Chinese/Asian Cymbidium

[MattWoelfsen]

Recently, I became interested in so called Chinese Cymbidium. From what I understand, these Cymbedium are prized for their leaves and presentation. The are also very fragrant when they bloom.



I took the opportunity to buy five plants. This is the first two of five that I have purchased. This is a hybrid between Cym. goeringii and Cym. ensifolium. It was developed in Korea but I got it from Seed Engei.



The one on the left is the first plant I bought. And then a month leater, I saw the one on the right. There was only one bid, I thought the price was right, so I bid on it. Surprised I wasn't out-bid, grateful to own these two delicate plants!



Does anyone have any advise in growing these plants?



Cymbidium Hakuryu-no-mai 白龍の舞 by Matt Woelfsen, on Flickr

[katrina]

I had an ensifolium (sp?) a few years back but lost it due to a bad storm. It seemed to be an easy grower. I had it potted in a mix that was half terrestrial and half chunky bits and I kept it fairly moist most of the year. Cattleya light levels. And, since my space is considered intermediate, that's what it got for temps.

My understanding of these guys are, just like w/Neos, they are prized for their foliage and the flowers are more like icing on a cake. My plant had nice variegation in the foliage but not as good as some I've seen. I know these are all about the foliage so, for the purist, it doesn't matter that the flowers don't typically clear the foliage but for me I didn't care for that aspect. The fragrance was amazing though.

Last Fall when our society hosted the MAOC, Ten Shin (out of Taiwan) had a gorgeous selection of these guys...some that could be considered entry level Chinese/Japanese Cyms and others that fall into that "highly prized foliage" category. He's worth checking out...he comes to the US all the time and would be happy to accommodate a pre-order and if you can't make the show then he's happy to mail them out to you. Check out his site -
Catalog, TEN SHIN GARDENS, Quality He has a mind-blowing number of different species/varieties of these Cyms.

He doesn't have a Fall 2015 schedule on the website but you can email him for more info.

[Cym Ladye]

Before you invest any more money into these Asian species and their primary hybrids, I suggest you consult some advanced growers/hybridizers/sellers who have had success in growing them. You also need to assess your own growing conditions to see if these plants will easily fit into your environment. These plants can run into many hundreds of dollars each if you are not careful and they are very temperamental if you do not give them the conditions they want.

[MattWoelfsen]

Hi Katrina! I met Ten Shin representative Matt? Or Mike? At MidAmerica Orchid Congress in Columbus, last Autumn. I did not buy any plants from him, I bought plant trays!

I do recall seeing a large amount of Chinese Cymbidium on one of his tables in his large booth. But I was not involved with these Cymbidium at that time. I think these are lovely and would like to find similar ones. Besides these two plants I have also acquired three Cymbidium ensifolium--also variegated.

Cymlady, thank you for your two cents. It is hard to consult experts of any type of orchids in my neck of the woods unless I was trying to grow Lady Slippers, Cattleya, Phalaenopsis, or Oncidium. I have found a lot of information about unusually orchids, right here on Orchid Board. I have found many people willing to spend their time sharing their information.

I am hoping to learn more about these particular Cymbidium as opposed to the large versions of these plants. Their value is not so much their flowers like those larger Cymbidium, but in their presentation, their cultural requirements and their place in Asian folklore.

Admittedly, they are more expensive than the hybrid Cymbidium you can get at grocery stores and other mass marketers. But I'm inured to high prices, I collect Neofinetia!

[katrina]

That's right! I forgot you made the trip over here. If I hadn't missed you and had been able to meet then I know I wouldn't have forgotten. [hand to forehead]

It was Matt (Wei) that you likely met. He is one of the owners of the company and a super nice guy. He used to live in Columbus (came over to go to OSU originally) and was a member of our OS for several years before he went back to start the business.

At the MAOC, he had another guy w/him...super knowledgeable about all things orchids...but I don't remember his name. I got a really good lesson on those Cyms and some of what I heard just boggled my mind. Very much in the vein of the Neos.

Anyway, too bad you weren't into the Cyms then but I'm sure Matt would be thrilled to help foster this new addiction.

[Cym Ladye]

Matt, many vendors and growers of these plants are more than willing to discuss the care of them if they are fluent in English. Pick up the phone and talk to them. Personal email works too. Take Katrina's advice and personally contact Matt..... and take serious notes!

[AnonYMouse]

I have this hybrid along with an ensifolium and a goeringii. All are variegated.

The ensifolium gives me one growth per cycle while the goeringii gave me a multiple growths (I've only had it for several months.) Both originated from Ten Shin. I had a multi-growth Japanese goeringii Kanki that died (I don't know why) that nearly doubled within a year. The hybrid is sloooooooooowwww by comparison (glaciers are faster!).

I grow them indoors (probably not ideal) in inorganic media. Bright east window in Summer and under lights in Winter. The ensifolium has bloomed multiple times under these conditions, probably could do better (the fragrance is sublime!). Haven't had the goeringii long enough to evaluate the conditions.

The two goeringiis seem sensitive to fertilizer, the Kanki in particular developed burned leaf tips within days of a single feeding (and I feed at ~50 ppm N).

Don't know if that helps, certainly not much data.

---------- Post added at 03:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:00 PM ----------

Have you seen the snake skin leaved goeringii? Or the spotted (like Neo tora) leaves?

[cbuchman]

Love your variegation!

I have 2 ensilfoilium and one sinense. One ensilfolium is in bloom right now 6-9 pink striped flowers in a single inflorescence. Both of my ensolfoilums are growing 4-6 new growths a year. I have them in the tall cym pots (black Plastic) which they really prefer. My sinense is growing at a slower rate.

These guys are more tolerant of warmer temps that tradition cyms, but still need a chillier night time to set bud. I feed when in active growth and slow down when not.

Ensilfoliums have red veins on new growth, but go to all green leaves when mature. The sinense has beautifully striped leaves.

All mine came from Ten Shin.

[MattWoelfsen]

Thank you all for providing input. From what you all have indicated, Ten Shin seems to be the main source of these plants! If our paths should cross, I'm going to spend a little more time at their booth!

Snake skin leafed Cymbidium seem to be hard to acquire. I have seen pictures! SoI am on the look out for one of these plants.

[Ray]

I used to import about 500 "Chinese cymbidiums" a month from Taiwan (until the exporter decided that was too small of an order to mess with). I found that they took exceptionally well to semi-hydro culture.