shrivelled cymbidium bulb

[oscar freak]

noticed my cymbidium bulbs looking a little wrinkly,what could be causing it,not the best pics forgive me.

[Cym Ladye]

Originally Posted by oscar freak

noticed my cymbidium bulbs looking a little wrinkly,what could be causing it,not the best pics forgive me.

Shriveled pseudobulbs are always an indication of insufficient moisture coming to them from the roots. The roots have either rotted from too much water, or dried due to lack of water.

Take the plant out of the pot and check the roots. I suspect you will find them mushy or dried and unable to function properly. If this is what you find and it is a small division (less than 5 bulbs) remove the roots from all the BBs (leave only 2 on the plant) and shorten the remaining roots from the green leaved bulbs to about 3" from the base of the bulb even if some are firm. In looking again at your photos, I would convert the oldest two bulbs, one with only 1 leaf, to BBs. If you need to keep some roots on the green bulbs to hold the plant in place, strip the soft outer cover and leave just the bare root. Then repot in fresh mix.

If more than one of your Cyms has this problem, check your culture practices to be assured you either are not watering enough or too much.

Cyms need to be repotted every 3-4 years generally. If this is a plant you do not have the potting history on, the best thing to do is repot it anyway.

Let us know what you find and good luck.

[oscar freak]

thanks for the info,all my orchids are new additions so not sure about their history,all my cyms are in full bloom now,is uprooting them possible?i was checking the medium this morning of the indoor cyms which are in rockwool and styrofoam balls mixture,on an east facing window and it felt dry and i just watered saturday and usually it was moist throughout the week so i'm imagining the ones outside exposed to a lot more more air movement and light are probably drier,temps here have really increased lately we went straight from winter to summer.so what i"ll do when i get home is make some holes in the pots to get access to the bottom substrate and check and report back.thanks again

[Cym Ladye]

Take one of the smaller plants showing these symptoms, hold it upside down, keeping your fingers over the top of the mix and gently tap the pot off the roots. They may be well packed, but you can tell by pressure if they are rotten or just dry. (Put the pot back on the root ball. )

If the former, back off on your watering schedule until you have time to repot. If the latter, a good soak would not help and then water more frequently as the warm weather comes upon you.

If you recently purchased them, commercial vendors are famous for over watering the plants in their garden departments. That in all probability will be the problem on the new plants. You have already diagnosed the ones in the house.

[oscar freak]

Thanks for all your help I don't know what I would do without OB and it's members.i went to the world orchid show last night and got some nice additions as well as some advise.what if I were to cut the flowers and then repot,I would be willing to sacrifice some joy now for the plants greater good.

[Cym Ladye]

1) Are you going into spring or fall in your part of the world?
2) Have you lifted the plant out of the pot? (do not be afraid to do this. Just gently put the plant back in).
3 After pulling the pot even partly off, what do the roots look like?
The answers to these questions will direct you to what to do next.

[oscar freak]

i'v been to scared to check they potted in a sand mix,but will try

---------- Post added at 02:39 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:19 AM ----------

oh and we are in spring at the moment but it feels like summer it was 31 degrees celcius here yesterday which is what it normally is in mid summer

[Cym Ladye]

If you are going into spring, I would bite the bullet, take the plant out of the pot and repot it now in fresh mix after removing all the rotten roots, which is what I suspect you have. Cyms are really tougher than some people give them credit for!

[oscar freak]

i managed to get the one out the pot,the medium was damp but not overly so by wednesday which is halfway to the next watering

[Cym Ladye]

It is hard to tell from the photos, but are the roots hard? They look soft and the concentration at the top tells me that is where they are getting the most nutrients. By any chance is the plant potted in pure Coco ground coir?

From your photos, which appear to show a broken down mix at the bottom, the plant needs dividing, the rotten/broken roots cut off and the divisions be put in fresh mix. When the mix breaks down, the bulbs will shrivel due to lack of nutrients. Have you divided or repotted Cyms. before? If not, if you send me a PM with a contact email, I will send you a great step-by-step procedure published by the Gold Coast Cymbidium Growers in California. Several of the OB members have sent for this and have found it very helpful.