Beginner with a cymbidium
 

Hi All!

I had a few questions about my cymbidium, but I'll give a little background info first. I was given a cymbidium about a year and a half ago by a friend who was moving (I was living in New Mexico). She didn't know how old it was, if it had ever bloomed, over what type it was. I haven't really done much work to it other than repotting it maybe last spring. During the repotting, I found it had a rotten bulb, so I split it out and got rid of it. Even in the middle of the desert, I had it looking very good, green and putting on new growth! But I recently moved to coastal Georgia and it seems like it's been suffering.

My first question is, is it normal for the leaves of a cymbidium to be so droopy? Most pictures I've seen, the leaves stand up more than mine do. Several of the leaves actually have creases where they are bent down. Only the most recent growth (on a separate bulb) is really standing up. Second, the largest bulb has lost most of its leaves. There's only 1 left. Is this normal? Is this a back bulb?

This plant is currently near a south facing window that only gets direct light in the morning. It's in my home office, so it gets artificial light most of the day, often till pretty late at night.

Any suggestions on bringing this plant back to health?

Thanks!!
Em

I imagine the humidity change has something to do with the drooping. Otherwise, I'm not sure what to tell you about these, as I don't grow them.

So instead, I'm gonna give your thread a little bump and hope you get some more input from someone with experience with these orchids!

Thanks, I appreciate it!

I should add that the leaves were droopy before the move, but they looked healthy. I've attached a couple more pictures of the base of the plant. Both show closeups of how the leaves are bent and creased. Both pictures are roughly from the same angle and the bulb on the left is the youngest and healthiest. The leaves on that one are mostly standing up, though they feel a bit limp too, not as thick as the others. Maybe that's because they are the youngest, I'm not sure. They are also slightly discolored, kind of drying out. I recently switched from using tap water (we have very hard water here) to bottled RO water. I have read that hard water can turn leaf tips brown, which this orchid is definitely suffering from.

Thanks again!

Too little light can be the cause of floppy or droopy foliage. Cyms like a pretty good amount of light while growing and in order to bloom - difficult to provide indoors.Can you put it outside during spring - summer where it can get more / stronger light? And if it's not a 'warmth-tolerant' type, cool night temps outside from late summer - fall will also be appreciated by the plant (to initiate spikes)

Some good culture info
http://www.cymbidium.org/cymbidium.html

http://www.orquideas.com/growing/cymbcult.html