Cymbidiums & Fertilizer

[Fairorchids]

I have always known that Cymbdiums were greedy plants. Let me share some recent experiences:

In late 2015 I decided to expand my collection. I purchased a number of plants from Casa de las Orchideas in November.
A. BS seedlings in 6" pots (supplied out of pot).
B. 3" seedlings, supplied in pot in a fibrous mix. These went into 5.1/2" pots in my mix (see below).

Following the two NJ shows in Jan & Feb 2016, I noticed that none of the other vendors offered Cymbidiums for sale, so I ordered an additional lot of mature plants, intended for resale.

I used the same mix for all:

• Abt 3 parts chunky peat
• Abt 2 parts composted manure (= 1:1:1)
• 1 part medium bark
• 1 part perlite

Plants went outside into full sun in May, and we watered them twice a week throughout the summer.

• We added a handful of NutraCote into each pot (1 Tsp in 5.5" pots, and 2-3 Tsps in mature plant pots).
• We watered with fertilizer (Peters 20:20:20) every 2 weeks.

The plants were brought inside in late October, as we had early frost by the greenhouse (in Califon, NJ).

With this treatment (and feeding schedule):
90% of the mature plants are in spike.
20-25% of seedlings are spiking too, a year ahead of the anticipated schedule.

A couple of photos of the plants in the summer location to show that they have no problems handling full sun (a few plants got some minor burns where the leaf curves over). And, as you can see in the second photo, my reedstem Epis go into full sun too.