Quote:
Originally Posted by tuvoc
Hi Kerstin, and welcome aboard. I'm in Reno, sort of a neighbor. I have a question for you. I love the Cyp, and am wondering how long you've had it, and how you grow it. I'm thinking of trying a few myself.
Kim
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Hi Kim! I've had the Cyp since 2001. It grows in dappled light near a non-spreading variety of Lilac. I never let the soil dry out, but the soil is also never really soggy. I live near a meadow, so I'm lucky to have a sandy loam-type of soil rather than sterile decomposed granite. As soon as I see the plant emerging in the spring I douse it with a full-strength solution of fish emulsion (5-1-1). Every year it puts up another growth or two. I basically treat it like my Trilliums--dappled shade with a bit of morning sun, and cool soil that never dries out, with good drainage.
This orchid is extremely hardy and is unfazed by our late-spring hard freezes. It's even snowed when the plant has been in bud and it's bloomed as usual.
I haven't tried any other species. This one is supposed to be fairly easy to grow. I don't feel like I need to fuss over it at all. I do spray it down every few days if we're having a heat wave (in the nineties) just to keep the humidity up. It gets watered thoroughly once a week with the rest of the garden (once every five days if very hot).
It blooms in June. This year there were even two seed pods with seeds in them! Unfortunately I don't know how to start them from seed. I've heard the seeds are viable for only a short time. I'm going to research this and see if it's possible to propagate them outside of a lab.
Here's where I got the plant. It doesn't look like they're offering it at the moment, but it's a wonderful nursery. And look at all the hardy orchids they have for sale!
Orchids
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