Oh no!!! What is hapenning to my new Cymbidium?
 

I just noticed this today and I know it wasnt there when I purchased the Cymbidium just last weekend!

My Cymbidiums are all in a cool spot at a very bright window without direct sun. I watered them with no feed when I got them and thats it!

Anyone know what is wrong with my Cymb? And what to do about it? Its still in flower.

Sandra,

You may have some rot going on here. Are any of the bulbs soft? If you pull gently on the yellow leaves in the center of the growth shown in picture #1, do they come out? If so, sprinkle some cinnamon in the center.
If this occurs, I suspect rot to the base of the bulb and perhaps to the others. I hope not.

In picture #4, it appears the smaller bulb on the left is showing crown rot at the base. If the bulb is soft, it is a goner and all the leaves should be removed. Once the rot affects the base of a bulb in a plant, it usually spells the death knell for the plant. :(

Is there a chance of sunburn on the other bulb pictured? Loss of some of the outer leaves is common and not a problem generally, but not the center leaves. It also can be the rot spreading as a worst case scenario.

CL

I was thinking rot as well as your plant looks like one of my bulbs did last year. The primary reason I believe one of my bulbs rotted was due to too much water and not letting the medium adequately dry out enough. They do like to have a bit of a dry spell before being watered again from what I understand, though I could be wrong on that. But I do know they don't like wet feet and your potting medium (with the moss and all) appears to be saturated with water.

You might want to pot it up in fresh medium since the medium it came in might be old and have bacteria and rot going on it as well.

I was hoping it was NOT rot :( I can I know the extend of the damage? :bua:

I felt the bulbs and none feels 'mushy'. Maybe just the tiny bulb in the middle feels softers but can't really tell

I noticed theres a new growth ... not sure if its a spike or not .... Is it safe to repot when theres new growths and when the Cymbidium still has flowers? :dunno:

Generally, as long as you are very very delicate with the plant you can repot when it is in flower. However, I cannot tell you about Cymbidium's on that part, especially with the new growth coming up. Hope someone can answer your question, I'd really like to know myself.

If the medium is staying to whet and the plant is suffering I think the damage you do by repotting (with most orchids) is less then by doing nothing. It does look like some rot. Is it possible that the plant has been to cold even before it was in your hands?

Don't water untill the rot has stabilized. Remove affected spots and cover them with cinnamon.

the only cold i remember is the -10C weather when i bought it was just from store to car then car to home I didnt think that it would hurt that much since I've brought Phals home with colder weather without any problem

With all that moss growing on the top, it does look like it was subject to too much moisture for a period of time. I agree with Rob S. it may be better to risk losing the flowers and checking the potting rather than just leave it. Is the pot REALLY heavy? Can you tell if it is water-logged? can you dig down into the potting media a bit and see what you have and its condition?

thank you Silken for your input .... :)

When I checked the soil potting medium it looked very humid. But is not bark is like dirt soil type of orchid.

How sensitive are Cymbidium roots? I seen some just cut through the middle to made divisions of it and on top of it, cut the roots down to 15 cm ... Do I cut down the roots to 15cm? (which is about 6 inches)

Also any other potting media you guys are successful with? Here in Canada we dont have much choices ... So I can't really go fancy but just something more popular to keep my Cymbidium happy.

I looked more closely at some of your photos and it does look like under the moss there a few pieces of bark and sponge rock (perlite) on the top. If you mean further in, it is like dirt or regular potting soil, I think I would get it out of there. Maybe the bark has broken down a lot. Some people do grow their cymbidiums in soil or manure, but in general, they need a free draining media and bark is often used. Cymbidiums are one type of orchid that shouldn't get real dry before watering, but it looks like your pot has been too wet and the black does look like rot. In the store they quite often have a cellophane sleeve over them which adds to the problem of rot and too much moisture.

I think you should slide it out of the pot and see what's going on. Then maybe some more pictures so we can see.

Yes, to divide a healthy cymbidium, they are usually a large root mass and quite hard to cut, and you need to use a large knife and cut way down.

I will see if I can slide the Cymb out of its pot and take some pics ....

When I repot, I can safely cut roots down to about 6 inches? I also take out what is rotten.

I wasn't able to slide the Cymb out of its pot. However, I took the green moss out and here is what there is. Looks like bark but is probably broken down.

So now I have 2 new spikes!

On one pic, you can see what looks like a worm is a root and it doesn't seem to be "mushy"

Yup, it does look like broken down bark which means it's been in that medium way too long. You should repot as soon as possible in an appropriate medium. The longest you would want to keep an orchid is a medium is 2 years from what I understand, but I'm not that certain of Cym's so someone else might want to chime in on that.

Thank you Paul!

Is regular small - medium bark with med sponge rocks ok for Cymbidium

... I also have Charcoal, a larger Coconut Husk, Hydroton and small Monterey Bark ...

Am new with Cymbidium so am a little confused for what goes for potting mix

Thanks for all's input on this!

Good news about the new growths and roots. All is not lost. Cymbidiums are usually good with a small to med. bark. They like to have moister roots than catts and some other orchids. You could mix in some charcoal to help keep it fresh. If the good roots are longer than 6 inches, you can leave them and just fit them into the pot. But cut off any soft mushy and dead dried up roots. Cymbidiums like a tall deep pot rather than a wide shallow one. Any soft black pseudobulbs should be removed too and make sure you get all of the black rot if you have some of that which it kind of looked like in the photos. Good luck with it. You could cut your flowers and they keep quite long in a vase.

Thank for the information Silken.

I'll go with either kind of bark I have, with sponge rocks and charcoal ....

Should I get rid of the tiny middle bulbs? Am hoping to be able to keep the bigger ones, esp those with spikes

If the middle bulbs look healthy and are solid, not mushy, no need to get rid of them. Until a bulb dies off, they do supply some nourishment to the plant.

It sounds like a good mix you will be using.

I been reading about Cymb potting mix, and looks like just bark and sponge rock mix is too dry for a Cymb?! That more should be add up to retain moisture ... I have a dry environment here, is it ok to add up Coir or Coconut Husk Chips (1/2" to 3/4") I dont have smaller?

To what percentage this whole mix should be?

I've checked on OrchidWiz, and without having the name of your plant, in general the recommendation for potting media there is fir bark. It does say to not allow mature plants to dry out completely. Coconut husk is probably OK but my own experience with it, is it holds too much moisture and gets moldy sometimes in larger deep pots. However, my downfall is having a heavy watering hand. You will have to decide on your own environment and go from there. If it is in a deep pot, any media will be slow to dry near the bottom.