Cymbidium ensifolium
 

This has not been an easy orchid for me to grow and bloom. The new growths seem especially prone to rotting if even the slightest amount of water gets inside them (yet it appears to really appreciate a heavy hand when it comes to watering). In addition, it's something of a shy bloomer. In some years the plant just refuses to bloom at all--and when it does bloom, it produces no more than two or three flowers at a time.

But on those infrequent occasions when it does bloom, I realize why I go to so much trouble to try and keep it alive. The incredibly sweet fragrance of just these two flowers is enough to scent a very large area. I noticed the scent when I walked up the sidewalk to my front porch this afternoon when I came home from work, and I knew immediately what its source was. So maybe one day I'll figure out what to do in order to make this plant really thrive. For now I'll be satisfied with whatever flowers it chooses to produce.

Steve

IMG_2717 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Cymbidium ensifolium on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
IMG_2713 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Fragrant and classy! What a gorgeous plant and a beautiful photo, too. Surugaran.

It's simply beautiful!

i love it!! i like your pot too. i picked one of theses out for marilyn from asiatica a few weeks ago, but i still want it really bad!!! i wanted to keep hers lol :)

gorgeous! So far my ensifolium hasn't bloomed *sigh* - at least I feel less bad about that after reading that yours is a shy bloomer.
thanks for sharing your pix! good growing

I have one being shipped to me and could use help from you about culture. What is it planted in, what kind of light, temperatures. Do you give it a cool period in the fall to help it set buds. I sure want to give mine the best possible conditions. I have wanted one of these for sooooo long. Please give me pointers to keep mine alive. How tall is that pot and where did you find a pot like that?

Questions, questions, questions. This is a new venture for me.

Marilyn

Marilyn

Marilyn, the pot came from Ebay. If you search under "cymbidium" you'll see a few vendors who list them regularly. They're usually between 9 and 10 inches tall, and 3 to 4 inches wide. I have this one planted in the smaller size of the two.

It's growing in a mix of small-grade pumice that was also found on Ebay (many cactus growers use it and have it for sale), mixed with small-grade coconut husk fiber, a little charcoal, some chopped sphagnum and about one-fifth part of cactus soil (found at most garden centers). Basically the mix is very gritty and drains very well, while still maintaining a good deal of moisture.

I water it every day during the heat of summer, so it doesn't really go dry between waterings. During the winter it gets less water, but still doesn't get really dry. The plant likes lots of water and throws out lots of thick white roots that fill the pot. The roots get long, which is why the taller pot is helpful.

It gets direct morning sun for a few hours, followed by bright indirect light for the rest of the day. I've read that this species is adaptable in regards to its light preferences. Some plants I've seen with beautiful dark green leaves, and they still flower. My plant's leaves are much lighter in color, so I think that I'm going to move it to a location where it gets less light in order to try and improve the look of the foliage.

Ensifolium's often touted as being a warm grower, but in my experience it seems to be more warmth tolerant instead of being a true warm grower. But it's got a wide-spread distribution in Asia, so it must be adaptable as far as its temperature tolerances go.

I don't fertilize it as much as my other cymbidiums (eburneum, devonianum and mastersii, along with a couple of madidum hybrids). And it gets watered with very clean water from an RO unit. My only caution to you would be to water it very carefully at the base of the plant instead of pouring water over the leaves. While the older leaves aren't adversely affected by overhead watering, any new growths that are forming are prone to rot if water gets lodged in them, especially during the cooler winter months.

Good luck with your plant. They're pretty small growers, which is nice (especially compared to the standard-sized hybrids). And the blooms are amazingly fragrant, easily as fragrant as a stanhopea (with the benefit that they will last a couple of weeks instead of a few days).

Steve

the one one in the mail for marilyn, is a cymbidium ensifolium misericors

I love it!

Kim

Really nice!