Waldor Famous Cymbidium Potting Mix

[Keysguy]

I always just used regular old medium sized fir bark for my Cymbidiums and they did great in it.

[estación seca]

I just saw they're in spike... I wouldn't repot Cyms in spike. Others might disagree.

[JScott]

Originally Posted by estación seca

I just saw they're in spike... I wouldn't repot Cyms in spike. Others might disagree.

I hadn't planned on it. In fact I think I said in an earlier post on this thread that I had plenty of time to figure out what I was going to pot them in because I was going to wait until after they bloomed.

[SundayGardener]

I have some of the Waldorf mix, purchased 2 months ago. Because cyms are new to me and I got one bareroot and I'm a patsy for potting mixes. More like I read recipes online and couldn't get chunky peat moss so I went for the mix. The bark in the mix is large, and there isn't much chunky moss. I have an older more established cym that was potted when I purchased it, and the medium in that pot is far more moisture retentive. My bareroot is relatively small and I'm not sure that the mix was the best choice for a plant that size. Bareroots are always a challenge for me to get situated and established, also I've found that plants shipped from climates wildly different from Wisconsin can take 3 years (!) to adapt. For those reasons I am not judging the mix, but I am having a hard time keeping the moisture level right for my particular plant.

However, if you want some of the mix (I have far more than I will ever use) and are willing to pay shipping, let me know. I'm not starting a cym farm any time soon.

[DirtyCoconuts]

make your own...those prices are insane and the only reason to be exclusive about your mix is if you are REALLY into the purity of growing things EXACLTY as they have been done by other people …..minor eye roll


i made a mix of peat, small pelite, #4 perlite and 1-2" chunks of lava rock. ratio was ROUGHLY 3 part peat, 1 part perlite (small), 1 part perlite coarse and .5 part lava rock.


wet the peat as you mix to prevent it from staying hydro phobic.

since you are a bit dryer than i am, maybe swap the large lave for small and add a bit of bark.


i use non- traditional pots and they are fine just make sure you give them vertical room...in the 5 months i have had them i have seen this is critical as they grow roots down FAST

[Roberta]

I save the fancy stuff like Orchiata, for the epiphytic orchids. Cyms, as well as other semi-terrestrial genera like Sobralia, get the cheapest seedling bark mixed with some perlite in rather imprecise proportions. They require a lot more volume than the rest of the orchids. Cyms just don't care.

[WaterWitchin]

When I stopped growing in bark, a good friend here on OB got a pretty large supply of Orchiata that I'd been using. I occasionally get a wild hair for a specific potting mix myself, so I know where you're coming from. That's a very nice offer from you Sunday Gardner... way to pass it forward!

[Ray]

All of my cymbidiums have always been grown in S/H culture.

<Drop mic>

[WaterWitchin]

Originally Posted by Ray

All of my cymbidiums have always been grown in S/H culture.

<Drop mic>

Same here, Ray. And when transferring over, they never skip a beat.

[SundayGardener]

Hmmm. For the most part my semi hydro experiment is over, with only a few plants thriving in it. The water temps just get too cold in my house (and we have the heat at 70+ but it's an old house). The hoyas love SH and I have a few oddballs that really took to it, but mostly it just didn't work for me and my conditions. However, the cool growing cyms should be fine with it? It goes without saying that I have the clay media on hand lol.

Not to take over the thread, my established cym is in a shallow pot, I put the bare root in a narrow vertical pot that is specifically for cyms. As long as we are talking potting.