Cynbidiums and Moisture

[estación seca]

I bought a very small Cymbidium Jill 'Betty Jo' AM/AOS mericlone from Carter and Holmes, which came in the 2.5" / 5.25cm square, 3.5" tall diameter pot they use for some Cym and Paph seedlings. It had one very small pseudobulb with leaves, and two tiny, leafless ones the size of match heads. Even with watering every day, it was completely dry by the next day.

Due to work and exhaustion I skipped a few days. When I returned to it, some of the leaves had died, and it didn't look so good. I covered the top of the pot with long-fiber sphagnum moss, hoping that would retain more water. I gave it a splash with KelpMax solution, as well.

It continued looking sad, but hanging on. Tonight, about a week later, I decided to move it to a larger container that would dry out more slowly.

When I took it out of the pot I was surprised to see three very fat new roots forming, and two new growths, which had not yet protruded above the sphagnum. Since it is growing roots, I decided to repot into semi-hydroponics, as I should have done on arrival.

The moral is that it is very important to keep Cymbidiums moist at the roots, and drying out is not helpful at all.

[Cym Ladye]

"Moisture" is the keyword here, not "wet". I always repot a plant shortly after I get it into my preferred mix. That way, I can see the condition of the plant. Your small plant will undoubtedly survive since it had the strength to send out two new growths from the existing BBs and pseudo bulbs. Now that it is in your culture of choice, just be patient. The Jill grex is a hardy one and has survived over the years because it is one of the easiest of the minis to grow.