Best Medium to Begin a Cymbidium
 

Can someone please tell me the best and most productive way to begin a Cymbidium plant? Seeds, Seedlings, or already potted blooming plant?
Thanks in advance.

Orchids from seed are very different from other plants. For almost all of them you need a laboratory and many years. As a result, most people buy divisions or clones of plants, or buy seedlings from companies that either do the lab work, or contract it out.

Mericlones are sold as small, seedling-sized plants. Thousands can be tissue cultured in a lab from a small piece of a parent plant.

There is a Vendor Feedback forum here. You can read about a lot of different vendors and see which sell Cymbidiums.

It's winter in the Northern Hemisphere. Cyms tolerate cool shipping better than most orchids, but a lot of companies won't ship if it's too cold.

You might find Cyms in flower at your supermarket or a Trader Joe's. These are usually healthy plants at a low price.

Most cym growers, once a plant is large enough for a 3" pot, use a blend of fir bark or Orchiata or Coco husk in different sizes to match the size of the pot. That is usually mixed with a 5-10% percentage of sponge rok (perlite). Some also use a small percentage of pea gravel, sphagnum moss, coir or charcoal.

Keep in mind that if you ask 10 different growers what they use, you will get at least 12 different answers! A lot depends on your climate and your watering habits. Hot and dry climate will need a more water retaining mix; hot and humid will need a mix that drains quickly. A temperate climate will be a mix of both.

Thanks.



---------- Post added at 03:19 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:18 AM ----------

Thanks

:rofl:

this is great advice and so true -

The advice from Cym Ladye is correct for the traditional California growing method. I am now going to provide the 13th option, just to confuse the issue.

Here in NJ, I use the European style terrestrial type mix. This was used with great success by a cut flower producer in Denmark, who had 10 acres of greenhouses filled with Cymbidiums. I have a number of converts here and up into New England, who have very good results with this approach.

Mix I
For the past 10-15 years, I have used this combination:
3 parts chunky peat (in nuggets, 1/2" to 1.1/2" size)
2 parts composted cow manure
1 part bark
1 part perlite

The Canadian peat producers will no longer supply the chunky style peat (unless we buy a full trailer load), so I have been forced to change.

Mix-II:
4 parts cedar mulch
2 parts composted cow manure
2 parts enhanced potting soil
1 part bark
1 part perlite

With both mixes, I fertilize a lot:
1. I add a sprinkling of slow release fertilizer in March (100 day, 13:11:11 with micro nutrients)
2. We apply liquid fertilizer (20:20:20) every 14 days, year round.

My Cymbidiums go outside in late April. into full sun! They come back in when the first frost is forecast.

While outdoors, I used to water heavily twice a week (if there was no rain), using a sprinkler to cover my 4-500 Cymbidiums. With Mix-II, which drains fast, I have had to increase the watering schedule to 3 times a week, 4-5 hours each time.

So how do the plants respond?

• Plugs purchased in January 2018: 1 plant bloomed in 2 years, 80% bloomed the 3rd year.
• Seedlings deflasked Nov 2020 (in community flats for 7 months) have now outgrown their 2.1/2" starter pots. The larger plants are going into 6" gallon pots, the smaller ones into 3.1/2" (6" deep) Cymbidium pots. I am betting that I will bloom a couple in 2 years, and the balance in 3.

My key to Cymbidium success is:
A. VERY high light
B. A well draining mix in the pot.
C. A LOT of feed (fertilizer).
D. A LOT of water (don't ever let the plants go dry)

My guess is that in TX, you can probably have Cymbidium outdoors for about 10 months of the year. But, you should probably focus on 'warmth tolerant/table top' & pendulous types, as I don't think you will have enough cooling off to have a lot of success with the socalled standard types.

Thanks. Very helpful information.

Once you have your plant... if you can get a mature plant at your grocery or big-box store, it is likely to be in spike or in bloom. So you won't have to deal with repotting it for several more months, time to assess what might work best for you in your conditions. I grow them totally outside because my climate is perfect for them. I use small bark with some perlite, a mix that is well-drained but stay damp. Your situation is likely different. When looking at where you might be growing it, note that if acclimated, they can tolerate low temperatures down to 29-30 deg. F, high temperatures to well over 100 deg F with a bit of shading from the noonday sun. Outside of that range, you may need to consider other approaches. (I suspect the low end is where you might need to intervene, at the high end they can tolerate pretty much anything consistent with human life)

I am ignorant of much of anything to do with cymbidiums except the flower form and color range. Are there small plants I can bloom on a windowsill or some equivalent indoor location that will stay relatively small?

There are some mini-Cyms... Santa Barbara Orchid Estate did some breeding in that area. Then, many of the pendulous Cyms stay relatively small... too big for a windowsill, but don't turn into gut-busters. However... there are other considerations. First, these are high-light plants. If they don't get enough light for enough hours, they will grow but not bloom. And for indoor growing, important to focus on the so-called "warmth-tolerant" Cyms - essentially all Cyms tolerate heat, but the "warmth-tolerant" ones don't require a fall cool-down to bloom. I know that you are planning on a move north (Michigan?) .. Cyms are gong to be a challenge there, though several members of the Board who live in places that get cold in winter grow them successfully. There are so many orchids, though... best to select typs that you have a good chance of providing the conditions for without a lot of difficulty, nobody can grow EVERYTHING!

orchids.
Yeah, but it's fun to dream!
Sorry for the hijack. Back to the OP's topic.

Thanks for the information. Really appreciate it.

QUOTE=Roberta;979842]Once you have your plant... if you can get a mature plant at your grocery or big-box store, it is likely to be in spike or in bloom. So you won't have to deal with repotting it for several more months, time to assess what might work best for you in your conditions. I grow them totally outside because my climate is perfect for them. I use small bark with some perlite, a mix that is well-drained but stay damp. Your situation is likely different. When looking at where you might be growing it, note that if acclimated, they can tolerate low temperatures down to 29-30 deg. F, high temperatures to well over 100 deg F with a bit of shading from the noonday sun. Outside of that range, you may need to consider other approaches. (I suspect the low end is where you might need to intervene, at the high end they can tolerate pretty much anything consistent with human life)[/QUOTE]

Traditional ('Standard') Cymbidium grow large, often 2.1/2 to 4 foot plants, growing in pots that are 10-12" deep.

As Roberta commented, there are some true minis, and the pendulous types tend to stay compact.

However, current breeding in Hawaii is for plants that top out at about 24", including a 6-8" deep pot. Much of that breeding is based on Cym. Golden Elf, though now 2-5 generations back. Most of these plants are also 'warmth tolerant', so they do not need as much cooling off to set buds.