of nitrogen in the fertilizer. They are known to like more than some orchids. It also likes quite high light or the leaves will get long and floppy and darker green. They should be a grassy green and not be flopping over too much. More water in warm weather and misting is much appreciated. My greenhouse can get quite warm in the summer even tho I do have a cooling system that cuts in. For some reason, this plant then bloomed much earlier (in the early winter as opposed to early spring. It makes me wonder if some of these have a 9 month cycle as I didn't think I changed its growing conditions much. Those are the conditions that seem to keep mine reasonably happy and it has bloomed twice in a bit less than two years. On that note, it won't be blooming in early winter this year as the new growths aren't showing spikes yet. I am willing to bet it is back to blooming in March!

I forget who did research on this, I will have to pull the book off of my shelf, but there was work done at UC Santa Barbara in the 60's I believe that showed that if cymbidiums were grown under warm days & cool nights, there would be spike formation and flowering on every new growth--ie the plants were continuously producing new pseudobulbs and flowering as each new growth occured...if the conditions are right, it is possible for the plants to bloom in less than a years time... I have quite a few plants in my collection that will bloom earlier than usual if we have a long run of very cool summer nights...
Just my 2 cents
Adam

[silken]

Interesting. Mine do get warm sunny days in summer and by fall the nights are cool. Our greenhouse is heated in winter but not as warm as a house. Our shade cloth is removed in fall so they still get fairly high light in winter (although shorter days as these don't sit under fluorescents) and cooler temps. I think similar to their natural habitat.