Cymbidium Newbie! HELP!

[JerryBrio]

About a month ago I received an orchid from a friend. As soon as she gave it to me I did my research to find out what kind of orchid I had received. Turns out it was a Cym! Soon enough I noticed that it was in regular potting mix! I went ahead and repotted, I cut off all of the dead roots as instructed, but I noticed that all of the good roots that were left were maybe .5''-1'' long! Should I worry?!

So far, I havent seen any growth, but i noticed I've had to water it frequently it seemed to be very thirsty. Is this a good sign?

I really hope to see it bloom, so I would appreciate any tips

[flexdc]

Jerry
Where do you live. Got a picture of your orchid? Cymbidiums are high light plants. They dislike hot and muggy conditions. We grow them as outdoor plants here in California. Some are even grown in the sun in Coastal areas.
I grow them in semi shade outside in a mix of fine bark with some stored bought peat moss to assist in holding water.
Some people even grow the in raised beds. I've even seen them grown in potting soil! But always outside. However, they are not hardy if your area freezes in the winter.
The trick to induce bloom is a big day to night time temperature difference. If you live on the East Coast, leave it out in the summer in semi shade. If it is not accustomed to sun, gradually acclimate it to higher light so it won't burn.
Do not rush to bring it indoors. When there is a hard freeze warning, then bring them in. If you live in a frost free area, it can be left outdoors all winter. It can even withstand light frost.

Good luck with your plant. If you can post a pic.
Andrew

[NYCorchidman]

Cymbidiums grow very long roots. With the way it sounds, your cym has a long way to recover.

How big is the plant?? With such short roots, you might want to stake the whole plant so it stays standing up without wobbling around.

Also, you want to keep this plant in the bright shade until it grows quite a bit of roots.
Or I would personally trim off all the leaves in half to prevent dehydration of the plant. This also depends on how big the plant is.

If there are lots of leaves, the plant will suffer as those short roots can take up only so much water. By watering too much, you could also rot them all.

[JerryBrio]

Andrew- I live in SoCal! I did place it outside, and it receives several hours of sunlight. I have been monitoring it making sure there are no burn marks, so far so good I'll post a picture as soon as I can!

NYCorchidman- it has 8 leaves. I have been watering every 5 or 7 days and purchased Orchid food mix from my local nursery. I believe it also has a backbulb, I'm not 100% sure, that I didn't remove because I didn't want to harm the orchid.

[NYCorchidman]

Ok, 8 leaves are not too many at all then. Your plant must have just a small number of growths then because standard large cymbidiums usually have well over 8 leaves per EACH growth.

How many backbulbs are there? If there are a few, you can remove them without harming the plant.
Of course, you don't have to.
Some people think leaving too many backbulbs on the plant cause "imbalance". I'm not too sure about it.

[flexdc]

Jerry if it is sick don't feed it. That's a rule of thumb for all orchids. Also for us in SoCal, our water has a lot of dissolved minerals. After you see new growth you can feed it. I am also interested with what mix you put it in. Depending on where in SoCal you can water anywhere from every 5 days to 3 times a week.

[JerryBrio]

NYCorchidman- It has one backbulb, I figured I could remove it in a couple of years

Andrew- I just added a picture to the first post. I try to water it with rain water that i store, unfortunately as you know we haven't had very much rain...the potting mix I used was Miracle Grow Coarse Blend Orchid Potting Mix.

[flexdc]

Originally Posted by JerryBrio

NYCorchidman- It has one backbulb, I figured I could remove it in a couple of years

Andrew- I just added a picture to the first post. I try to water it with rain water that i store, unfortunately as you know we haven't had very much rain...the potting mix I used was Miracle Grow Coarse Blend Orchid Potting Mix.

Jerry
They don't mind tab water. Looks to me the pot is too big, this will hold too much moisture. I think smaller pot just pig enough for the one bulb + new growth and whatever roots it might have.
Andrew

[Cym Ladye]

Jerry,

You appear to have a what we call a back bulb (BB) and growth. The BB is nothing more than a matured bulb which has lost its leaves. DO NOT REMOVE IT at this stage as it is sending nutrients to the growth while the new growth grows roots.

Yes, by all means reduce the size of your pot to perhaps a 3" or 4" square or a bit larger to a small 5" round. Mix is probably acceptable although I am not knowledgeable of its specific contents.

Yes, FEED, but dilutely! Saying not to feed a struggling plant is like withholding food from a starving child. Will the poor roots take up enough, maybe not, but roots will come very quickly and the nutrients will be in the mix when needed. You might even consider a slow release balanced 12-12-12 or similar as Nutricote or Dynamite (probably more easily obtained locally).

Shrinking bulbs can come for too much water as well as too little. Be careful, as stated in a previous post, that you are not keeping the plant too wet.

Be patient. Roots will come, especially if the BB is there for support.

Cym Ladye

[JerryBrio]

Great news everyone! I spotted some new growth today! Thank you all for your awesome advise!